Hi there,

My name is Madison Perry and I'm the Executive Director of the North Carolina Study Center in Chapel Hill. I went to UNC for undergrad and for law school. Prior to that, when I was growing up, I always thought Chapel Hill was nothing less than magical. It's where my parents met. It's where my dad went on lots of hilarious adventures. It's where my mom was elected Senior Class president, and where she ran a camp for incoming freshmen.

I love working with college students because they are growing. More than anything else, when you decide to come to college, you are committing to grow.

If you didn’t want to grow, why would you come? What kinds of ways are you hoping to grow?

- Maybe you are especially excited about growing your community – to make a lot of new friends, or maybe to just meet a few new close friends.

- You could want to grow educationally in what you know. You like to study, especially when you get to choose what you study.

- You may want to grow your career prospects, to develop new options for your future that you don’t yet have.

- Perhaps you want to grow in your character, in who you are. You know you aren’t yet who you hope to be, and you expect that the next four years will grow you.

You may not have noticed this, but when scripture talks about the childhood of Jesus, it says that he grew, and that he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52).

I expect that this raises a few questions (like, if Jesus is God, how could he become wiser?). Bring those questions with you to the Study Center in Chapel Hill!

But for now let’s safely assume that if Jesus had to grow in these ways, so do we.

Here’s a really cool passage of scripture that relates. In Matthew 5:48, Jesus teaches, “Be perfect as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect.” But “perfect” isn’t a perfect translation. The Greek word for perfect (teleios) emphasizes that something has been finished, perfected. God wants to grow you every minute you are alive, so that gradually you become teleios – all the way completed. This 1-minute video from the Bible Project explains it really well.

I hope you have really high expectations for the ways God will work in your life during the next four years – I sure do!

And I’m very excited that you are coming to Chapel Hill. We now have 189 incoming students registered for Carolina Way Camp, and I expect we will approach 250. We will also have hundreds of student leaders present to get to know you and help you launch at UNC. It is going to be fantastic!

Over the coming weeks, I am going to be sending you a series of emails with some recommended reading. I also hope to have student interviews and some other great content for you. None of this will be required reading.

But for those who want to begin thinking about what you want to shoot for at UNC, I hope to help you expand your imagination for what is possible as you walk with Christ through college.

Stay tuned for a few more emails. And please be in touch if you have questions.

See you soon!

Madison