Cedarville Is Blue

On Cedarville's campus, this week is fondly referred to as "hell week." It is the week before finals, and everyone mills around campus as usual, with two exceptions. The once joyous and cheerful faces now exude exhaustion, despair, or just a glazed over blank stare suspiciously resembling a character from an old zombie movie. In addition to this phenomenon, the concentration of students in and near the library increases approximately 66% (a similar increase can noted in the amount of electricity consumed in the dormitories after midnight). I myself have felt melancholy and blue for the past few weeks, and I'm not the only one. Everyone seems to feel this way. I've secretly been planning plausible ways to satisfy my urges to either run away or cry and hide under a blanket for the next ten days. Maybe I can clone myself and then stowaway on a Caribbean cruise line. I'm sure no one would notice.

But I can't run away or hide. I have things to do, people to see. The end of this year is different from freshman year. It is even different from last year. Travel back in time with me to spring 2010, the final culmination of my first year as a university student. I distinctly remember buying a footlong Spicy Italian sub from Subway and sitting on my bed for an entire day during finals week studying for my general chemistry exam. I also remember walking out of that final, meeting my friend Clara by the BTS, and lying down on the grass next to the lake just thinking "It's OVER. We did it!!!" I had never felt such a strong mixture of relief and relaxation. Summer had finally arrived.

Last year, the end of the year came and went without much trauma. After spring semester, I stayed on campus for three weeks and completed a three-credit intensive course during the month of May. Many of my friends attended May term as well, so the year never really ended... we just moved out of Maddox Hall and into McKinney Hall. And when May was over, there were only a few people to say goodbye to.

This year is different somehow. I'm a junior, and for the first time, I have dear friends who are graduating and will not be returning in the fall. No matter how badly I wish everything could just stay the same, I know that next year will be different and there's nothing I can do about it. My gut reaction implores me to forego all forms of academic achievement and enjoy a week and a half of coffee dates, shopping trips, picnics, and movies. But I can't do that. It's hell week. Even if my mountains of schoolwork magically disappeared, the reality is that everyone else has projects and exams to finish too. So where do we stand?

Today's chapel was Senior Class Chapel. Following the painfully boring reflections on Cedarville experiences and advice to underclassman, the band invited all of the seniors up onto the stage at the close of the service as the student body sang Be Thou My Vision. As I looked up onto the stage and stared at the familiar faces of my friends and boyfriend stand on the stage one last time, a wave of sadness but then one of excitement and anticipation washed over me. Yes, Cedarville will be different next year. Yes, all those people will be gone. But they will have gone out into the world equipped to make a difference in the world for the cause of Christ. I have friends graduating and entering fields of business, missions, church ministry, education, marketing, engineering, biological research, social work, etc. The list goes on. I will miss them, but it is right for them to go on! It is right for them to use their gifts, talents, and education to make a difference. One short year from now, it will be my turn to join them and someone else's turn to write a nostalgic piece about the depressing effects of graduation week. Yes, I will miss people. But it would be selfish of me to make them stick around, even if I had such a power.

My message to Cedarville's class of 2012? Make us proud. Choose to be excellent every single day, and inspire those of us who eagerly await our own graduation day. And honor Christ. Choose to be excellent every single day by allowing Him to use you to achieve great things for His eternal kingdom. A college degree is temporary... but heavenly rewards last forever.