Force yourself to take a break. Go to Torrey.

By Jennifer Northway

Torrey Conference can be a chance to take a break from the stressful pressures of college and let your mind escape to the interesting stories the various speakers have to share. I personally am a big fan of the Torrey Conference. I love having my mind blown away and stretched with the different view points people have. I enjoy being challenged constantly to grow and become more Christ-like; to be convicted and informed, and hopefully learning more about myself and the world around me.

Also having a few days to take my mind off of school is a pretty sweet deal.

Torrey – being a sort of escape from my mid-terms and projects – allows my overworked brain to sit, and absorb the messages speakers have. With the required sessions, I am forced to step outside of my comfort zone and explore topics that may completely go against what I think to be the truth.

Having to attend eight sessions challenges me to wakeup early and learn about something I, at times, have no interest in, and sitting in a gym or auditorium with thousands of other students gives the experience even more magnitude and worth. The discussions that arise afterward are legendary and among the few conversations I will never forget.

Torrey’s great, but don’t require it.

By: Gavin Kirkwood

Let me start off with a little disclaimer: Just because I think the Torrey conference should not be required doesn’t mean that I think it is not something every student should choose to participate in.

The Torrey conference focuses on real life issues and tackles them in biblical ways to equip students to respond appropriately to situations in a Christ like way. Torrey is right before many students’ midterms and mixed in with the chapel requirements and our bible minor, students may be unnecessarily overwhelmed. This makes for a largely absent minded audience who is secretly studying between all the presentations when what they may need is just some spare library time.

It all comes down to personal choice – students should choose to go to the Torrey conference. Everyone is spiritually at different places in their life and we each have different needs. Some may not need to hear a certain message and would be better off studying for a biology midterm. Granted, this personal choice may produce a slightly smaller audience, but that audience would be invested and interested in what the speaker has to say.

In closing, Torrey is an amazing opportunity for spiritual growth for all who choose to take advantage of it, however, that choice for participation should exist.