CBC Student Story

CBC Student Story

Averi Ratliff My grandparents and dad all attended Central Baptist College, so it always seemed like CBC was where I was supposed to go to college. Honestly, this made me want to go anywhere else. I grew up in Conway and therefore knew and became good friends with lots of students from CBC. The summer before my junior year of high school, I went on a mission trip to Peru and absolutely fell in love with missions. God made it abundantly clear that Central Baptist College was the place and community I needed to be for my college years. Even though I didn’t want to major in missions, CBC is where I could learn and grow with other believers who also desired to reach the nations in college and the rest of their lives. Since the seventh grade, I have wanted to run cross country collegiately and it just so happened that CBC was starting a program my freshman year. Being able to continue my running career at the place I knew God wanted me to pursue my degree was the cherry on top. I decided on Central Baptist College because I was confident this is where the Lord wanted me, I was able to do the sport I love, and I would constantly be surrounded by people that I love and that genuinely care about me. My favorite part about CBC is the sense of comradery that seems to abound in each classroom, on each team, and at every event. In the classroom, teachers truly want you to succeed and will go out of their way to help you achieve your best. There are countless events that are put on for students over the year: Harvest Party, Spring Fling, Hall Wars, random games on the lawn, just to name a few. These are all filled with students looking for a good time with good company, and no one ever leaves disappointed. I love just walking into the library because there will undoubtably be at least 15 people excited to see you and will greet you BY NAME. Our library is amazing because it is more than just a place to study, but certain places allow you to socialize, this is how so many phenomenal relationships are made. Because our school isn’t massive, it doesn’t take long to get to know people. It is so neat to go to a school where you know people, are known by people, and get to do life with awesome people. As a student athlete, I have such a cool perspective of getting to see the classroom “team” and the sports team side of Central Baptist College. I am grateful that the coaches at CBC value academic success over athletic success. Just like showing up and doing your best in practice is essential to doing well in your sport, showing up and doing your best in class is essential to making good grades. Playing a sport in college is a big commitment, you will have a lot going on, but the coaches at CBC do their best to do what they can to help you do well in the classroom. My team gets together for homework sessions once a week to keep everyone on track and to get help from upperclassmen if needed. Athletic teams at CBC are like family, on and off the field. After I graduate from CBC with my degree in Health Sciences, I plan on attending Physical Therapy School at the University of Central Arkansas (P.S. if you’re interested in PT, CBC’s Health Sciences degree has all the pre-requisites for almost all PT programs). The science department at CBC is amazing, and the science teachers are top notch. While I was initially intimidated by their intelligence, it didn’t take long to realize that they believed in me and wanted the best for me. I have all the confidence in the world that CBC is preparing me well for whatever lies ahead. I can go with confidence knowing that my undergraduate experience fully equipped me from an academic standpoint and that the relationships I made while at CBC will last a lifetime.