College Dreams

I am sitting on an airplane back to Nashville from Spokane, WA. I spent the last three days at Whitworth College visiting classes and meeting with students. It was fun to go into the classrooms and share about what I have learned in the last couple of years since graduation. It was exciting to visit with professors, to catch up with them and to help them see how their teaching and investment have made an impact on me and others. It was great to be reminded about how passionate students can be. It's a beautiful thing to see college students who have realized that they can be a part of changing the world. It's contagious to be around, as dreaming and idealism rise high in the hearts of young people.
I hope they see their potential and that they are encouraged to pursue their vocation with enthusiasm and relentless persistence...that's the only way I know how it works.

I was a dreamer in college. I saw how the world could change and I committed myself to seeing it happen. I never thought I would lose idealism. Two years out of college, I don't feel as though I have lost it, but I certainly feel it pulling away from me like a 12-year-old boy who realizes that hanging out with Mom isn't as cool as it used to be. (I'm not a Mom and I don't know what it's like to be a 12 year old boy, but that was the only example that came to mind.) I want so desperately to hold on tightly to the belief that the world can and will change for the better - but so many of my experiences have shown me that the world will do everything it can to prove me wrong. Time, experiences, continual interaction with the broken and difficult world have definitely challenged that idealism. Maybe I'll let idealism take its distance. But I will hold on to hope. I do not have permission to let that one slip by me.

Jena