I've Graduated
Wow.
All of a sudden, I feel very... odd. Yesterday was my high school graduation, and I AM NOW OFFICIALLY A GRADUATE OF THE CLASS OF 2005!!!! GO ME!!
It - the day - started out fairly bad - I didn't go to sleep till almost one in the morning, and when I finally did go to sleep, I was curled up around my Bible, praying desperatly that the ceremony would go fine. Then I was awoken at nine, took a shower, and got back to cleaning.
At one, we realized that I had yet to start writing my speech that I would be giving that evening. Well, I paniced, and was immediatly relegated to the computer where I was ordered to begin working on my speech. Now, see, there in lies a problem. Even though I've had about three years of speech, I've never actually been able to write and give, a speech successfully. Don't ask me why - it's really messed up.
In utter terror, I logged onto my MSN account and waited for someone to log on that I could beg for help. About ten minutes after that, airiechan logged on and I almost tackled her... To my great relief, she was actually able to help - sort of anyways. She listened to my problem and then called her 19 year old sister over and she gave me a paragraph that I used to jump-start my speech.
Thank GOD.
Then about two paragraphs into a speech that had to be at least three minutes (please, keep in mind that at that point I had NEVER written a speech in my life that I could actually give without cringing.) we got another phone call that told us we had to be at the church - TWO HOURS BEFORE. We weren't happy campers.
So then I went, like a good little girl, and was stuck there untill 4:30. The ceremony was at 5:30.
We ran home, and rushed through getting dressed and - ugh, makeup - I sat down to finish up my speech. Which I did. I read through it once after I declared it finished and then we ran out the door. Once we got there it was a constant heckling of people I haven't seen or wanted to in ages.
Then came the starting time. The three graduates (Nathan, Sonia, and I) "got" to sit up front. Sonia went first. She played this horribly long piano piece and then gave this short quicky speech that she said she had been working on for a week that essentially said "All Praise To Mother". Cute, but irritating.
Then, one of the highlights, her dad got to say a prayer for her, and the one line that made me convulse with silent laughter was a praise to God for giving Sonia the "Wisdom of Rahab". SkwidFan and I DIED at that line....
Then it was me. Big woop. I did a piano piece that I haven't practiced in almost five months, and did absolutely horribly. But people were nice and clapped for me anyways which made me feel a wee bit better. Then I went up to give my speech. I was so nervous. Heh.
They loved it (I'm sticking it in an LJ cut)!!! I had three people ask me for copies of it, and everyone discribed it as "Very Melody". I'm still not sure what that means but it still made me feel much better about myself.
Anyways, then Nathan did a piano piece and his dad gave a speech in which he (the dad) cried, which was touching. And then it was all over and we went home for the party.
The Party. Oh boy. It lasted until eleven at night and I was so, so, so horribly drained...
I suppose it should be first things first.
___I GOT A CELL PHONE!!!!!___
Ahem. And a flash drive. And a shirt that says "Dragons, Dreams & Daring Deeds". And like $450 dollars total. And two CD's I've been lusting after for a while. Sooo fun.
But the Cell Phone!! (can you tell that I'm hyper about this?) It works!! I called kaladhwen at like 2:30 in the morning and we talked for an HOUR. It was so cool. I'm dead serious. I am still buzzing on this.
Oh, and, skwidfan spent the night last night so we stayed up till like four talking anyways. Then today we went to tour OSU's campus! w00t!! Big fun!! Big allergies!!
But now we're home and I'm feeling better.
And I'm a Graduate of the Class of 2005.
Anyone remember their childhood? Back when you were short and young? You had all the time in the world, the future was big and exciting and the only thing you dreamed of was growing up. Well, three of us have made it there. We’re moving on in our lives with our parents blessing, and our only security blankets are God’s promises. We're moving on to a better future for ourselves and our country. Or at least, we are being given the chance to make a better future for ourselves. What we actually do - what we actually accomplish - is dependent on what we do with the things that God gives to us.
Yesterday, I was an absolute basket case. I didn’t want to graduate, and I most especially didn’t want to grow up. But then I got a graduation present from my grandma and grandpa. It was a graduate’s Bible with my name on it. At the back, there’s this little essay/pep talk called “Your Place In This World” by Dallas Willard thats helped me a lot. In it, the author spoke about ‘commencement’. I’ve never been easy with that word - it has too many unknowns in it. But the author said that the word ‘commencement’ really isn’t really the right word for is happening to us. That it diminishes what has already been accomplished. Instead he said words like ‘responsibility’, ‘effectiveness’ and ‘opportunity’ are better suited to the changes in a graduates life. It made me think a lot.
