Campfire Talk by Nick Luna

Wednesday – July 30, 2025

Hi, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Nick Luna (Tuna) . I am a second year on life squad and I am going to be a junior at Iowa State in the fall. Growing up as a young kid I always wanted to be in the military or a service job such as firefighter, cop or an FBI agent, which was my dream job. I always wanted to do those things growing up because they would allow me to help other people which is something that I love to do. All throughout high school I took every criminal justice class possible and even did a couple ride-alongs with my dads buddy.

Every year for Halloween I would dress up as a cop, firefighter or military man, thinking that this is what I was going to do one day. It was a huge personality trait of mine.

As a senior in high school I was deciding between college or the military. Ultimately I decided on college as my parents and I thought it would be the better career path for me. Spoiler alert it was but at the time I had no clue. I moved into college and took 5 criminal justice classes my freshman year wanting to major in criminal justice and become an FBI agent or navy seal. Some of my friends would even call me navy seal tuna. I ended my freshman year with some not great grades in criminal justice but still wanting to become an FBI agent chasing my childhood dream. Coming to camp last summer I even did a couple navy seal exercises in the waterfront with Caleb last year. Still thinking I wanted to become one until I got to the start of my sophomore year of college and had no absolute clue what I wanted to do. It felt like something just wasn’t right. I didn’t feel passionate anymore, and I realized maybe criminal justice was not for me. I honestly had no clue what I wanted my major to be and was super confused on what to do with my life. My first week of sophomore year, I felt totally lost and discouraged. I had a lot of anxiety about what I would end up choosing and if it would be the right choice or not.

I couldn’t come up with anything that stuck out to me, so I called the one person who always knew what to do, my Mom. She brought up how people had always told me I would be a good teacher.

I emailed one of my former teachers who had always tried to get me to go into teaching and she told me she would do anything she could do to help me get on the right track. My Mom also brought up being a teacher due to how much I loved being on staff my first year and teaching kids. I have always loved helping kids by leading Sunday school or counseling up here and now even on staff. So a few days later I emailed my advisor and said I would like to change my major to education and minor in psychology and secondary education. I had always had interest in being a teacher but I never thought I would or could do it. I was still very nervous about whether this would be the right decision for me or not and ended up going home the second weekend of school to have my Mom help calm me down. I was nervous about what people would think of me and choosing a career like teaching because of all those stereotypes that most of you have probably heard about, like not making good money or being “manly” enough. To be honest I still do think about these things, but the amount of support and positive comments I have gotten about how good of a teacher I will be has made me realize how right this decision is for me. 

My parents had full support of me and were willing to help me in any way but I still wasn’t feeling totally confident. I started taking history classes and education classes and shadowing teachers in Iowa, which I absolutely loved. I finally started to love what I was doing and I could see it when I wanted to go to class and learn about anything history related or anything teaching related. I had never cared about school before at all until this year and I truly believe that it was because I found something I loved doing. Spring semester came around and after coming off of one of the best GPAs in my life and working the hardest I had ever worked on in school I was still nervous and anxious that I couldn’t do it. I got my first exam back in my hardest class and it was a 75% for the first time in my life. I was mad at myself for how bad I did. In the past I would have jumped with joy about getting a 75% on a test but not this time. I called my Mom and told her that I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this or not and was scared for if I could. She told me “Nick you can do this and I am so proud of you no matter what and God will lead you down the right path”. So I emailed my teacher and asked what I can do better. She gave me feedback and we went over my test. I was still really struggling on if I could do it or not and was completely doubting myself going into my next exam. On my next exam I got a 91%. I called my Mom immediately and told her the news. My Mom told me she had never been more proud of me and she knew I could do it.

I had never been more proud of myself than in this moment and this is when I finally realized that this is what I was meant to do.

I kept going through the semester and got a B+ in that class. It was my hardest class yet my favorite. I had a better time learning in that class than I ever had. This class was my history education class taught by a professor who also believed in me the whole way and told me that my writing gets better every time and she was proud of my growth. I ended that semester just a little bit below my other GPA but two of the best GPAs I have ever had after my freshman year being the two worst I have ever had. I believe that God gave me this place to realize who I was and what his purpose was for me. It encouraged me to find my passion for teaching and I believe God had me go to college to realize that i was meant to change lives in a different ways than I had originally planned by being in the services. I have never been happier with a decision in my life and I truly believe that it is God’s plan for me to be a teacher and help kids in ways that a military man can’t. I was crushed when I didn’t love the military or criminal justice but now I realize that it was all a part of God’s plan for me.

It is okay to be uncertain and it is okay to not know what you’re going to do.

All that matters is what you truly love and you believe that God / the Universe’s plan for you is a good one. Caleb once told me “God’s plan is meant for your happiness and what makes you happy not what makes other people happy”. I have a quote from Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths”. This verse says that you can’t fully do everything by yourself and you need to lean in and trust and you will be led down your specific path.