HIS SCHOOL PREPARES US NOT ONLY for this world but for the world to come. I truly believe that. It's a fact. And the ineffable joy we experience here . . . is inexplicable, and can only be experienced. We can try [to explain it] as much as we can, but not until you come here to experience it for yourself will you truly, fully understand. I'm so happy I'm a part of this university."

That was Carla Nicholson, biological sciences major, waxing silver-tongued about what she thought about Northern Caribbean University (NCU). Her eloquence notwithstanding, the reader cannot capture the tone of voice, the depth of conviction, the passion in her eyes as she spoke those words. But I did. She was talking to me, coming close to tears at that point.

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The totally unrehearsed comment came at the end of an explanation of how she, an 18-year-old from a poor family, and with seven siblings, was nevertheless determined to become a physician one day. "Despite the fact that there'll be a stack of obstacles in my way," she said, "I'll just make them stepping-stones. I'll get over. If I fall, I'll get up and I'll move on. I will do anything morally correct to get there."

This conversation was taking place in Jamaica on the campus of NCU, a location that's nothing short of beautiful. Situated on a hilltop just outside the town of Mandeville in the center of the island, the campus looks out on the surrounding green hills and countryside to the north. The entire area, in fact, is spectacular. I was all oohs and aahs one gorgeous afternoon, as public relations and special events director Nadeen Campbell-Brown drove me around greater Mandeville, including the locality called Spur Tree Hill. The entire region is high ground, with the most picturesque scenery, complemented by quite a number of beautiful homes-particularly around the area known as "Little England," where, in colonial times, the British erected stately mansions, complete with fireplaces. And not just for show. They needed them during the cooler months, when temperatures in Mandeville (elevation some 1,900 feet) could dip into the 50s or lower. I'd gone to the hilltop campus to check out a report that first came to us from Barry Taylor, vice chancellor for research at Loma Linda University. Something good going on down there, he'd said to editor-in-chief William Johnsson, who in turn casually mentioned it to me. Tantalized by the cryptic tip-off, I decided to go over for a look. So here I was, sitting down with students in a series of interviews to get their side on things.

I discovered that Carla was not alone in her crowing. In fact, with her in the room that day was United Student Movement (USM) parliamentarian Laverda Ramson. As far as Laverda was concerned, the school is doing a marvelous job preparing its students both "for the world outside . . . and for the world to come." NCU graduates catch the eye of employers, she said, in their "level of patience, understanding, professionalism, and expertise." "The refinement that you receive here," she said, "is next to none of any other university in Jamaica. . . . You leave here looking better than you came, speaking better . . . , thinking more independently, even reacting differently."

I'd informed administration ahead of time that I'd like to touch base with students;* and to facilitate the process, they'd handpicked those who would talk with me. Given the arrangement, I was fully aware I was meeting some of those they considered their "best."

But they weren't programmed, that's for sure. In fact, as they sat down with me-whether alone or by twos-it was clear they didn't see things as all sweetness and light. They had concerns, and they expressed them. Concerns about the student-teacher ratio; about technology and resources; about a lack of social activities; about the way students are treated sometimes (it's difficult to get through to administration on student concerns, some said). Other students readily admitted that NCU faces the kind of problems one finds on other Adventist campuses-problems over standards and rules, for example. "You still have students who wish to go to parties and nightclubs and things like that," said one interviewee. And Dane Fletcher, senior theology student and USM president, even expressed the view that many students viewed administrators as "dictators." "[It's] a changing world," he said, referring to chapel attendance, and "some things that worked back in the eighties may not work in this generation."

But even on such touchy issues my interviewees found a way to be philosophical. What the students need to do, said business administration and finance major Charmaine Williams, is simply to "turn these negatives into positives, into stepping-stones to achieving greater things." In any difficulty getting through to administration, for example, "we learn that the world is not a place where all your concerns are readily met. And you become a stronger individual because of it."

On the party/nightclub thing Laverda Ramson also saw another side. As a student adviser in the dormitory, she said, she keeps remembering that some of the students who come to the school are still in their midteens-"children, really . . . and they want to rebel." So punishment for these infractions has to be "flexible and appropriate, with a view to letting them understand the principle you're trying to get across."

And Fletcher, when he finally got where he was headed, ended in what was (for me) a surprising paean of praise for President Herbert Thompson: "A visionary," he glowed. "one of a kind!" "I think God made him and threw away the mold." And what was it about the president that brought such warm praise? "He's motivated," Fletcher said, "a people person, fantastic!"

Why So Upbeat?
I know that you can find student support for administration on any Adventist campus. But what was jumping out at me at NCU had a spontaneity, an unforced enthusiasm, a kind of "first-generation" freshness to it. After interviewing Charmaine Williams and mass communication student Avaleen Morris, I went back to my room and wrote the following in my notebook: "What they said was impressive enough. But the way they said it was something else again. The earnestness. The maturity. The conviction. You sit there, saying in your mind: No, this isn't happening. It's not supposed to be happening. These are students, aren't they? Young adults? They're not supposed to be that positive!"

