getting my toes wet

(This post continues where my previous entry left off.  Corny title, I know.)

We dropped my luggage off in my room and then headed to Joanna’s room for some proper British tea.   I met quite a few people along the way,  including my new friend Rebecca from Sarah Lawrence College.  After tea, the three of us walked to Tesco in town to buy some dinner.  Rebecca and I decided on frozen pizza (typical college student meal, I know, but we were too tired to cook properly).  As we were looking at the different options, one caught our eye because it looked like it had noodles on it.  Rebecca and I asked Joanna if it was a British thing to eat pasta on pizza and she gave us a very confused look, then looked at the pizza and started laughing at us:  it was margherita pizza.  What we thought were noodles was actually cheese!  We laughed about this the entire night.

the pizza that we mistakenly thought had noodles on it when we saw it on the shelf. that’s what jet-lag does to you!

When we returned to Melville, we realized we had no plates, cutlery, or cooking utensils, so we improvised with what we could find in the kitchens.   It took us a little while, but we figured it all out on our own and the pizza was delicious!  As we were finishing up, a few guys came by to invite us across to K1 to meet people, but the group quickly became too large so we made our way to the middle common room, 1 of 3 in the hall.  (Melville has 3 kitchens, labeled K1, K2, and K3.)  There were so many people in the common room!  Everyone was incredibly kind and welcoming and I surprised myself by how many names I managed to remember.
After staying up MUCH later than anticipated, I finally left and went to sleep around 2 AM (which is 9PM for the Eastern United States).  I did not wake up until lunchtime the next day, and only then because I needed to eat.  Lunch was great though!  I spent the afternoon at an informational session for new students and then attended a reception with all of the JSAs (Junior Study Abroad students) where we had the opportunity to meet and talk with professors. I met so many people and learned a lot about the psychology department, which is the best in Britain.  I also found out that the psychology building is in one of the most beautiful locations in town.  Tough life, I know.

On Friday I managed to wake up for breakfast, which is 8-9 every day, and then I went to matriculation at 10AM.  There are a lot of JSAs here this semester!  They had a very helpful team directing us to where we needed to be and answering questions.  Staff members checked our passports and finances and advisers from each department helped us register for our course modules.  Everything worked out really well, thankfully.  Friday evening, in honor of Robbie Burns’s day, I attended my first ceilidh [pronounced Caley] with my new friend Scott (from Scotland).  If you have ever done English country dancing, it is somewhat similar.  We danced for several hours straight, and I even tried haggis for the first time; surprisingly, I really liked it!  I talked to the two callers after and they told me I should come to the weekly intermediate ceilidh lessons.  I have added that to my list of potential clubs to join!  I learned later that it is compulsory for all Scottish primary school students to learn ceilidh dancing.  A member of the Celtic society read Robbie Burns’s famous poem, Ode to a Haggis, before we ate and then we enjoyed a traditional meal of haggis and neeps & tatties.  Neeps and tatties are some kind of turnip-like food and mashed potatoes–different but good.  On the way home, Scott gave me a tour of St Andrews and told me loads of stories about the history of the uni and the town.  After dancing all night and then walking for an hour my feet were extremely sore, but it was entirely worth it!

I am standing on the Swilcan Bridge between the 1st and 18th fairways of the Old Course in St. Andrews. this bridge is at least 700 years old!

When I woke up for lunch on Saturday, I met a group of JSAs who invited me to come explore the town with them.  We spent all afternoon being touristy, taking pictures, sharing stories, and getting to know each other.  It was so beautiful outside but the wind here is so cold, especially along the shore!  I shared with them all of the stories and tidbits that Scott shared with me about the town and uni the night before.  My next blog entry will be entirely photos from our adventures.

Saturday evening I finally started to unpack my suitcases!  My first couple of days were so full of excitement that I neglected to set up my room.  But it feels quite cozy now and Melville truly is like home.  I have my own sink in the room, but I have to go up- or downstairs and through about 4 doors for the toilets or shower.  Our hall is built to resemble a ship and we have 5 blocks of rooms; it’s a very interesting setup.  Melville is not very pretty but it certainly has character and the people more than make up for it!

