“[Biola] has just fostered incredible growth, depth and joy in all the right and good things… he's more intentional, more patient, more humble, more other-focussed, more intentionally loving toward his siblings, more dedicated to lifting up what is good and honoring to the Lord.”

What’s the real Biola difference?

Your student could get a college degree from anywhere. It’s true — they have literally thousands of options in the U.S. alone! But in no way is every bachelor’s degree the same.

At the heart of a Biola education is a desire to form students as whole people. Students aren’t just learning content; they’re learning to think critically and ask questions. To listen well. To love God and neighbor.

Biolans spend four years being mentored by Christian faculty and dwelling deeply on questions like “what does it look like to flourish as a human being?” “What is my duty to my neighbor? My city?” “What would ‘success’ look like in my life?” “How can my career in business/nursing/teaching be a ministry?

Biola mom Laura sees this whole-person formation in her current Biola student, so she wrote to our president, Dr. Barry Corey, to let him know the Biola difference she has experienced in her son, Johnny.

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Dear Barry,

I have intended for a while to write and say just how profoundly grateful John and I are for all you are doing at Biola, for what a truly, truly wonderful place it has been for Johnny. He has grown and deepened in his faith, his love and pursuit of the Lord in ways beyond even what I anticipated.

As I have told so many friends, Biola has pulled out the very best of him and of his many God-given characteristics and gifts. He was accepted at a secular film school, but as is evident from his friends who have gone to those college settings, he would have been pulled strongly to darker things. When he comes home, he is so excited about his Bible classes, and he has dug into Scripture in ways he might have aspired to before, but didn't get to.

He is so social that the environment at Biola, where others are pulling toward and growing in the same way, has just fostered incredible growth, depth and joy in all the right and good things. I see the difference in him every time he comes home — he's always been a wonderful kid, and gifted, but he's more intentional, more patient, more humble, more other-focussed, more intentionally loving toward his siblings, more dedicated to lifting up what is good and honoring to the Lord. I cannot tell you how grateful I am as a mother (and of course John agrees with me, but since I'm the one writing!) for the kindness, the mentoring, the call to excellence, the spiritual formation, the joy and fun that Biola faculty and you yourself have poured into Johnny. He's growing his skills in great ways there, but most importantly growing so much in his character, love for and commitment to the Lord.

We are grateful to you personally for your encouragement to him, for inviting him to your discipleship times, and for how much he enjoys all his interactions with you, running into you at school, and your fun-loving spirit and willingness to engage with him and the other students, all while calling them to love the Lord. I've been meaning to write to you for a while. I'm sure you hear a lot about how Biola has impacted student lives, but I just really wanted to let you know how profoundly grateful I am as a mother, truly from the bottom of my heart, that Johnny is at Biola.

May the Lord protect, grow and greatly bless all that you are doing to honor Him at Biola.

In Him,

Laura

PS -- feel free to share any of this with prospective parents!