the undergrad

I just arrived home from completing my undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics with a Minor in Biblical Studies. After finals, grad weekend, so many goodbyes, a lot of packing, and a road trip that finished half an hour ago, writing any form of summary of the past four years seems daunting at best. And so this is just a few of the takeaways foremost in my tired and overwhelmed mind. 

Just do something. 

Taking a self-defense class this semester, I quickly picked up on my instructor's most common phrase: "It doesn't matter what you do as long as you do something." While that may be a life-saving self-defense strategy, it is also much more than that. TWU is a small community, and in many ways a microcosm of the larger world community. In my time there, I learned the power of seeing a problem, identifying an issue, or discovering a passion and then doing something about it. In my first year, it was the Syrian refugee crisis, and with the help of some friends it meant throwing together a night of awareness for the cause. Or it meant seeing a lack of prayer on campus, and with the help of some friends starting a prayer team that has since become part of the TWU culture. It might have been small things like raising my hand and asking a question in class, or it might have been bigger things like organizing a way for the campus to donate and recycle during move-out this year. There is so, so much more I could have done, but I did learn the power of simply taking the first step of action to make ideas and ideals become reality. This is a mentality I believe will be transformational in my life. 

Stay open. 

I really do hold that true education leaves you with more questions than answers. I took many classes in which the professors presented ideas and questions I had never encountered before or never had the courage to ask before. Sometimes I responded in initial defense, afraid of the implications of being wrong. But over time, I have learned more and more to sit in a posture of receptivity, not seeking the new right answer as much as seeking the unexpected, and waiting for it however it comes. Life is absolutely more difficult in the limbo of uncertainty, but at the same time life is far more beautiful when I live open to listen, hear, consider, and learn. 

Don't do it alone. 

The buzzword at TWU is "community," but I did truly learn how essential it is to have people along on our journey. Whether that be a roommate who taught me how to have fun, a professor who called out my potential, a staff member who dug in deep, a spiritual director who shifted my perspectives, a mentor encouraged my emotions, or a friend who joined me in challenging all the norms, I am far more of who I was meant to be now than I was four years ago. I am so grateful for each precious friend who encouraged, affirmed, challenged, and accompanied me along the way, and I am reminded that we were truly made to do this together.