Home: It’s where the heart is. It’s where you are protected, where you are safe from the storms and the evil of the world. It is where bonds are made, where hearts are joined, where friendships last an eternity. Home is Baylor ,and Baylor is home.
For senior quarterback Seth Russell, being a Bear has shown him just what it means to be a part of this home that we all call Baylor.
“To be a Baylor Bear is just consistency, always knowing that people are going to doubt you. It’s your job as a person at this university to prove those doubters wrong and just show that what we do is we do it at a high level, and we do it with the best character possible,” Russell said.
Plano freshman Maitlan Wade has Baylor history running in her family tree. So for her, being here is like a dream come true.
“My parents actually met here. So, I grew up with Baylor sweethearts. I’ve grown up here basically my whole life. I love it. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Wade said.
For Wade, being a Baylor Bear is almost like a tradition, especially in her experience.
“For me, being a Baylor Bear means carrying on a legacy. I think being a Baylor Bear is such a high title to have, especially because my parents went here. Baylor is all about community and family and all of these great qualities. It’s an honor to be here at Baylor,” Wade said.
Everyone has their own experiences with Baylor and how it has impacted them. However, my experience with Baylor is a lot, if not almost exactly, like senior wide receiver Lynx Hawthorne.
“It’s been five awesome years and … you know, I’m at home. Waco is exploding, and there’s things coming up left and right. Every time you drive down the interstate, there’s something new getting built and just seeing it grow. I feel like I am at home,” Hawthorne said.
Hawthorne continued on proclaiming how much Baylor and Waco has changed his life for the better.
“I don’t know what the future may hold for me, but I have no problem living in Waco the rest of my life and coming to games and tailgating, you know, whatever it may be. I don’t even know where to start how incredible of a place Baylor is and what it has done for my whole life and my family’s life. You can’t get that anywhere else,” Hawthorne said.
In the beginning, Baylor seems like just another place to get an education. Once you step on campus, though, you are never the same. Those next four years will transform you as a person and will make you someone I am sure you will love being. Baylor is a place like no other. The family atmosphere, the sincerity of its students and staff, the sports events on campus, Vertical, Traditions, Late Night, the tail/sail-gating; it’s all Baylor and Baylor, is all you.
After I came back home from Line Camp this past July, I wrote a poem about Baylor University. This following excerpt is the last part of my poem. It sums up not only my experience at Line Camp, but also, I hope, your experience at Baylor.
“They say that home is where the heart is. We all left our hearts back at camp, back at Earle Hall, back at home. That place we call home is where our hearts are and will forever be. That place we call home is Baylor University.”
Baylor University, there’s no place like home.
