Begin by living well

By Deborah Lilly

Curt Trent, a junior at AU, has heard his father tell the story again and again. It was Nov. 22, 1963. Keith Trent, 13, sat in his classroom listening to the intercom announcement that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Now Sept. 11, 2001, has become a similar moment for the younger Trent.

The morning of Sept. 11, Trent was in a learning experiential psychology class. “That was the first day we were going to spend with our rats in the laboratory. Everyone was pretty excited,” he remembers. But then Dr. Curtis Leach came in with the sobering news. Trent says, “We decided to close up shop right then and go check out what was happening.”

At the Raven’s Haven, Trent and his classmates watched events unfold on the big-screen television. When it was time for chapel, Trent admits they were reluctant to leave. So much happened in 45 minutes. What could happen next? But there was also a sense of needing to come together as a community and of gaining perspective from campus authorities.

“There was a lot of commotion in chapel,” says Trent. “People were preoccupied and felt uncomfortable being there considering everything that was happening.” But Dr. James Edwards, AU president, instructed the students that part of their Christian duty was to go on living well. For Trent if there was anything he could do, that was the place to begin. Trent says, “I remember not feeling any hesitance to worship that day. It was ironic to know about the tragedy that had taken place and still be able to sing [praise songs] with joy.”

Classes at AU continued throughout the day but took on a different tone. In his afternoon class, Trent’s professor realized students had witnessed a significant event in their lives and allowed time for discussion and reflection.

Outside of class, Trent says, “Some of the first people I talked to were my political science and history friends.” Not to debate issues but to gather information to help him understand the situation.

While life went on at AU, life was different. Students wanted to understand and they wanted to help. They attended faculty/staff-led discussion and prayer groups. Trent, student body vice president, joined other classmates in Student Government Association (SGA) in raising money for the American Red Cross. “I think adding those things into our schedules made us be very intentional about our concern and our desire to pray and to think about the situation,” says Trent.

Trent’s vision of his future is different, too. A psychology major with a Christian ministries minor, he is interested in missions work. During his college years, he has spent time in China working with the English Language Institute and in Tanzania with Tri-S. “I’ve wondered what affect, if any, this has on global missionaries,” he says.

For now, he’s trying to carry out Edwards’ advice to go on living well. Over fall break, he flew to Los Angeles to visit a friend. “People are realizing that we do have to move on and the best way to beat fear is to stand up to it,” he says. Not to mention, “Air fares are really low right now. College students like that.”