As I have no class on Fridays, I will post pictures soon and try to write down some more stories.  Every day is filled with exciting things to talk about–the difficult part will be deciding what to share with you!  Until then, God bless and keep you and know that I am sending my love and well-wishes from Scotland. Cheers!

looking out to the North Sea and the night glow of Dundee to the north

Me, My Camera, and a Volleyball

Everyone wants something to rally behind. A team they can cheer for, a cause they can support, a movement that’s bigger than themselves on their own. And I’m no different. Sure we have sports teams and groups on campus, but so far, nothing had really stuck with me. Enter men’s volleyball. New on campus this year, all the players are freshmen or transfer students, which means they could either fail miserably at adjusting to life in Due West, or they could take a nod from the Thrive initiative and, well, thrive. And thrive they have! Bonded yet not exclusive, the team seems to be making its home here at Erskine. The team came back from their fourth game on Tuesday with yet another win, and is scheduled to play – get this – Harvard later this season!

I’ve been to half of their games so far, the most recent being their Tuesday win over Emanuel in Georgia. Three friends and I drove down to watch them bring the fleet heat to the Lions, and I got to test out my new camera! It’s a Cannon Rebel DSLR… and I think I geeked out… just a little. Anyways, here’s to the Flying Fleet! I think my camera and I have found something we can rally behind.

 

home sweet home!

I have a home! Well, I actually have multiple homes; to be more specific, I have a home in Scotland! As of last Monday I was still emailing back and forth with the St. Andrews office of accommodations and had not received another offer. My mom and I decided it would be a good idea for me to call the office directly and speak to someone about it, so I [eventually] figured out how to successfully make an international call to Scotland with our calling card. I talked to a wonderfully kind woman named Mary, the same woman I have emailed back and forth with over the past month. After introducing myself and explaining my situation, she remembered me and seemed surprised to find out that I had not received another offer. Mary assured me that they would send me an offer within the next couple of days and told me to keep checking my student portal.
When I woke up Tuesday morning, I checked my portal and found an offer! (Mom said she knew right away because she heard me running downstairs.) My home at St. Andrews will be in Andrew Melville Hall, a co-ed hall of single rooms that houses about 230 students from freshers to 4th years (all of the accommodations at St. Andrews are co-ed). Also exciting to me: the hall is only about a mile from where my classes will be, I will get 19 meals/week, and it is the least expensive housing option on campus! I know of at least a half-dozen other JSA [Junior Study Abroad] students who will be living here as well.

Andrew Melville Hall- my home for Spring 2013!
(photo by Corey Faniel)

I accepted the offer almost immediately and joined the Facebook group for Melville. I adore these people already! Everyone has been very welcoming, helpful, friendly, and funny! Through the group, I met a student from France, Joanna, who will be flying into Edinburgh at about the same time as I am. She offered to share a taxi to St. Andrews and then go get dinner with me when we arrive. She has given me a lot of helpful information about the hall and the school.
I am very grateful to those who joined me in praying about this situation, and I am so thankful that God answered our prayers in this way! I have a bad habit of overthinking and over-worrying about everything, and it truly is a relief that everything is falling into place this way. So much stress and worry has been replaced by genuine excitement! Moments like this help teach me that God truly is in control and remind me to put my faith and trust in Him. He’s got my back, praise the Lord!

The Beauty of Community

In most ways, the first semester of my senior year has thus far been wonderful —it’s been great to be back in the residence hall surrounded by dear friends, and I love my classes. What hasn’t been so great?  Probably all the things that have broken down during the first month of school: first my car, then my printer, and more recently, me (at least, physically, if not so much mentally…though some might beg to differ). It all started several weeks ago with a painfully swollen joint in my toe, followed by a case of asthmatic bronchitis and a sinus infection. Being sick has been difficult—feeling bad isn’t exactly a good study aid—but the Lord has used my extended illness both to teach me compassion and to show me what a caring, loving community surrounds me.

Excited about our new hall decorations on the second floor of Kennedy Residence Hall.

It’s far easier to be impatient with others, or to be annoyed by the person in the back of the room coughing up a lung (for the past few weeks that’s been me), when you haven’t walked in their shoes before. Health is something we tend to take for granted—a sort of right we tend to demand—when the reality is that every day of good health is an immense blessing and God’s grace to us. How quickly I forget that! But God’s mercies also come in other forms, including that of physical weakness. And whether that physical weakness takes the form of a broken bone, a lingering illness, or a chronic disease, God will use those hardships in our lives for our good—to make us more like Christ—if we seek Him in the midst of them. Easier said than done, yes? In addition to giving me a renewed sensitivity to the physical trials of others, God has used my bouts of illness to humble me in ways I wouldn’t have expected.

