"And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:12, ESV.
I am constantly surprised by how quickly time flies. Regardless of the time of year, it slips by faster than I would like it to. And this past school year was no exception. So, although this post may seem a bit late (being nearly a month since school ended), it just doesn't seem like it has been that long since school ended.
This year needed some time to digest.
Side Note: I think summer is an integral part of college. For some, summer is an escape, or a time to make money, or a time to just recover and relax. I think summer can be all of the above and more. Because time is so hard-hitting and fast during the school year, it is very easy to let many of the lessons that you learn outside of the classroom slip through the cracks. School has a way of "trimming away the fat." And this is where summer comes into play. Summer should be the time to reflect and rebuild. To look at the lessons that you might have forgotten about, or just brushed away during the rush of school, and do your best to analyze and apply them.
As I was saying. . .
I could point to many things that I learned this past year, but that would require a much longer blog post and I think that would cause the few readers of my blog to become glassy eyed and stare off into the horizon. (I wouldn't blame them.)
But what would I say is the lesson that I took away from this year?
Friendship. That is what has been impressed upon me.
Friendships are where you apply your learning. That is my practicum if you will. I've realized that what we learn in the classroom is put into practice in our friendships.
New Saint Andrews College has been a furnace where some of my greatest friendships have been forged. It has been a phenomenal blessing in many ways, but this year - this last school year - has impressed upon my life many friends that I can count on and trust.
Since having moved around a-lot with the military, I have discovered that that can accelerate friendships in a way that seems abnormal. But looking back, I find that it is the shared experience that really drives those friendships. It is the pressure of moving, having a father deployed, or being in a brand new place that brings you closer to someone else.
At New Saint Andrews, I have found a similar kind of pressure. The friendships that I have grown in have been forged in the furnace of intensive learning. It is a kind of learning that pushes and challenges you in a way that is far beyond mental. You have to have the desire and determination to really understand it, and also the push to put into practice what you have been taught.
I remember one Finals Week quite vividly. I walked into Friendship Square to find a fellow student earnestly preparing for an oral final that he had in under half an hour. The look on his face reflected what I must have had on mine. Stress. Both of us were visibly concerned about our perspective finals, yet in that moment I had light a bulb go off. This is exactly what we signed up for.
To be challenged.
And it is in these kinds of moments where friendships are tested. It is in these kinds of moments that the strength of our three-fold cord is challenged.
It is by no means a cake walk.
This past year, I have truly been able to witness and experience how iron sharpens iron. And I cannot wait to see what next year has in store as we continue to grow and push one another in our faith, studies, and lives.
This is the close of another chapter of my schooling, but it is the beginning of many things that I cannot begin to comprehend at the moment.
Further up and further in!
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