{EVENT} 2012 SSU Convocation

Another year at St. Stephen's has completed. It's a bitter sweet time - sweet because a fabulous group of individuals successfully completed their university degrees; bitter because it means saying goodbye to most of those fabulous people as they move on and continue to become the people God dreams them to be.

During the Ovation event, while graduates took a few minutes each to reflect upon their time at SSU, I couldn't help but reminisce about my own time spent as a student there and my continued involvement as an alumnus. I experienced once again the gratitude I have for the community of people I get to share my life with, and the way they have each played their own unique part in my journey to become the person I have longed wanted to be.

While Selina expressed her heartfelt gratitude for the people at SSU for giving her a place to heal after the death of her mother, while Arial tearfully thanked Literature Lecturer Hannah for making old stories come alive and feel relevant, and while Matt thanked Carol for her commitment to feeding SSU with good home cooking, my eyes would scan the banquet room, falling upon the faces of alumni, graduates and current students whose own stories are intertwined with the uniqueness of SSU. There was no surprise in what the graduates were saying; in fact as I listened to what these beautiful souls were saying I couldn't help but think They got it. They received it... they understand the gift that this place is.

It is my humble opinion, but I believe a liberal arts degree to be one of the most valuable university degrees one can attain. Sure, now a-days many people have them... and most of them are your friendly local Barrista (kidding!) but this does not negate the incomparable value of a Bachelor of Liberal Arts.

When I decided to go to university, after being out of school for nearly ten years, it was because I was craving something more than knowledge. I was longing for all the ways that I would formed and reformed as a university student. In my friends who had been to university, and specifically those that had graduated from SSU, abilities and ways of thinking that I wanted. But most importantly, there was something about each of their character that I wanted for myself. I knew that having a time set apart to study the development or western civilization, culture and social norms alongside other leaners would give me the opportunity to become the individual I wanted to be.

As I watched each new SSU graduate receive their degrees and hoods a couple weeks ago I was reminded about the value of my own degree, and how the pursuit of it helped me to become who I am today and will continue to become as I build upon the personal, spiritual and academic lessons I gleaned as an undergrad in the liberal arts.