Over course of last few weeks, friends have cared for me in so many ways—opening doors for me, carrying things for me, giving me cards and chocolate, asking how I am every day for weeks straight. Just in the last two weeks, different friends have given me cherry juice, dried cherries, cough drops, cranberry juice, ibuprofen (when I ran out and wasn’t mobile enough to easily get more), vitamin C tablets, lemons, a vaporizer, and crutches. Two friends have even carried me, and others have offered to do so. Talk about being humbled by the selfless service and sacrifice of others! The experience has been a powerful portrait of what it looks like when others are the hands and feet of Jesus—the body of Christ made manifest in our lives.

Our fabulous SLAs sketched scenes from classic literature and then gave crayons to everyone on the hall…such fun! Here I’m coloring a drawing of Edmund and the White Witch.

God has graciously provided friends to literally and figuratively carried me through these past couple of weeks of physical trial, and at one point after I broke down in tears, my sweet roommate assured me that she was happy to do anything I needed her to do—that it was a joy to serve me, because she loves me. (This after she’d carried my laundry up and down the stairs for me and walked to a nearby store to get me ibuprofen.) More recently, said roommate has had her sleep interrupted nightly for two weeks by my violent, constant coughing attacks—and when I apologize for keeping her awake, she cheerily replies, “Oh it’s all right,” and says with a teasing twinkle in her eye, “I know you aren’t doing it for your own amusement!” What a blessing to be surrounded by friends who love and care for me even when I’m unlovable. Don’t we all need community like that?

Ideas

Last week, Morgan and I came up with this idea to let students tweet in convo. As a student here, you have to go listen to a speaker. You’re supposed to come out learning something and being academically and mentally challenged. But the truth is, a handful of students could care less.

In this day and age, we have to face the facts:

1. A lot of students have smart phones.
2. Students with smart phones are attached to their smart phones.
3. Separation anxiety is definitely a problem.
4. Because of this, students’ attention spans are limited…think squirrel if you will.
5. We expand the attention by doing what? Letting them actually use their phones in convo!!

When we had the THRIVE convo with Dr. Norman, we decided to let the students have at it and boy did they respond.

I think it’s pretty neat that a fellow student and I were able to communicate our idea and get faculty behind us to support that idea. Dr. Parker and the fellow THRIVE members helped spread the word. Student services printed off flyers for us. Communications set us up a Twitter account and ran a story on us in their paper. It was all pretty cool and I’m glad I got to voice my idea and see it come to fruition. It’s a great feeling knowing that you did something to spark the conversation and get students excited about convocation again. It’s a small step in the right direction.

A Night at the Ball

Rachel and I at the dinner

Last night, Erskine’s Student Government Association held the annual SGA ball on campus. The evening began with an elegant dinner served in the Bowie Arts Center, which was beautifully decorated with diaphanous, light blue hangings wrapped around lights and draped across the high ceilings. Everyone was elegantly appareled in a colorful variety of evening gowns, tea-length dresses, and suits. Shortly after arriving, J.P. Duncan, our student body president, said a prayer for the meal, after which each attendee was served a scrumptious plate of shrimp, beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon, asparagus, bread, and potatoes. Next, the animated dinner-table conversation was topped off by a delicious cheesecake dessert, and soon thereafter, people began heading to the dance floor.

A table of lovely ladies

For the dance, SGA had set up a white tent bedecked with lights in the middle of the Mall (the large grassy square in the middle of campus). Punch and more refreshments—in case you were still hungry after the fabulous meal—were set up on tables near the tent, and everyone began to mill around that area for a bit…until that is, a line-dance song came on, and the entire crowd raced as one to the dance floor. (There’s nothing like a line dance to get everyone involved—especially if, like me, one is singularly lacking in creative, “free-style” abilities.)

Schadell and Hannah, looking stunning as ever

At several points during the evening, swing dance and shag songs came on. That was especially fun for me since my brother offered to swing dance with me and show me some new moves he learned recently. (I’ve got to say, I wasn’t sure what it would be like to have a sibling at school with me…but it’s turned out to be great fun on all counts! And besides, he’s just amazing.) Later, a circle of clapping, dancing friends formed, and different people went (or were encouraged) into the middle to exhibit some dancing skills. One friend even did a flip in the air to thunderous applause. All in all, the evening turned out to be a great success, and my friend Laura Beth and I finished it off in true college fashion by heading off to the library to study a bit before bedtime. But don’t worry—we changed out of our ball gowns first.

