Here we are at graduation. Last week, many of us sent off friends and family into the “real world.” Others overcame their senioritis to walk across the stage into that world Friday afternoon. Most have now left campus and are reading this back at home. There’s a chance that when you unpacked, you’d already forgotten everything you went through this semester. So allow me to refresh your memory.
We started the semester in the middle of January, back before the DC’s dishwasher broke and Elon Musk dominated the headlines. During the first week of school, we heard from Rand Hummel, who used his years of counseling experience as director of The Wilds of New England to give us some fantastic messages with memorable illustrations. At the end of the week, the BJU Bruins basketball teams took on Pensacola Christian College, an event which got a lot of attention for a very short time before everyone moved on.
During our first full week, Greenville got snow! Even though the dusting melted within a day, it was around long enough for the empty fountain to become an ice rink and for all the northerners to learn that, yes, southerners are as confused by snow as the stories say.
The first artist series was Mr. Tom Dugan’s one-man-show “Wiesenthal,” which blew away everyone’s expectations and (in my opinion) made a fantastic case for required fine arts events. The next few weeks were so uneventful that the only thing worth mentioning is the weather, which ranged from 80 degrees to cold and snowy, because Greenville is that weird. Actually, another thing worth mentioning is that the men’s basketball team beat PCC on the road, but that happened in Florida, not on campus. I couldn’t go, but I heard the trip was fun.
The next major event was Bible Conference, a helpful break from class that students used to meditate on God’s goodness, participate in a record number of fundraisers for Jonathan’s House and study for the major tests that their professors scheduled for the first day back in class. While we’re focused on Bible Conference, I’d like to shout out my favorite fundraiser: “Stage the Production.” I am partially shouting it out because there was an awesome cast that hilariously said all the things about campus that we all wish we could say. I am also shouting it out because the stage crew threatened our editor for not mentioning the production enough.
The weather warmed up at the end of February, which was actually kind of late for South Carolina. The start of spring coincided nicely with the start of Daylight Saving, aka Try-to-Pass-Your-Midterms-Even-Though-Your-Sleep-Schedule-Stinks Day. Spring (and a guest artist) arrived just in time for “The Sound of Music,” which was probably one of my favorite things this semester. Immediately after show week was Bruins Spirit Week. This was basically the same as the spirit week in the fall, just with fewer jeans days and more students chasing each other. Of course, we can’t talk about spirit week without mentioning the IRON40. Students built community running around campus every afternoon, and Dr. Matthew Weathers, who did not die, raised $1 million for financial aid from alumni who paid to watch him torture himself.
At the end of the month, we enjoyed our Spring Break and returned with enough rest to get through white glove and the American Association of Christian Schools National Championships. After the high schoolers left and gave everyone back their rooms, we welcomed other guests in the forms of Dr. Ken Ham and Dr. Owen Strahan. In the last couple weeks of school, everyone rushed to pack in all the final projects and memories for the year. We had many, many concerts and two last theatre productions, “Living Gallery” and “Argus and the Maze of Myth,” a new play where Greek mythology met the screaming goat meme. I don’t know about you, but enjoying all these productions made me want to sing!
As I wrap up this reflection, one defining characteristic of this semester for me was the impact of student-produced content, from announcements to social media posts. Our weekly chapel announcements got a fantastic upgrade from new editor Hans Rathert. Students — including the SLC, The Collegian, marketing student specialists and individuals who needed a project — pitched in to promote Bible Conference, basketball games, “The Sound of Music” and IRON40. But the creativity extended beyond official communication as meme accounts sprung up into their own niches. Whether they were posting every time freshmen set off fire alarms and someone preached about death, using a Mii to recreate events or comparing my appearance to a fictional sea lion’s (unfortunately, I see the resemblance), there was something for everyone to enjoy.
I want to end in the same place I ended Part One. We had a crazy year full of both happy and sad surprises. Now, as we leave without knowing what the return may bring, it can be tempting to try to seize control over our lives, but that just brings anxiety and discouragement. May we remember to look to Christ for our strength and not be disturbed by the anxious thoughts that come under the sun. Even if we spend chapel in Ecclesiastes until I graduate, my major looks totally different next semester or my editors tear this column to shreds, God’s goodness will still carry us everywhere we go.
