Adam Kitchens has been wandering, searching for a place to belong.
At this time last year, Grace's sophomore midfielder was attending school in North Carolina with hopes of becoming a fireman. The year before, he was playing soccer at Grace's conference rival Indiana Wesleyan. He disliked both places.When Kitchens graduated from Warsaw Community High School in 2007, he promised he would never go to Grace. He wanted to play soccer "for a top program," and at the time, the Lancers were coming off of four straight losing seasons.
So the Warsaw Tigers' standout went to Indiana Wesleyan. Athletically, he had a solid freshman year; he started four games, and the Wildcats finished first in the Mid-Central College Conference.
Socially, however, he knew he wasn't in the right place.
"There were times I would go out and hang out with whoever," Kitchens said. "It seemed like the people were more focused on themselves than reaching out. I didn't feel like anyone was trying to be my friend. That drew me away from going out and socializing."
On top of that, Kitchens struggled academically, and he detested the city of Marion. "There was something about the environment that made me want to leave," Kitchens continued.
He needed to get away.
His sister's fiancé attended North Carolina State, and an opportunity arose for Kitchens to move to North Carolina and attend Durham Technical Community College in pursuit of a fire science degree to become a firefighter.
"I had just signed with Grace and I was looking forward to playing against him," said Justin Evans, a high school teammate and longtime friend of Kitchens. "Next thing I knew he was leaving in his truck to go down to school in North Carolina for a semester. He's always been one to go off his gut feeling and not really rationalize real well. He learns a lot from experience."
Again, Kitchens struggled socially in North Carolina. Sometimes his commute to class took more than an hour, and his peers included gung-ho volunteer firefighters who came to class wearing firefighting gear. "Typically, when you earn a degree, you are like the other people (in your field)," he said. "I was completely different."
Perhaps even more critical, for the first time since he was six years old, Kitchens had to deal with the absence of competitive soccer in his life. He wasn't wearing a jersey for the first time in 14 years.
To compensate, Kitchens long-boarded through the rolling Carolina hills and tried to find pickup soccer games at N.C. State. When he did play, it was usually with inept players who just kicked the ball around.
While his friends were in Indiana playing soccer, Kitchens felt like he was ensnared in a burning building in North Carolina, trying to escape.
"I felt like I just didn't belong to anyone, and I wasn't out there for a purpose," Kitchens said. "There was no rhyme or reason...I was just lost."
The smoke slowly began to clear when he returned to his parents' Winona Lake home over fall break. There, he met with Grace head soccer coach Matt Hotchkin.
The former Northland International University head coach was in his first season at the helm of Grace's program. When he initially came to campus, he heard rumors about a local kid named Adam Kitchens who had transferred from Indiana Wesleyan. Many urged Hotchkin to recruit the IWU-transfer-firefighter-to-be.
Over fall break, Hotchkin and Kitchens sat down at the 1000 Park Bãkafé in Winona Lake to talk about Kitchens' future over a cup of coffee. Kitchens' heart ached to play soccer again-and when he saw that Grace's program had become drastically more competitive, he began to consider becoming a Lancer.
Kitchens returned home and enrolled in classes at Ivy Tech Community College during the spring semester, which allowed him to practice with Grace's team during the winter. He found himself playing with several of his former Warsaw teammates: Evans, Adam Churchill, Jordan Sharp and Trenton Porter.
"I came back in the fall, and I was drained emotionally and spiritually," he said. "Coming back and playing soccer with people that wanted to win, I just felt like that's where I belonged. I was doing what I was born to do."
With time, he began to feel like part of the team. Although he was worried about getting accepted because of his poor grades at Indiana Wesleyan, Grace eventually accepted him. Toward the end of the spring semester, Kitchens signed his letter of intent to play soccer at Grace College.
For the first time in his college experience, he was part of not only a team but also a school.
"(Throughout the summer), I waited everyday for the first day of preseason to train and put on that Grace College uniform," Kitchens grinned. "I was just looking forward and longing to play a collegiate game once again."
Grace's season kicked off on the road against Saint Francis of Illinois. The Lancers trailed 2-1 when Kitchens received a pass from teammate Greg Fulton. Kitchens fired the ball from 25-yards-out into the upper-right corner of the goal to tie the game, his first collegiate goal since Oct. 27, 2007-when he scored against Grace.
"I was overwhelmed with emotion," Kitchens said. "My dad was there and I looked over and pointed to him. That's when I was like, 'This is where I belong.'"
Kitchens, now an elementary education major, is third on the team with five goals and has helped lead the Lancers to a 7-6-1 overall record. And unlike the past two years, he enjoys the school he attends.
"It was just so cool to see how God worked it out," Evans said. "To see how God had to pull him out of IWU-to take him down to North Carolina-to learn he didn't want to be a fireman-to get to Grace and pursue an education and pursue the Lord."
After two years of wandering, Kitchens finally found his home.