Choraleers On the Move

A couple of weekends ago I went on my first Choraleers mini-tour since my return from Spain. I wasn’t exactly sure how the trip would be, since I’m still getting to know the freshmen in the group (who are wonderful, by the way) and was, *cough*, less than certain of all my notes. On Saturday afternoon, we embarked on our drive to August, Georgia, where we rehearsed at a couple of different churches and were treated to dinner by one of the host churches.

Next, we were assigned our roommates and families for our home-stays—one of the best parts of Choraleers mini-tours. Every home-stay has been different for me, and I’ve actually ended up in a couple of mansions (no, I’m not kidding—if ten girls all have their own bedrooms,  the home qualifies as a mansion) during past trips. Whatever the size of the house, though, it’s always fun to get to know different people from the congregations of the churches where we’re singing. During this most recent trip, I had the pleasure of staying with an Erskine alumna and her sweet family. We enjoyed talking about all kinds of topics over a plate of delicious cookies, but when we landed on the subject of Erskine—which involved our friend’s reminiscences about her time as a Choraleer—we just couldn’t stop talking. We had such fun–even getting to flip through old Erskine yearbooks together– that it was quite late before my fellow Choraleer and I finally realized that we’d better head to bed if we were going to be ready for our early morning performance! Despite our less-than-optimal amount of sleep, our Sunday performances—two in the morning and one in the evening—went well, and the trip in general was great fun.

Being in Choraleers has been one of my absolute favorite parts of my experience at Erskine. Honestly, I didn’t realized how much I’d missed singing with the amazing group that makes up the “Choraleer family” until I came back from Spain and felt a though a vital part of my life that had been missing was suddenly restored. What a joy it is to sing—especially once you know the notes—and what a blessing it is to be able to sing to God’s glory with good friends! We also have an amazing new director this semester, Dr. Nabholz. It’s been a lot of fun learning his directing style and seeing the musical effects of the techniques he’s teaching us.

Friends and I on Choraleers tour at Universal Studios (not where we performed...but a lot of fun) in Orlando my freshman year.

Speaking of which, I was incredibly excited recently when, in preparation for our Spring Break tour to Washington, D.C., Dr. Nabholz had us split up into mixed formation during rehearsal. This mixing of the sections resulted in my being flanked by a tenor and a bass, with a soprano directly behind me. Wow, was it amazing to hear the way all the parts meld together! It’s one thing to be in one’s own section, with a somewhat foggy idea of what each other part sounds like—but to hear the subtle contours of each other musical line? That transforms a “piece” into true music. Of course, I may, *cough*, have noted—no pun intended—that I perhaps don’t know all my notes as well as I ought. Gone is the wiggle room of being able to listen the person next to you when you’re no longer in sections. Which means someone will be frequenting the practice rooms quite a bit between now and our departure for tour. D.C., here we come!

Back at Erskine

Enjoying a meal at a local "Mom and Pop" restaurant in the great metropolis of Belton shortly after my return.

It’s been rather a while since I wrote last, probably because I’ve been busy transitioning from “Spain life” back into  life at Erskine—a transition that has kept my time happily filled with catch-up coffee dates, time spent getting to know freshmen I only briefly met during fall orientation, and moving back into the dorm. There certainly are things about moving back to Erskine after having been abroad that are disorienting. (For one thing, I’m “the new kid” in some ways, while the freshmen now have a semester of Erskine history under their belt for which I was absent.) Overall, though, it’s been incredibly fun to jump back into the swing of things here in good ol’ Due West. And although lots of amazing conversations and times with friends have been had since I got back, one particular incident from this evening is what I’d like to share at the moment.

You see, as much as I loved Spain and wouldn’t trade the experiences I had there for the world, I also greatly missed Erskine, in large part because the community God has blessed me with here is so very special. Honestly, it took being away from Erskine for me to realize how truly amazing it is. Not because it’s a perfect school, nor because I’m always 100% happy every day here (I mean, we live in a fallen world), but because being far from home has shown me what an incredible blessing it is to be surrounded by so many encouraging friends who are all came to Erskine for the same reasons I did. Now, don’t get me wrong—there is quite a lot of ideological diversity on Erskine’s campus; and that’s a good thing! There’s a great contrast, however, between finding a handful of Christian friends in Spain and, at Erskine, being surrounded by a vast number of like-minded friends who challenge me, encourage me, and support me.

One fun January outing was an evening at the home of Erskine's Admissions Operations Coordinator (who also happens to be a fabulous cook and hostess)...