But I wasn't dreaming-it was happening. And as I pondered the possible reason for it, my mind drifted back to a conversation I'd had over breakfast with members of the university cabinet the first morning of my visit. As the discussion drifted to students and the challenges they faced, university executive vice president Althea McMillan referred to the impact of NCU's mentoring program (see sidebar "We're One"), with other cabinet members adding their impressions.

"Most of our students," explained vice president for university development Daniel Fider, "come from single-parent or broken homes. They have nobody to really talk or relate to." And that's where the mentoring program comes in. It provides students someone they can relate to. For example, a group of students might go to a faculty home for a time of interaction, Fider said. "What's happening? How is school? Are you getting good grades? Are you able to pay your school fees? Are you struggling with any problems?" Such are the exchanges that take place. "When students can talk to their mentors without feeling threatened, that's a big help." The best part, he said, "is when you watch them walk away from you satisfied and smiling; and next day you say, 'Well, how did it go?' And they say, 'Great! It went well.' That's satisfaction!"

So important does administration consider the program that it has designated a special time in the school calendar-one hour on Tuesday afternoon, twice each month-for mentoring activities. And once every semester there are Saturday-night socials, in which all mentors and students join together in respective faculty homes-for games, food, and the discussion of issues. "A wonderful experience," said NCU financial vice president Danieto Murray. President Thompson also gets into the act. Putting into practice the skills he learned working in the bakery as a student, he bakes hundreds of cinnamon-like sweet rolls (with coconut!) and serves hundreds of students at a Saturday-night social once or twice a year. "It's part of my reaching out to them," he said. (During his most recent social more than 1,000 showed up. "We had to start cutting [the rolls] in half!" his wife said, laughing.

That's the spirit I found. "[The mentoring program] is just wonderful," said McMillan. "I can't see us surviving, ever, without it."

Why They Come
Undoubtedly there are many elements that attract students to the hilltop campus. A media center, for example, which, in spite of its primitive appearance, is nevertheless highly functional and respected by government and the private sector. The education offering is strong. And so are theology, the sciences, and business. So strong is the business component, in fact, that when their children joined them after successfully completing NCU's business degree, prominent Adventist business couple Aston and Novelette Tai felt impressed to do something special for the school. Learning that the administration was seeking to develop an enterprise in which students could get practical experience in business to complement their classroom instruction, they were moved to donate more than J$11 million toward the construction of a campus complex that now houses the Hilltop Hotel and Conference Center on the top floor and commercial units (a café, supermarket, post office, gift shop, medical lab, and laundromat) on the ground floor. All supervised by full-time workers, but with the day-to-day activity carried out by students.

Other attractions might be cited-academic or otherwise. But I have the impression that the deepest attraction-and one that has the potential of being most long-lasting-is the personal touch that comes through the school's mentoring program. Again and again students talked to me about the "warm, caring atmosphere" at NCU. "If you're not feeling well," said Avaleen Morris, "if something's wrong and you're sitting alone, someone will come and touch you on the shoulder and say, 'Are you OK?' People will come to you and pray with you. Here many lecturers will go beyond the call of duty to assist you, to make sure you understand-even in statistics."

Charmaine Williams spoke about being "the recipient of a lecturer's prayer." "I've always felt I lacked love and family," she said, but "since I came to this campus, I can say I have more than I could ever want-as in family." "I have teachers that have become my friends, administrators that have become my friends-I mean, mommy/daddy friends! They come to the dorm and look for me; they call me: 'Do you have this or that today? Let me bring it for you.' I would say [to another young person], if you want to meet God, come here."

And that is the message USM vice president and senior theology student Andrew Thomas intends to take back to Toronto, Canada, where he was born. Impressed by God to attend NCU, he has never regretted it. Only a toddler when he first visited the island with his Jamaican parents, he wanted to return, he said, to "experience Jamaica," to establish connection with his roots. "If there's anything I want to do now, it's to go home and promote coming here! I'm dead serious." And what will be his talking point to these young people? "Not just the spirituality," he said, "but the seriousness about God here at NCU."

The enthusiasm I heard in the voices of these students could come only, I think, from a sense of acceptance, a sense of being valued and appreciated by the powers that be on campus. When I asked education student Wanda Brown what was the one thing she'd want the world to know about NCU, the answer was immediate: "First and foremost, that God is here."

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*Special thanks to all those students who provided help and insight for this report-in particular: Wanda Brown, Dane Fletcher, Robert Miller, Avaleen Morris, Carla Nicholson, Laverda Ramson, Andrew Thomas, and Charmaine Williams.

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Roy Adams is an associate editor of the Adventist Review.