Lance Pickens.

My defacto ICC roommate, but don't tell the ICC housing director. The first time I ever met Lance was the first time I went anywhere with Mallory and her friends. It was ICC's first football game 2006. Mallory knew him and he asked us if we wanted to go for the BSU to Walmart to buy some clothes for a man in need. I thought Lance was like the assistant BSU director, seeing how he looked thirty years old with his full beard. My first several encounters with Lance, I didn't really like him much. My style and his style did not perfectly line up. Then there was the incident with the 56 and kickball at ICC, but I forgave him for that. Our friendship really began to grow because of our mutual convictions and beliefs about the Bible. My sophomore year at ICC, Lance and I really became close friends. He stayed in my dorm room two or three nights per week. We'd stay as a group at the BSU until two or three o'clock in the morning and then me and Lance would talk until four or five or until we just couldn't stay awake any longer. Girls, God, and life were our conversation topics. We talked about everything we knew about all three of those, and we learned about each of them every day. We fought the liberals at the BSU together like a poor man's Adrian Rogers and Jerry Vines. Few people I can say this about, but there are no secrets between me and Lance. There may be details or recent events I don't know about him and vice versa, but there's nothing too piercing we haven't asked or shameful or secret that we have held back. We know too much about each other to not be friends. Youth camp is also a common bond Lance and I share. He started coming a few years back and has come ever since, which only furthers the depth of our friendship. What I love about Lance is what everyone loves… never a dull moment. He defines "life of the party." But what makes him and me close is that he's not afraid to call me out in my sins to keep me accountable. That has been the most consistent tie that binds him and me. That is the kind of friend I hope everyone has. They are both hard to find and essential.