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Addy is a first-year student at UNCW who always felt like she had one eye on campus and the other on the exit. Within weeks of arriving, her browser history was full of transfer requirements at other schools. When the email came from one of those schools saying, “Congratulations, you’ve been accepted,” she took it as confirmation that leaving was the right next step. What she hadn’t seen was how one small corner of this campus had already started to make leaving much harder than she expected.

When she got to UNC Wilmington, campus ministry was the last thing on her mind. Growing up in churches with harmful theology and actions, she left church at the age of 16 with no interest in coming back. But when she learned of Wingspan’s motto, “If we meet, we eat.” she figured the food would be better than the dining hall and planned to leave shortly after the meal.

Yet, what she found was different. She found a place where the people appreciated her and welcomed her whole self. She found a Christianity where she didn't have to abandon part of herself. “Previosly, churches told me I had to choose between Christianity or my sexuality, and I don't want to hate myself, so I left the church” Addy remembers, “but with Wingspan I am accepted for everything I am. That never felt attainable before.”

Even still, the political climate during her first semester confirmed Addy’s beliefs that she should transfer. When Appalachian State accepted her application, she was overjoyed. But in the days that followed, reality began to set in. Addy had built her chosen family at Wingspan and the grief of leaving them was overwhelming. “Eventually I saw the strong relationships I had built in Wingspan and felt like it would be stupid to leave them behind.” Addy continues, “Why would I leave my chosen family here just to start from scratch somewhere else? Wingspan is the reason I’m still at UNCW.”

Since then she has become even more involved in the community. She shows up before work to help cook meals, has signed up for the Spring Break Service Trip, and has become an expert at spinning cotton candy for Wingspan fundraisers. While she is still exploring what Christianity means to her, Addy has committed to daily prayer. The God she once associated with shame and smallness has become a loving God who welcomes all, even her, with open arms. She arrived at UNCW with an exit strategy. Now, instead of planning how to get out, she is learning what it means to stay.