Reflection

Being able to research an organization with a very dynamic history, not to mention my privilege of currently being a part of this organization, made this project very enjoyable.

I was initially very surprised with how involved FCA actually was on campus at certain points of its life. This made it much easier than anticipated to find records, both in The Trinitonian and Special Collections, that helped create a timeline of FCA.

The most challenging part of this project was using the miniscule pieces of information to ultimately find patterns within the organization's history, in this case, the relatively methodical fluctuation of popularity of the group. I managed this challenge by not only researching the climate of religion on Trinity's campus at specific time periods, but also of the entire United States. Interestingly, Christian right support correlated almost directly with the patterns in FCA popularity.

If I could start over, I would worry less at the beginning of what narrative I was trying to construct and, instead, focus on gathering as much information as possible that would then create its own narrative.

The biggest takeaway concerning the historical process that I learned through this porject is that events can be recorded on a timeline, but the characters in those events create a much more elaborate web around that timeline, often times creating relationships across decades and leaving unintentional patterns behind.

This project has also affected my life outside of the classroom in that it has made me realize that my everyday routine is not so routine at all. Being involved on campus through organizations like FCA or through athletic teams might seem in the present as simply a weekly or daily commitment, but it is that commitment that allows us to create history, whether we realize it or not.