See You at the Pole Event - News Writing Story 1

  

Students and religious leaders all over the world stood together around flagpoles to pray over their communities last week in accordance with the annual See You at the Pole event. The PennWest California campus was no exception as New Life Christian Fellowship, STAND, and Cal Catholic, the campus ministries, assembled a group of students and faculty to pray and sing songs of worship around the school’s flagpole.

Despite it being 7 a.m. and 45 degrees, fifteen students and four faculty members of the PennWest California campus rallied together to pray and spread hope to their campus community.

Kim Carson, campus minister who oversees New Life Christian Fellowship, attended her first See You at the Pole event in middle school and has been involved with campus ministry since she was in college. She holds a firm belief that See You at the Pole is both impactful and important.

“I like that it’s a collaborative thing open to anyone,” she said. “I think it’s always helpful to be praying for our campus and community, and that we can do that together no matter what the background is or affiliation. It ends up being a really encouraging thing for the people that attend.”

Leah Trocchio, a senior at PennWest California and the president of New Life, also recognizes the importance of organizations such as New Life and events like See You at the Pole.

“I was looking for a group of Christians I could connect with and find a place where I can grow my faith and New Life exceeded what I was looking for,” she said. “I felt immediately welcomed and like it was a place I could be myself and become better.”

“It’s a powerful event. To see all these people come together to pray for each other and for our campus is beautiful.”

Sydney Murrin, who has been involved with New Life for a year and counting, expressed similar sentiments.

“I joined because going into college, it was important to me to have a good community of believers in college and I found everyone so kind and welcoming,” she said. “I think it’s important to come together as campus ministries and as a campus/community to simply pray with one another. I think it’s especially important to bring God into any situation-especially our school and our community-to bring light, love, and unity into those areas.”

According to the event’s official website, See You at the Pole has been uniting students and faculty in prayer since 1990, and it will continue to be held on the fourth Wednesday of September with millions of people around the world in attendance.