Post-College Two Years

Today marks two years since my graduation from Valparaiso University, the event which inspired the launch of this blog.

Especially in the past year since the one-year anniversary of this event, I've noticed a shift in the way I relate to the Valparaiso University community as an alumnus.  In my first year as an alumnus, I had many connections to campus in the number of people I knew there as students.  But those relationships I had with fellow students are now heading beyond campus.  Indeed, there were a number of times in the past year I visited with ValpU friends in other places beyond campus, as they have now become alumni themselves.  So the campus is no longer the primary setting for the interactions I have with fellow members of the ValpU community, but is nonetheless what inspires me to maintain them, and what brings them alive when I get together with friends who are now alumni.  (I even enter a celebratory mood as I think about the new batch of graduates of the class of 2015, as I had some very good relationships with a number of people in that class in particular.)

Furthermore, it fits well with other events I attend with ValpU alumni, as we share the connection of a common experience on campus.  And I've found myself to be among the youngest of the alumni at such events.  Once, when I attended a concert of the ValpU Chorale at a church in Chicago while they were on their Spring Break tour, a woman turned to me during the intermission to ask if I was a ValpU student proper, because of my apparent age.  My connections to campus are still fresh, and serve as the foundation of memories of good days there.

And it still fills me with a sense of excitement when something like the Department of Geography and Meteorology alumni newsletter shows up in my e-mail inbox.  It's exciting to see what's happening on campus, and to hear about the meaningful experiences students there are currently having, because it takes me back to what I experienced.

I've also shifted more focus to living out what I gained, especially the big take-away from my ValpU experience, that of my overall life's vocation, merging my education, job, and other involvements, in my community, church, and family.  My college experience was about more than an education--it was about living life to the fullest.

This is what I've been living out day by day since my college graduation.  It led me through a discernment process to start pursuing my MLIS degree at Dominican University--and the process of applying for the program there gave me reason to turn back to the many relationships I forged during my ValpU experience.  I see this new phase of my life's vocational journey as in line with what ValpU taught me, that work is not the only part of life, but one piece of a larger whole that drives me to live with meaningful purpose.

This vision for life has also inspired me to become very involved in ministries at my home parish.  Being part of a faith community is a highly important part of my life, because of the opportunities I have to build relationships, and to serve others.  My renewed sense of and appreciation for faith that I gained during college inspired me in particular to be involved in the Religious Education program, as I put my strong sense of faith in interaction with young people who are developing their own sense of faith.

Indeed, college was an extraordinarily significant time in my life, and its influence continues with me as I chart my course through life, to be a good person in my relationships with others, contributing positively to the world around me, and living righteously before God.