This graduation isn’t a commencement, a closing of a chapter, because that would be too final. Even though we’re all off to college, we still have God and people who care about us, who are willing to help us deal with the things life deals to us. It’s more like turning a page. It’s gaining a wider scope of the world around us. It’s practicing the values and ideals that we have been working on for the past sixteen or so years of our lives.
No, commencement isn’t the right word.
I’ve heard that when you graduate, it’s like coming to the crossroads of your life. I guess that the assumption is that you’ll turn onto a new path - exchange your old life for a new one. But you see, as a Christian, I can’t agree with that. When I became a Christian, I changed my life and my road - and even though I’m graduating, I’m already on the road I want and need to be on. My job is to do as God wants me to do - not take a crossroad just because it’s there.
I guess ‘crossroads’ is wrong too.
One of my favorite things that I’ve ever heard at a high school graduation ceremony is that it’s ‘The Ending Of An Era’. I just love it. It’s so melodramatic. Usually, I scoff at it though - I mean, you go from high school to college. Wow. What a change. But in a twisted way, they might be right. I’ve talked to a lot of college students who said that they didn’t grow up till they went to college, and in that light, I suppose that this really could be an Ending Of An Era. But we, both as homeschoolers and as Christians, should be beyond needing that kind of distinction. We shouldn’t need to have to say something so final to wake us up.
We don’t need it. That ‘era’, passed us up some time ago.
But then what is a graduation? It’s not a commencement - it’s a continuation. It’s not a crossroads - it’s a change in how people perceive us. It’s not ‘An Ending Of An Era’, it’s the turning of another page. It’s something that gives us a chance to spread our wings; to look to (very, very scary) horizons that God stretched out for us. It’s a hope that God will give us what he promises, even though they’re a long way off. It’s a chance of a lifetime that we’ve already begun.
And it’s my chance, to change the world for Him.
(It’s also a chance to drive a car…)
All of a sudden, I feel very... odd. Yesterday was my high school graduation, and I AM NOW OFFICIALLY A GRADUATE OF THE CLASS OF 2005!!!! GO ME!!
It - the day - started out fairly bad - I didn't go to sleep till almost one in the morning, and when I finally did go to sleep, I was curled up around my Bible, praying desperatly that the ceremony would go fine. Then I was awoken at nine, took a shower, and got back to cleaning.
At one, we realized that I had yet to start writing my speech that I would be giving that evening. Well, I paniced, and was immediatly relegated to the computer where I was ordered to begin working on my speech. Now, see, there in lies a problem. Even though I've had about three years of speech, I've never actually been able to write and give, a speech successfully. Don't ask me why - it's really messed up.
In utter terror, I logged onto my MSN account and waited for someone to log on that I could beg for help. About ten minutes after that, airiechan logged on and I almost tackled her... To my great relief, she was actually able to help - sort of anyways. She listened to my problem and then called her 19 year old sister over and she gave me a paragraph that I used to jump-start my speech.
Thank GOD.
Then about two paragraphs into a speech that had to be at least three minutes (please, keep in mind that at that point I had NEVER written a speech in my life that I could actually give without cringing.) we got another phone call that told us we had to be at the church - TWO HOURS BEFORE. We weren't happy campers.
So then I went, like a good little girl, and was stuck there untill 4:30. The ceremony was at 5:30.
We ran home, and rushed through getting dressed and - ugh, makeup - I sat down to finish up my speech. Which I did. I read through it once after I declared it finished and then we ran out the door. Once we got there it was a constant heckling of people I haven't seen or wanted to in ages.
Then came the starting time. The three graduates (Nathan, Sonia, and I) "got" to sit up front. Sonia went first. She played this horribly long piano piece and then gave this short quicky speech that she said she had been working on for a week that essentially said "All Praise To Mother". Cute, but irritating.
Then, one of the highlights, her dad got to say a prayer for her, and the one line that made me convulse with silent laughter was a praise to God for giving Sonia the "Wisdom of Rahab". SkwidFan and I DIED at that line....
