Post-College: Four Years

It was the event that inspired the launch of this blog, and so I remember the day of my graduation from Valparaiso University this day.  I am drawn to recall my graduation on this fourth anniversary for a couple of particular reasons:  Upon my graduation back in 2013, a new group of freshmen came to the school to take the place of my fellow graduates and me that August.  Now, four years later, they are becoming the newest batch of ValpU alumni.  So they and I have made it through a whole cycle of a typical class’s time there.

I’m also thinking about how the experience has lived on in my life, especially as I’ve continued the relationship with some of my very good friends from those days on the fields of Valparaiso.  In fact, I am publishing this post while onboard Amtrak Cascades train #501, headed south from Seattle, WA, to Oregon to spend the weekend with my friend Roy, where he moved towards the end of his time in graduate school.  I crossed a wide swath of the United States on a 46-hour train journey to visit Roy, in addition to spending some time in Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia—which I will write about more extensively in a future blog post.

As I became quickly aware, I went to college for a bachelor’s degree, but got out of it so much more, especially in relationships, which have enriched my life, the kind in which I could open up deeply about myself and who I am, so as to increase my awareness of myself.

And, of course, the impact of my spiritual growth during my ValpU days lives on.  I just completed my 4^th year of teaching Religious Education—notably, something I’ve done every year since graduating from ValpU.  The renewed zeal for faith I experienced at ValpU, especially through my involvement at St. Teresa’s, is something I’ve channeled through teaching RE.  In fact, I’ve even shared some aspects of my faith experiences with my students that I encountered while at St. Teresa’s, most notably Father Kevin’s “Party Hard with Jesus Christ” routine.  I used this routine as a way to illustrate that faith is something to celebrate.  Nor is it something we invent or obtain for ourselves:  It is something handed on to us, and we then, in turn, hand it on to others.  To this end, I showed my students a picture of Father Kevin, to give them a visual.  In one of my classes, as soon as I did so, a student piped up, saying she recognized Father Kevin from her grandmother’s church.  As it turns out, her family as a connection to St. Teresa’s.

What a glorious thing to watch our lives progress and unfold in some kind of cyclic way, even as others’ lives progress, and the amazing ways they intersect, which enriches each of us.  It makes me think of the song "The Circle of Life" in The Lion King, which I saw performed on stage so wonderfully at Brooks Middle School at the end of last month.  We are indeed part of a progression as God works marvelously throughout it, and on this 4^th anniversary of my ValpU graduation, I am truly marveling at those incredible things He has done.