Torrey Conference has come again. As students run from building to building and wait in line after line, they recall the memories this traditional conference has brought them during their college career.

Bonding and Learned Lessons

For some, the conference brings thoughts of lessons learned in the past, for others it reminds them of moments of floor bonding. The first “Torrey on the Lawn” imprinted a memory of hilarity and fun on many students. When the rain came pouring down in the middle of worship, campus buzzed with frantic students trying to find a dry spot and others running to frolic in the rainfall.

“My freshman year, it was the first time doing Torrey on the lawn, and it was when the lightning happened and that was super crazy, and I’ll always remember that,” said Sara Dougan, junior psychology major. “I was on the lawn, I was pretty close to it too. And so it was super crazy, and then it started raining. It was just really fun to be making a mad dash to the dorms with everybody.”

For senior marketing and management major Morgan Fritzius, the experience also became one of her favorites, since the storm occurred in the middle of worship. She has enjoyed the Torrey conferences throughout her college career because she believes they hold great value for the community.

“It’s just a time for everyone to come together and for all students to take a break and rest in the fact that we’re all getting to learn about a certain topic that they thought was important,” Fritzius said. “We can take a break from our daily lives and really focus on God.”

Cherished memories

Alum Brian Funke remembers his favorite memories from Torrey Conference surround relationships he made with his floormates. Every year, they would wake up early and go to the very first session at nine in the morning and sit on the floor together. He believes the conference provides a needed break for students to focus on learning about God.

“I think it’s important to just take a break every so often. I think a lot of time people appreciate the conference one, because it gives them a break from academic work a lot and then two, because it’s I think people do get some focus from it,” Funke said.

Senior communication major Sofia Franco will always treasure the conference last year when she had the opportunity to lead worship. Having the whole Biola community worshiping together encouraged her and gave her a pleasant memory to carry from her college career.

“I think it’s like the first time I led worship at Biola that you could see everyone because everyone has to be there,” Franco said. “It’s just very unifying and it was really special, I think, to be part of something cool.”

With all these memories surfacing, students look forward to the coming conference, “Pneuma,” and can expect many purposeful experiences to cherish.