A Look Back

A chapter in my life has come to a close. I am no longer categorized as a "Student." Last week I took the final exam for the last few credits I needed to graduate. Come spring commencement, I will have in my hand a B.S. degree in Biblical Studies from Philadelphia Biblical University. I imagine the average college graduate is bursting with elation and relief that they are done. Not so much with me. While I am definitely feeling like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders and am glad that exams/papers/classes will no longer interfere with my family life, I'm actually a bit sad that I finally reached the end.

Maybe I'm weird, but I love college. I love learning. I especially love learning with accountability and structure of a course since I am not the most self-disciplined individual. I love going to actual classes (so much better than the online classes I've taken most recently!). I love the environment and atmosphere of a college campus. I love searching and deciding which classes to take. I love the excitement at the beginning of the semester when I receive the class syllabus and peruse all the assignments. I love class discussions. At PBU, I specifically loved the professors - all them godly, wise, and humble men and women (okay, I had one who wasn't very humble! :). Of course, I'm not immune to frustrations and headaches with deadlines, and occasionally boredom with topics that don't interest me. But overall, I loved college and I'm thankful I had the opportunity to go. I'm going to miss it a lot and I've spent a bit of time this past week thinking back.

My college career was not the typical. When I graduated as class Valedictorian from my high school in 2000, there were quite a few surprised reactions when I said I would not be attending college immediately. While I am a firm believer that college is not for everyone (contrary to what much of society will tell you), my reason was not that I wasn't the "college type," but rather that it just wasn't right for me at that time in my life. For one, I didn't have any career goals - why go waste thousands of dollars when there was no professional career that really appealed to me? I knew that I wanted to be a wife and mother, but beyond that nothing drew my interest. Two, there was a certain young man who had caught my eye that I wanted to take time to pursue a relationship. :) Three, at that point in my life, I was kind of "sick of school" and really did need a break. I thought that I might want to get a Bible degree at some point, but the where/when/how was unknown.

A few months after high school, I took a job delivering flowers at a floral shop. A year later I got married. About a year after that I changed jobs and worked as a clerk at a contract postal station/auto licensing sub-agent. It was Kevin's dream to return to school and get his master's and doctorate, so I figured that somewhere along the line I could take a few classes too. But those plans just stayed on the back-burner...until my mom invited us to a conference at her church at which one of Kevin's former professor's from Moody Bible Institute was the speaker. Dr. Benware was then teaching at Philadelphia Biblical University. To make a long story short, we talked with him, we got excited, we visited the school, we hunted for apartments, and then took the plunge, both becoming full-time students. The school was a perfect fit for us: a solid Master of Divinity program for Kevin and a great undergrad Bible program for me.

We spent two wonderful years at PBU (school years 2005-07). Although it was a hard adjustment at first (my first move away from Olympia and family), I soon fell in love with the school and the area, and, ironically, I fell more in love with Washington too (it's funny how going away makes one more appreciative of things one had always taken for granted!). My first year there I took a unique program called The Institute of Jewish Studies (now called the Bible and Israel Program), a one-year modular-structured program with 25 students. It was AWESOME! I learned so much, worked so hard and enjoyed myself a ton. The culmination of the program was a two-week study-tour to Israel, which became one of the top experiences in my life.

The Sea of Galilee

The following year, I transferred into the Biblical Studies 4-year program. One really fun part that second year was that, because of a scheduling conflict, I was allowed to take Hebrew with the graduate students, one of which was Kevin. :o) What a blast we had taking the same class and studying together.

Top of the Empire State Building, NYC

While in Pennsylvania, Kevin and I also had a wonderful time exploring the Northeast when we got chances in between our studies. While I wished we could have done even more (money and time were definite factors), we were able to take many trips to downtown Philly (I miss you, Philly Cheese Steak!), a couple to Washington DC, one into New England where I got to see one of my ancestor's graves (a colonial "hero" who had been imprisoned in the London Tower!), several trips to New York City, a couple to Gettysburg and Amish country, one to colonial Williamsburg, and two trips to visit my dad and brother who were in Maryland for a few weeks taking some job-related classes at their union's engineering school. Plus, I got to go to Florida with the women's volleyball team (which I played on my first year at PBU) where I was able to meet up with my friend Leah who was going to college in Florida (by the way, we graduated high school the same year and she just got her doctorate this year - that's the going-to-school-every-year pace :). We also enjoyed hosting several visitors (my friend Shauna, our friends Rainer and Adrienne, my mom, my dad, my brother and my nephew Stephen).

Elfreth's Alley in Philly - our nation's oldest continuously inhabited residential street

I enjoyed meeting and getting to know fellow students, but living off-campus, being married and being older than most of the undergraduates was definitely a hindrance to establishing very many close friendships. I guess one can't have it all, eh? :o) But that just left me more time to study harder and I left PBU with a 4.0. Unfortunately, I will be a few "in residence" credits short of being able to graduate with honors (i.e. Summa Cum Laude) since one year's worth of my credits are transferred from other schools.

A favorite study spot of mine.

In Spring 2007 we were all out of money and had to quit school, me with one semester to go (I had taken a semester's worth of classes from our local community college in the year prior to PBU and then took very heavy loads [three years of credits in only two] while at PBU). As I drove back across the country 20-weeks pregnant, I had absolutely no clue that it would take me over FOUR years to complete those last 6 classes and transfer them back to PBU to complete my degree. But subsequent pregnancies and babies had a way making finishing my degree a very low priority to me. When I had experienced fairly severe morning sickness that last semester at PBU, I thought I had it bad (i.e. finding a seat near the doorway in order to make quick exits and carrying a barf bag in my backpack at all times). But I was so wrong. Soon I found out what it was like to pull an all-nighter to finish a term paper, having to take multiple breaks to nurse a crying baby! I had to line up babysitting just so I could go to class and then race home immediately because it was past the baby's typical nursing time. And then there was the correspondence course that I procrastinated on and had to finish up only two weeks after Ben was born. Insane (especially if you recall the tearing and healing issues I had with his birth). Oh, and this last class when Kevin was gone fishing, I was up all-night for several nights in a row when Jake had croup, had to deal with three kids by myself, and I had to write a paper and take an exam that week! Yes, taking classes (online or traditional!) just isn't for me at this point in my life. :o)

So now my journey is over. Was it worth it? Yes! Why? I don't really know - it's certainly not going to increase my zero-dollar salary (ha!). But I feel like I have gained knowledge and wisdom, grown in my faith, become more mature and experienced things I never could have by staying in Olympia and working. Hopefully, these things will make me a better wife, mother and servant of Christ. And, hopefully, at some time in my life (like way, way, WAY in the future :), I will get to go back to college again. Just because I love it.

Last picture taken before the long drive home.