May 13th, 2006---Graduation Day, Part II

(pictures to come at a later date)

In our departmental graduation ceremony, our associate dean starts off the second half with "despite our best efforts..." (what, are they wanting to keep us around?! *enter hysterical laughter*!) Oh if I dont get out into the preschool classroom again soon, I think I just might go ca-ra-zay!

The class president walked up to the podium and gave a short speech before our guest speaker. A comment he made -something about looking back on our lives propelling us forward- really struck a chord in me. Looking back on my life, reflecting on it's triumphs and tribulations has really pushed me forward. With each challenge comes a greater desire to overcome and win the battle that rages before and within me. This desire in me to become more and more like Christ and having His complete control in my life is intense!

Emotions the past few weeks have run wild. Whilst preparing graduation announcements I wept, reflecting back on my journey to receiving my first and even what is now my second college degree...a feat that many said was impossible. The day of graduation I felt I was riding an emotional rollercoaster. weeping one minute, so excited and feeling like I could jump out of my skin and dance a jig the next. Just the other day I was talking to my mother on the phone and had to appologize for the moments I was even a bit snippy.

The speaker for graduation ceremonies was Governor Brian Schweitzer, someone I do not really care for from what I have seen of him on TV, but because of a few things he said graduation day, moved up a few notches on the scale. After he had sat down, I felt like I just had a lesson in Economics, half of what he said my attention wandered elsewhere. He mentioned becoming "World Citizens". I would love to one day be able to travel to different parts of the world. I just don't know about the sitting on a plane for that many hours, and their extra-small bathrooms are more trouble than they're worth. God bless the man who invented the internet.

Am I too much in a hurry to enjoy/experience life and what it has to offer that I would miss opportunities God has laid before me, even the small things? This is a question that rolls through my mind as I think about what Governor Schweitzer said about not being in a hurry. What opportunities have I missed because I was in a hurry to get to a certain stage in life or to experience what others have experienced?

At the ceremony, there were only two of us (at least that's what the guy behind me said) that received a Bachelor's of Applied Sciences degree. Later, as I looked in the program, I noticed more listed, but later thought he meant of those who were listed only two of us showed up. Sad.
There was the announcement made a little later that of the students studying diesel mechanics, only one was a woman; on her cap in masking tape read the words 'Diesel Diva'. Cute.

Gonna make the XA Guy's house jealous with the graduation presdent from mom and dad. When I opened the card mom's comment to me was that it was "something I had been asking for a long time". My immediate thought was "surely not a big screen TV!" My bottom jaw dropped, my eyes about popped out of my head, and I just sat there staring at this piece of paper for what seemed like an eternity. The next day, I receive an email saying that the TV my parents ordered is "out of stock". :'( My parents are contacting them in a day or two.

Now that I am graduated the first word that comes to mind when I think 'College Graduate' is
"Whoa!"

As I am typing this evening I am listening to WOW cd's. A line here and there in a song will pop out at me and my mind immediately relates it to this new phase in life I have just recently entered. One line in Raze's song 'Follow Your Dream' on WOW 2001 says

Anything you want you can achieve... breaking down these walls you will be free

The breaking down walls line reminded me of an experience I had a fesw years ago. It was at SALT (Student Activist Leadership Training) and I was frustrated with the way college classes and my health were going. When i prayed abotu it with the wife of a campus pastor, I saw a wall bnefore me and every time I tried to jump over it I slammed against it full force. My dreams were just on the other side. As I was praying wtth this woman, I saw the wall crumble and it sounded like shattering glass. That was six years ago and I still remember her comment to me that day,

Since when is the absence of money the indication of god's will?

Financial aid was not going to pay if grades were low (which they were), and neither my parents or I had the finances.

Now that I have completed my degree, I am anxious to see what God has in store for me next.

My graduation; truly a Happy Birthday for my mother