Then it was me. Big woop. I did a piano piece that I haven't practiced in almost five months, and did absolutely horribly. But people were nice and clapped for me anyways which made me feel a wee bit better. Then I went up to give my speech. I was so nervous. Heh.
They loved it (I'm sticking it in an LJ cut)!!! I had three people ask me for copies of it, and everyone discribed it as "Very Melody". I'm still not sure what that means but it still made me feel much better about myself.
Anyways, then Nathan did a piano piece and his dad gave a speech in which he (the dad) cried, which was touching. And then it was all over and we went home for the party.
The Party. Oh boy. It lasted until eleven at night and I was so, so, so horribly drained...
I suppose it should be first things first.
___I GOT A CELL PHONE!!!!!___
Ahem. And a flash drive. And a shirt that says "Dragons, Dreams & Daring Deeds". And like $450 dollars total. And two CD's I've been lusting after for a while. Sooo fun.
But the Cell Phone!! (can you tell that I'm hyper about this?) It works!! I called kaladhwen at like 2:30 in the morning and we talked for an HOUR. It was so cool. I'm dead serious. I am still buzzing on this.
Oh, and, skwidfan spent the night last night so we stayed up till like four talking anyways. Then today we went to tour OSU's campus! w00t!! Big fun!! Big allergies!!
But now we're home and I'm feeling better.
And I'm a Graduate of the Class of 2005.
Anyone remember their childhood? Back when you were short and young? You had all the time in the world, the future was big and exciting and the only thing you dreamed of was growing up. Well, three of us have made it there. We’re moving on in our lives with our parents blessing, and our only security blankets are God’s promises. We're moving on to a better future for ourselves and our country. Or at least, we are being given the chance to make a better future for ourselves. What we actually do - what we actually accomplish - is dependent on what we do with the things that God gives to us.
Yesterday, I was an absolute basket case. I didn’t want to graduate, and I most especially didn’t want to grow up. But then I got a graduation present from my grandma and grandpa. It was a graduate’s Bible with my name on it. At the back, there’s this little essay/pep talk called “Your Place In This World” by Dallas Willard thats helped me a lot. In it, the author spoke about ‘commencement’. I’ve never been easy with that word - it has too many unknowns in it. But the author said that the word ‘commencement’ really isn’t really the right word for is happening to us. That it diminishes what has already been accomplished. Instead he said words like ‘responsibility’, ‘effectiveness’ and ‘opportunity’ are better suited to the changes in a graduates life. It made me think a lot.
This graduation isn’t a commencement, a closing of a chapter, because that would be too final. Even though we’re all off to college, we still have God and people who care about us, who are willing to help us deal with the things life deals to us. It’s more like turning a page. It’s gaining a wider scope of the world around us. It’s practicing the values and ideals that we have been working on for the past sixteen or so years of our lives.
No, commencement isn’t the right word.
I’ve heard that when you graduate, it’s like coming to the crossroads of your life. I guess that the assumption is that you’ll turn onto a new path - exchange your old life for a new one. But you see, as a Christian, I can’t agree with that. When I became a Christian, I changed my life and my road - and even though I’m graduating, I’m already on the road I want and need to be on. My job is to do as God wants me to do - not take a crossroad just because it’s there.
I guess ‘crossroads’ is wrong too.
One of my favorite things that I’ve ever heard at a high school graduation ceremony is that it’s ‘The Ending Of An Era’. I just love it. It’s so melodramatic. Usually, I scoff at it though - I mean, you go from high school to college. Wow. What a change. But in a twisted way, they might be right. I’ve talked to a lot of college students who said that they didn’t grow up till they went to college, and in that light, I suppose that this really could be an Ending Of An Era. But we, both as homeschoolers and as Christians, should be beyond needing that kind of distinction. We shouldn’t need to have to say something so final to wake us up.
We don’t need it. That ‘era’, passed us up some time ago.
But then what is a graduation? It’s not a commencement - it’s a continuation. It’s not a crossroads - it’s a change in how people perceive us. It’s not ‘An Ending Of An Era’, it’s the turning of another page. It’s something that gives us a chance to spread our wings; to look to (very, very scary) horizons that God stretched out for us. It’s a hope that God will give us what he promises, even though they’re a long way off. It’s a chance of a lifetime that we’ve already begun.
And it’s my chance, to change the world for Him.
(It’s also a chance to drive a car…)