Bryan Arvelo, junior theology major, returned to Southern Adventist University after taking a semester break due to developing Guillain-Barre syndrome over the summer.
Tierra Hayes: What’s it like to be back at Southern?
Bryan Arvelo: It’s really nice. I feel lucky and blessed to be back at Southern. My word for the semester is “chill” and I’m doing everything that I can to be chill. I’m only taking 12 credits. I’m only committing to the things that I really want to be doing just because I want to focus really hard on my emotional and physical recovery. I realized in the past when I have to plan my full day by the hour it just creates a burden on my physically. This semester I’m really focusing on relaxing as much as I can and just staying as chill as possible.
What did you miss the least about Southern?
Oh, I never thought about that. All the walking. Even though it’s great exercise, I got used to being at home for that semester and just sitting on the couch watching Netflix. But yeah, all the walking and sort of how rushed sometimes the day feels while you’re at Southern.
What did you miss the most about Southern?
I would say the people of course. But I felt like the people supported me in a really great way even though I wasn’t at Southern, when they did that worship service for Evensong that one time and with the tshirts and the LAC vespers, I felt like people missed me the most too and that made me feel really special.
Has the attention been overwhelming?
I’m very extroverted so I fuel from people hitting me up and wanting to hang out with me. Now you can’t do everything. Like people will ask me for favors or they want me to help them out with a project and sometimes I have to politely say no but in general, I love hanging out with friends and with people who want to talk. So it’s been really special and not overwhelming.
So, are you working for Campus Ministries again?
I am. I’m a LifeGroup Coach. I really love my job at Campus Ministries. As a LifeGroup Coach I have to meet with people one on on and I remember when I was in the hospital I wanted to talk with people one on one just as I did at my job. I remember that I would talk to the nurses as they came into the room and I would be like “Where are you from?” “Do you have any siblings?” “What do you do?” And I realized I was really missing my job so much that I was trying to work while in the hospital. So yeah, I;m back at Campus Ministries because I’m realizing it is a passion of mine.
How are your parents with letting you go for the semester? Have they been calling you everyday?
Definitely, but my parents aren't invasive, but I am an only child. I was just talking to my mom before I came here and she was like “When am I going to see you again?” and I was like “Mom, you’re the parent. You come and visit me.” So yeah, my parents have been super supportive and my mom said that a lot of her friends thought that she would be too hurt to let me go back to school after spending that whole hospital experience together, but my mom is not like that. My mom says that what she wants most for me is for me to continue growing. She says “Go back to Southern and continue getting your degree because that’s just what you have to do.”
What would you want for people on campus to understand about your experience?
I think that something I want people to understand about my experience is that life is too short to be stressed out about silly things. I think there are things in life worth stressing about and worth investing our emotional efforts in but I feel like before my hospital experience I would become so anxious and so overwhelmed and saddened when I’d just be late to class. And I’m not saying that we should always be late to class, but I’ve learned that there’s things in life more important. Things in life that have more value. As simple as it is, having air to breathe, being able to eat, being able to move things with our hands and walk and talk. Those things were all taken away from me. And as I’ve been so blessed to given them back, I’ve realized there are so many things that I used to put my emotional effort in that don’t really matter too much in the long run.
It’s a cliche quote, but “too blessed to be stressed” I feel that 100 percent.
I think also something that I’d like people to remember is to let people know that you love them. When I was in the hospital I tried really hard to let the people that I could be in contact with that I loved them. We don’t know when our last day of life is. We don’t know how long we have on earth and to think that tomorrow I might go and today I didn’t tell anyone that I loved them is very scary. I think it’s almost a little selfish. I think people should appreciate the things God gifts us with because just being able to walk and speak and eat are gifts. They’re not things that we deserve and secondly let people know that you love them. SImply by a hug, simply by spending quality time. Don’t take people for granted because you never know when they might be gone.