A friend reminded me today that four months from the day we begin the semester, we graduate.  It seems like just yesterday I was a freshman, looking up to the upperclassmen and trying to make friends.  I now find myself sipping tea, on the verge of beginning my last semester of my senior year.  I can’t count the number of friends I’ve made over the past four years, nor can I name every way in which they have changed my life.  But the fact remains that they have, in more ways than one, for good or for ill, changed my life.  I don’t even know all of the ways in which my friends have shaped me right now.  Some things will only be known in time.

I can’t even begin to tell you the way in which the people in my church have opened my eyes, challenged my thinking, or encouraged me when I needed it most.  A particular instance that comes to mind is when I was getting ready to give my chapel address.  I had asked the student leadership team for college ministry at church to pray about it for me, and elaborated little more than to say that I was speaking.  One of the students in the group is a friend of mine at school, and the night before I was supposed to speak, I received an email.  It simply said this: “Good luck speaking tomorrow. I know you’ll do great! I’ll be praying for you.”  A simple gesture that meant so much at a time when I needed it very much.

When I gave my testimony in church over the summer, many people who already knew part of my story encouraged me and prayed for me.  And afterwards, even more people encouraged me.  I have found the love of Christ poured out through people in my church, in my classes, in the workplace, and elsewhere.  I have been so blessed to be here for four years, and to be able to finish my time here successfully.

These friends I’ve made, these people who have changed my life, will always be a part of it even after I leave this place.  The memories I’ve made here and the things I’ve learned will stay with me, and I know that these friends I have are friends forever.

Here and now I will relish the time that I have been given and I will enjoy the people and circumstances that God has placed before me.  In the ending of this chapter, I’ll keep trusting Him and His plan for my life.  And I will be forever grateful for my friends.

Senior, Spring 2012