From the desk

As I wove my little SUV into a parking spot a good hike away from my office, I instantly regretted the decision to wear heels. Yet, as I made the trek toward DeMos,s I realized I might actually miss this.

Bollinger

In 26 days, I will be a college graduate. It seems crazy that three years ago when I transferred to Liberty University I thought there was no end in sight. Yet, here I am, preparing not only to graduate, but also to get married.

But, back to graduation.

Graduating is expensive, something all college seniors are now learning. It is easy to look at all of the different fees associated with this right of passage and opt out of the seemingly “all-for-show” ceremony. It is easy to think of graduation as a duty, but that is not what it is.

I was asked a few months ago who I would choose, if I could choose, to speak at my graduation. I instantly spouted out five names of Christians who have made an impact.

But that is not what graduation is about either.

Graduation is a celebration. It is for us. It is not about what big name can come and speak and how many cords you have earned to wear on your robe. It is about celebrating that fact that we are finishers.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

For this time in our lives, as students, the race set before us is college.

We celebrate graduation not to show off, but to encourage a generation of adults who have succeeded in completing the race they were given.

We get so caught up in making everything bigger and better. Universities make graduation less about the students and more about the speaker.

Well, for me, graduation is a chance to declare that I did not back down. I won. I finished the race. It is a chance for us to encourage those who will come after us to press forward.

According to the Nation Center for Education Statistics’ latest survey, only 37 percent of students who enter four-year collegiate programs actually graduate within the four years.

With the odds against us, we are the few who made it to the end.

In 26 days I am graduating. I don’t care who speaks, or what I have to wear, because in 26 days I will have won.

One comment

  • I just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your writing! I wish you the very best in the future! Hopefully when I’m at Liberty I’ll be as good at writing as you are.

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