It was about 10 a.m. in the campus coffee shop as I sat across from junior engineering major Cody Tjomsland. We were seated at a high table, a good view over the room as it buzzed with caffeine-induced productivity.
As we chatted, a couple of people came up to talk to us, welcomed interjections as Tjomsland and I meandered between topics.
One thing stood out to me about Tjomsland during these interactions. As people were coming up to greet us, he would focus on them, asking them good and thoughtful questions about how school, work or other areas in their lives were going. He remained focused on others, which struck me as I, trying my best to be a good interviewer, asked him questions about himself.
I’ve known Tjomsland for three years. We are both juniors, both student athletes and we lived together in Pollard our freshman year, so we have run in adjacent circles all through college. I still remember the first time I met him, out in front of the building on move-in day.
Tjomsland stands at about six-foot-five, so I had asked him, naturally, if he came to Union to play a sport. He said no, but that he was going to try to walk on to the baseball team, and if that didn’t work out he would try out for the Jaxx (the club ultimate frisbee team).
Almost three years later and he is on the baseball team, an integral part of Union’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and involved in many other campus organizations.
Tjomsland’s levels of involvement impressed me. I know firsthand what it feels like to balance class, practices and other responsibilities beyond those. Yet even I was amazed as he continued to list what fills his schedule. Along with the nearly year-round schedule of collegiate baseball and his leadership in Union’s FCA chapter, Tjomsland studies engineering, serves in the worship band at his church and helps lead regular worship nights around campus.
His involvement in all these things came at even more of a surprise when he told me that it was never really in his plan to come to Union.
“I actually applied to the Coast Guard Academy. I ended up getting waitlisted twice; it just didn’t work out,” Tjomsland said. “That was totally God, because being here for these three years has been awesome.”
Getting waitlisted ended up being a blessing in disguise.
After his mother encouraged him to apply to Union for its strong engineering department and club frisbee team, he began to realize his baseball career might not be over.
Tjomsland’s training for the Coast Guard, as well as high school baseball in the central Florida area, helped give him the confidence to ask for a tryout from Union’s baseball team. He had emailed the staff while he was still in high school a few times and never heard back, but once he got on campus he knew he needed to go up to Fesmire Fieldhouse and talk in person with them. They gave him a two-week tryout period that started on a Tuesday; by Saturday he was on the team.
“That whole process was crazy because I basically just bugged and bugged and bugged until they let me try out, and then it didn’t take very long,” Tjomsland said. “You do all that you can until a door is slammed in your face … luckily that didn’t happen.”
Tjomsland prides himself on his versatility. Freshman year he pitched and played outfield and sophomore year he was exclusively on the mound. So far this season, he has already had two separate pitching stints as well as some time at first base.
“I knew coming in that I would take the opportunity to help the team in any way I could. I know that’s my role, and I’m just happy to be a part of it. It’s totally up to me to make the most of it, which is super freeing. There’s zero pressure. It’s kind of nice,” Tjomsland said with a laugh.
Once he was on the baseball team, Tjomsland started attending FCA. Union’s FCA chapter was new during his freshman year, and he quickly realized it was something he wanted to be a part of. FCA’s leadership wanted to incorporate more elements of worship into their weekly meetings and needed people who were musically talented. Enter Tjomsland, someone who had experience leading worship at his home church and had been playing the drums since he was nine.
Now, as the class of athletes who founded the chapter begins to graduate out, Tjomsland once again has stepped up to the plate and is ready to lead.
“We’re learning more of what it looks like to lead an entire Sunday of FCA, and what goes into planning schedules for events such as the FCA kickoff. We’re going to sponsor events like FCA kickoff, a pickleball tournament, as well as lead spontaneous worship nights and other things like that,” Tjomsland said.
After he talked about playing drums for his church here in Jackson on the occasional Sunday or Wednesday, I asked him if he ever feels overwhelmed or exhausted from the different things he’s involved in. The dangers of overcommitment and burnout are very real, and to me, an introvert, Tjomsland seems like he’s fast-tracking for a similar demise to many other college students. When I ask him about this, he laughed and said that he does in fact get tired, but is quick to assure me that his exhaustion is only a result of school and sports, not any of his other extracurriculars.
“Between FCA and my involvement at church, that has been my biggest stress relief,” Tjomsland said. “When we have worship nights, when I go on a Wednesday and Sunday morning, and I get to fellowship with other athletes and believers, that’s been my upkeep. That definitely has not been a burden, that’s been a blessing.”
Tjomsland exhibits a level of selflessness we all should try to imitate. Whether on the baseball field, in FCA, at church or even in the interactions I was privy to in the coffee shop, Tjomsland maintains an outward posture. Always focusing on others, he is able to make others feel seen and heard in a unique way.
When I ask him about his goals for this upcoming season of life, he mentions a few things you would expect: to continue to grow and refine his role on the baseball team, to learn a new instrument and to continue to minister to the athletes on campus through FCA. However, one thing he says stands out to me. His involvement in the various activities in his life put him in a unique position to see lives changed through the work of Christ, and he wants to continue to see that as he steps into even more of a leadership role.
“There are a lot of people on this campus who want to see both this campus and our community change,” Tjomsland said. “I want to continue to be a part of that, to see athletics flourish, to be more united, to see revival happen…”
“I love being a part of that.”
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