Elliott House with Ainsley: Celebrating 10 Years of the House System

Favorite House System memory?

Since I did three years of dual enrollment, my time at Judson started before the House System was ever really a factor in my brain. But what I do remember is a lot of those little moments that mattered to me as a commuter and made me feel at home — small community moments like eating lunch or hanging out, worshiping together and playing games.

Upperclassman who impacted you?

As a freshman in the House System, I wanted to figure this school thing out really badly because I felt so lost. But I remember my scholar that first year who was more than a house leader; she was a friend before that and especially after that. As a commuter, I didn’t have a lot of visibility with most upperclassmen on campus, but I knew that if she was around, I could hang out with her. And I knew if I had questions, she would be there.

Favorite house event?

There have been so many good ones! To kick it back to really old school, the first ever Judson-Liele house competition I went to is definitely one of my favorites. It was so fun. It was secret agent themed, and you would go off and compete in your specific event and then come together as a unified house to finish. I thought that was so much fun.

To be a little more recent, last year Elliott won their first ever house competition at the Fuller-Brainerd competition in the spring, and it was such an incredible moment. I loved seeing my house get really excited about being Elliott House and getting to lead them into that and encourage them. I had seen the effort they put in throughout that semester, to really go in for our house and love our house, to buckle down and lock in. It was so encouraging and fun.

Memory or moment you’ll be thinking about 10 years from now?

I remember going to the college fall retreats — I’m about to go on my fourth — and sitting in my hammock and listening to people play yard games outside.

I think my overall memory of this place will be the community that we built and the family that you get within the House System. It’s comprised of all these small moments that paint a much bigger tapestry.

I think my overall memory of this place will be the community that we built and the family that you get within the House System.

House value that you resonate the most with?

When we were Judson House, it was definitely meekness, and that’s something that I’ve carried into my personal life since. I’m a very competitive person, and I love to win, so to come into Judson House and find that one of our values was meekness — that shaped me. I remember our chancellor that year going around at every competition and saying, “Hey, we’re going to fight well, but we’re going to be meek about it.”

For Elliott House, I would choose hospitality, because I think that from a meek spirit comes the ability to be hospitable. There’s a connection between being meek and dying to yourself, putting aside your pride so that you can go and serve others, be hospitable, and sacrifice in that way. I think that a lot of our house values for Judson and Elliott overlap in really neat ways.

Humanities Day or Field Day?

To be honest, I think I would probably choose field day. There’s something really fun about getting paint all over you and sweating for an entire morning in the hot May sun. I think it’s a lot of fun. You might not do the way you want to on Field Day, but at the end of the day, you’re running around in a field. You’ll be okay.

Red or black?

Black. I love a blackout. Again, not great for running around in the May sun with paint all over you, but I think black is definitely rad. It’s really cool.

Kickball or the Juddies?

I would choose kickball because I think there’s something fun about having an active game. Now I like the glam of the Juddies, so I’ll give it that. It’s always really fun to dress up, and I like how Student Life elevated the Juddies last year and did it in Binkley. But there’s just something about my heart that loves getting lost in a field somewhere with copious amounts of sweat, paint, and potentially a blue Gatorade.

Niche Elliott House fact?

A lot of people think that Elliott house is founded after Jim Elliott, but we’re actually founded after Larry and Jean Elliott, and their story is so cool. But it’s really hard to find information about them. Something that we personally found interesting — and we interpreted it into some of the merch that we gave to freshman — was a major part of their ministry. During their 20-some years of serving in Honduras, they built a lot of wells. And so we’ve had a mini tradition of handing out bottlecaps and incorporating water elements into our initiations to try to pay homage to that. While their passing in Iraq is an important part of their story, they spent so many years in Honduras getting resources to people and using that as a method to share the gospel.

Fall Retreat or Calibrate?

Fall Retreat 100%. I like Calibrate, don’t get me wrong. But there’s something that I really love about being outside and hearing people in community with one another in God’s creation. I especially love the half day of prayer and watching people walk around and pick a rock or a patch of sunlight or picnic table and just sit there for three hours and really lock in.

A lot of what I would describe as college life is little spurts of energy here or there, spurts of productivity or focus. It’s neat to have a moment to sit down and say, “Hey, I’ve got three hours. There’s nothing to do right now. I don’t have to be with people. I don’t have to do something. I can just be with God.” That’s really neat. I love the Fall Retreat.

Biggest lesson that your house has taught you?

In our digital age, something that our generation really struggles with is being willing to be in community with people who think, process, and believe differently than we do. There is a narrative that you get to choose who you’re surrounded by — and that’s true, and you should be choosing wisely who you let speak into your life — but I also think people use that as a method of complacency to avoid being uncomfortable or learning to be kind to people who may be different from them.

What I’ve learned in the House System is that there are never two alike people in any given house. Houses will always have an overall community or identity, and those are good things to have. But individually, those parts are made up of really, really different people. Especially during my year as chancellor, sometimes I was frustrated — and other times really encouraged — by how each person in our house thinks through things differently and enjoys things differently. It was good for me to learn how to say, “Hey, this isn’t my cup of tea. I don’t really love this type of event, but I know that my friend does, and it would still be good for me to spend time in community.”

Advice for an incoming freshman?

Leaders are here to pour into you and care about you and help you feel at home, but they can only do as much as you are willing to also give back. The House System is here to guide you. It’s here to lead you. It’s here to help you and to smooth some of those harder bumps and ridges. But it’s not going to be able to be a full tank of gasoline. You’ve got to at least get to the gas station. I think to be a part of community, even when you’re starting out, you have to be willing to sacrifice and pour out a little bit for the good of the overall community. If you want fellowship, you have to be an active piece of that. You can’t just be on the sideline.

If you want fellowship, you have to be an active piece of that. You can’t just be on the sideline.

Advice or encouragement for your house this year?

We’re just entering our third year; we’re still in a growing phase. I think that’s easy to forget because we were Judson House and we still have members who remember that transition. But functionally, Elliott started only two years ago. Sometimes we can play a comparison game with other houses that are already established. But we’re figuring it out. We’re starting over, and that’s okay.

As a young house, we have a really cool opportunity to decide who we want to be and what culture we want to have. We have a significantly more malleable identity than other houses do. If we avoid looking at that as a handicap and instead look at it as an opportunity, we have an awesome chance to grow as believers, grow as people, and establish something really cool for the new students who come after us.

 

Keep an eye out for other upperclassman house spotlights, and learn more about Judson’s House System by visiting judsoncollege.com/housesystem.