This evening, for example, I was wrestling inwardly with a bit of an existential crisis regarding my future calling (a crisis I would imagine not a few college students have experienced right around this time in their educational career).  I’ve always thought this was the vocation God was calling me to, but now I don’t even know…and maybe this isn’t what I’m meant to do for reasons x, y, z…but if it’s not, then what IS He calling me to? Etc., etc. Like a badly authored bit of stream of consciousness writing, these thoughts were racing through my head as I walked into my dorm a few hours ago to find an unsuspecting friend on sitting at the desk on lobby duty. Since I’m usually terrible at keeping whatever thoughts are consuming me bottled up, some of the aforementioned stream of incoherent thoughts and questions began to spill out.

Under Amanda's tutelage, we cooked a delicious meal together. Here are Rachel and Rebekah cutting up the potatoes.

So what did my friend—who happens to be a kind and insightful psychology major—do? She had me sit down and talk through my life plans and goals with her. And of course, since I’m at Erskine, I can already predict that this was one in a long series of conversations which I’ll doubtless have with various friends as I process and they advise, direct, and ask helpful questions. The simple fact that there are a large number of wise, well-adjusted, and caring individuals who will all listen as I babble and give me solid, Biblical advice in response is just a mind-boggling blessing. Living on a campus surrounded by friends who challenge, encourage, and care for me every day is such a delight. College is indeed a unique season of life. And like any other part of life, college is also largely what one makes of it. Erskine just happens to be an especially wonderful place in which to do that. “We always thank God for all of you…We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~1 Thessalonians 1:2-3.

The scrumptious dinner we made. And there isn't even a picture of the coffee-cake pound-cake we made for dessert. Yum.

Just One Reason Erskine is Special…

In the nearby village of Elche, Spain...in a bookstore. You can always spot a humanities major.

If you’re either around college-age or have a student who’s beginning to look at schools, you’ve probably spent at least some time researching and visiting different universities, weighing the respective pros and cons of the institutions that interest you. One factor which I know I took into account when I was looking at schools is the difference in the number of resources found at a large university as opposed to a smaller one. I worried that, were I to go to a small college, I would be missing out if I didn’t have access to everything made available by a large university. Certainly, such a wealth of resources—primarily in the form of enormous libraries—is an extremely valuable asset. What I’ve found since coming to Erskine, however, is that, thanks to incredible librarians and a well-oiled interlibrary loan system, I never have trouble obtaining exactly the resources I need, no matter how specific or obscure the topic I’m researching.

Today, I saw a bit of the flip-side of the research process that I’ve become familiar with at Erskine when I made my first foray into the world of researching at a large university. Before I comment on this experience, I should note that I don’t mean in any way to disparage the University of Alicante by doing so—I am greatly enjoying my classes at the university, and all of my experiences and professors thus far have been excellent! It’s just that, my time in the library this morning helped me see that “the grass is always greener” is an adage because we often don’t fully appreciate the good things we have. You see, when I walked into the huge, multi-level library and saw the shelves upon shelves of books, I was enchanted. Had I gone to a huge school, such copious amounts of resources might have been at my fingertips as well. (Of course, such resources are at my fingertips within three to five days of requesting them from WorldCat…but the green monster is rare
ly logical.) I then commenced searching for books on the topics on which I plan to write my final essays. And gracious, I couldn’t seem to find anything. This was probably at least partly due to my unfamiliarity with the system of book cataloguing used in Spain (which, like measurements, temperature, and classroom numbers, is completely different from that used in the US). Nevertheless, I was quite disheartened to discover that the books I needed were scattered all throughout the vast library building and that some apparently weren’t even in the same building where I was seated. Sigh.

Inside the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid

So I did what I usually do when I’m confused (which, of course, happens only *cough* very rarely): I asked for help. Walking up to one of the librarians, I was met with what can only be described as something of a grimace. She explained—in rapid Spanish—where I could find the list of books I’d compiled and seemed quite annoyed when asked for further clarification on where the basement and the Law Library were. Later, after I finally wandered back to the front desk on that particular floor, I asked the other librarian on duty if I could check my books out then. Only, as I quailed a bit under his scowl, my Spanish vocabulary seemed to vaporize, and I stumbled over my words a bit before being told, rather gruffly, that I could check books out on the first floor. All that to say, the librarians were reasonably cordial, if not friendly, and answered my questions. But as I walked out of the library thinking that I would prefer to just do my research online, I couldn’t hel
p but think how spoiled I am to walk into McCain Library in Due West and to unfailingly be given swift, one-on-one assistance by one of Erskine’s well-versed keepers-of-the-books (surely “librarian” is too mundane a name for such an important job?). I’m not sure that the contrast between that possibility of “being a number” at a large university and the personal, close-knit-community feel I’ve come to enjoy at Erskine have ever seemed quite so stark to me. That’s not in any way to say that one can’t thrive in either a small-school or large-school setting or that each type of school doesn’t have its charms… I just happen to really appreciate my Erskine family and am thankful that God has placed me in it!

