Adjusting to college is never easy. Experiencing life in a new town with new friends, freedoms and expectations. It can be overwhelming for the typical 18-year-old. But imagine adding "new continent" to the equation. Nothing is familiar. You are immersed in a culture of people who don't think, act or talk like you, and you are forced to try a new cuisine at each meal.

That's the story of Elna de Villiers. One she has lived every day for the last four years.

The economic struggles of the United States strike Albert Pujols differently than most. After all, when you've grown up amid conditions far worse than what the average American considers difficult, it puts things in perspective. While the economic crash of the U.S. is indeed serious, if not critical, the reality remains that many countries are filled with citizens who have been battling for years to find a single daily meal.

No, Pujols himself was never a starving child, but he wasn't wealthy. And the scenes he saw growing up in the Dominican Republic, where he lived before moving with his family to the U.S. at the age of 15, have fueled in him a passion for reaching those in need.

You shouldn't need to consult an atlas to know that Las Vegas and Harrisonburg, Va., are pretty far apart. Not only are they separated by miles — 1,989 to be exact — but also by climate, terrain and, most notably, lifestyle.

But God's power is not restricted by earthly distances. He gives each of us the ability to touch lives no matter what our location, especially in today's connected society. In the case of James Madison University basketball player Heiden Ratner, who hails from Vegas and attends college in Harrisonburg, there is one athlete influencing lives for Christ on both sides of the country. It is a calling he received neither in Vegas nor Virginia, but in a small town in northern Georgia called Lookout Mountain.

Her name is often stretched across the headlines of sports pages around the nation: Courtney Paris, University of Oklahoma All-American. Of course, it’s hard not to talk about an athlete who frequently adds to her growing list of NCAA records, which already stood at an astonishing 16 at the beginning of her senior year.

But unlike many egocentric players who drool at the mention of having their name in print, Paris remains unfazed. Yes, it comes with the territory, but to her it is “irrelevant.” She is too focused to get caught up in the hype surrounding achievements. She knows her most significant accomplishments won’t ever be listed in press clippings. Rather, they are humbly imprinted on the lives of those she influences.