“What first attracted me to her was her compassion for others. She is the sweetest, most caring person I have ever met. She is one of the few people that I have ever been able to talk to about anything and everything. She encourages me, challenges me and strengthens me and I honestly would probably fall apart without her. She makes me want to be the best man I can be, and I love her more than I ever knew it was possible to love another person.”
Collin Battaglia, a Refuge leader and senior majoring in biblical studies, Christian theology and biblical languages has had a very exciting start to his last year at Ouachita. On August 6, just a little more than two weeks before school started, Battaglia married the love of his life and his best friend’s sister, Jillian Stewart Battaglia.
“I was around her all the time [in high school] and eventually one day I just saw her differently, and I decided that I liked her. It was pretty awkward at first, being around her family and not being the friend anymore, but being the boyfriend,” Collin said.
When it comes to the future they have together, the Battaglias are excited to see what God has planned for them. After Collin graduates, he is planning to take online seminary classes to begin working on his Master of Divinity.
“I would like to get into ministry as soon as possible,” Collin said.
Collin would ultimately like to be a senior pastor at a church. So, working with Campus Ministries has given him the opportunity to have experience related to his life’s calling.
“Before I came to OBU, I would come to Refuge a couple times with some friends, and I always wanted to be a part of Refuge. So, once I became a freshman here, I came every week and I came pretty consistently the following years. And it was always something I desired to do, to speak at Refuge,” Collin said.
Collin enjoys both leading and simply attending Refuge.
“For me, as one who experiences Refuge, my favorite part has always been that it’s just a time for me to, I guess, recharge and reprioritize and get a new perspective of the week. A lot of times, the stress of the week and school and what’s outside of school, just life in general, I lose perspective of what’s most important and I get bogged down,” Collin said.
Collin enjoys and promotes Refuge because it can help students look at their week in a more positive way.
“As Refuge leaders, we want people to know that this is a place they can come to be honest and to be vulnerable and to take their struggles and bring them before God. And for me, it’s always just been a breath of fresh air,” Collin said.
Outside of Refuge, Collin has other interests as well.
“I enjoy reading a lot. I read a little too much for class, but I like reading outside of class, too,” Collin said.
In addition to his obsession with reading, Collin also has an obsession with giraffes.
“I love giraffes. I have about 20 different giraffes sitting around my house. I’ve always had a fascination with giraffes. I think they’re awesome,” Collin said.
Of course, Collin also loves spending time with his wife and going on date nights with her to Little Rock. He enjoys outdoor activities too, such as kayaking, hammocking, biking, tossing around a football and hiking.
“Anything I can do outside; I love it,” Collin said.
Though Christ and Jillian are his first loves, Collin also has a great love for Ouachita.
“It was my only option really. I never considered anywhere else once I heard about it. I knew we had great professors, and it just always seemed like the place I wanted to be,” Collin said.
When it comes to his favorite parts of Ouachita, Collin has several, but he especially loves the atmosphere of the campus.
“I like how small the campus is because I really didn’t want to go somewhere that was huge. And so, I really enjoy having small classes and getting to know people around me. It feels like home, and that’s something I haven’t had in a while. I just enjoy being here and walking around campus. I love everything about it,” Collin said.
Not only does Collin enjoy his classes, but he also enjoys the professors he has in these classes. He feels very blessed to be learning as much as he has throughout his four years.
Collin has specifically loved being educated about the Bible, which was a relatively new experience for him.
“I didn’t grow up in church. I kind of knew about Jesus. I knew about God from what my mom had told me, but she didn’t take us to church,” Collin said.
While growing up, Collin lived with his twin sister and mother.
“She got divorced when I was in kindergarten and she really struggled with that for several years. So, it was pretty tough growing up, but I had a lot of really good examples as I entered high school teaching me what it means to be a Christian man, you know, what it means to be a man of God. So once I began to have those examples, it got really good and I grew a lot, but as a kid it was honestly pretty tough not having a dad and having a mom who was struggling to provide for us. It was a pretty tough time, but it was good overall because it made me who I am,” Collin said.
By Ethan Dial, staff writer