View of the beach beside my house in Alicante

In the end, when I arrived back at my piso (apartment) and attempted to use the online Erskine journal database, I discovered to my consternation that I couldn’t seem to log onto the website. Of course, considering that there are a number of US websites that are not accessible from overseas, I wasn’t particularly surprised, but I figured I would email one of the librarians at Erskine to ask about my difficulty. I also mentioned, in my query, the topics I was attempting to research. And what do you think I found in my inbox only hours later? The news that the aforementioned librarian had entered my student ID into the system and that I should now have access to Erskine’s databases AND (get this), a flood of academic articles on the topics I had mentioned in passing. Wow. All the way from Spain, I felt so blessed. And now, I’ve got some reading to do.

“Upheld by My Righteous, Omnipotent Hand”

The Baccalaureate Service is a collegiate tradition where the senior class gathers with professors, friends, and relatives in a worship service several days before Commencement. I’m reading Wikipedia here – apparently the tradition began in the 1400′s when each Oxford graduate would give a sermon, and apparently recent separation of church and state judicial rulings have meant that any state-school Baccalaureate’s must be student organized rather than official school functions.

But it is not that Erskine can officially hold a Baccalaureate Service that makes it so different, so special. The Baccalaureate at Erskine College is the last time that a class gathers together to corporately worship God. That is a profoundly beautiful statement, I think – though maybe its just because I’m in an emotional mood – because it shows how Erskine is more than a mere academic institution that passes out diplomas, she is a community of Christians – and non-Christians – who are here to give glory to God.

It is beautiful because this service tonight was just the symbolic last corporate worship of a class. There have been many before, from the first Sunday of Freshman Orientation where they barely knew each other and thought college was for sleeping in, and through four years of chapels they dragged themselves to before lunch for convocation credit. And there will be many more in the future. This class will go their separate ways and, though bonded for a lifetime by friendships and memories, will never again assemble together.

But Erskine is just part of a larger authentically Christian community, her Christians are just a small part of the Church of Christ, and so this class – in two years time, my class – will assemble again to worship God, every Sunday across the globe, and every moment in a heavenly church where faith will become sight.

“How good and how beautiful it is for leaders like the Erskine community to dwell together in unity.”

Pastor Andy Lewis of Mitchell Road PCA in Greenville gave the Baccalaureate Address on “Learning to Live.” The central Biblical text to the address was John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Lewis went one direction with the text, but my mind kept going another. Yes – I was that bad of a listener. Critical Thinking is a core of academia and was a core of Dr. Bill Crenshaw’s approach to my Freshman Seminar. In fact, a question on Erskine’s teacher evaluations asks whether a teacher effectively taught us to critically think. A person who critically thinks evaluates the world with – well – a critical eye, a mind that accepts ideas and beliefs only on the basis of evaluated and thorough evidence.

And critical thinking is truly a necessary thing to learn in college and to possess in life – too few people in this world critically think. But over the last year of talking with Dr. Norman he has convinced me – I swear through some Obamaian idealism – of the necessity of creative thinking. Critical thinking destroys, but creative thinking builds. Creative thinking evaluates the world to improve it, to make tomorrow’s world not our world, to build not just ideas but lives.

And I think (okay, Norman has convinced me that) creative thinking – maybe like critical thinking – can only truly be done through the lens and with the wisdom of Jesus Christ.

Here at college it is so easy to let critical thinking steal and kill and destroy our ideas and our groundedness in the world in which we live, it is so easy to climb into that ivory tower of academia these four years (and beyond) and forget the poor (of spirit and material) for whom we receive our diplomas, and it is so hard to learn that Christ has come to give us and the world life and that it is only through Him that we may flourish.

If Erskine is anything I think it must be a community that worships our great God together – as the senior class did tonight – and an institution that builds in us the creative thinking to live and to build that life in others.

This is Erskine College, my college, my home, and I thank God that this is who she is.