New Phase

This past Sunday I graduated from CNU. The rain held off and while the morning started out overcast, about halfway through Commencement the sun popped out and it ended up being an absolutely beautiful day. I know a lot of people got sunburnt and even though I was a little miserable in my black robes with the sun blaring down, I was protected from the sun. Last week and the days leading up to graduation were pretty difficult for me. Friday was my last day of work at the Freeman Center, where I worked all four years and at the end of my shift I definitely started crying. It was the first time I had to start saying goodbye to people and the realization that it was all over hit me like a brick wall. That evening we had our PLP (President's Leadership Program) Senior Celebration and it was again another closing to something I have been a part of for the past four years. During the ceremony a friend of mine had to give a speech and he talked about how it's the relationships we've built with people that we are going to remember. I can honestly say I have made some amazing friends over the past four years. Many of them older that have gone on to bigger and better things, those who have gone through the entire experience with me and some younger that I am leaving behind and I cannot wait to see what their final years bring for them.

Commencement was such a bittersweet experience for me because while I am thrilled to be done with school, I know we won't all be in one place again. Everyone is moving on and starting the new phases of their lives, or some are finishing up their remaining years at CNU. The biggest thing I have been struggling with is the idea that I am starting over here in Roanoke. I am now charged with building new friendships and finding those ties to my hometown that I used to have. I have only been home for a day and a half but in my boredom, it is really sinking in that I need to reconnect to this place. A friend of mine put it to me this way, going back to Newport News right now won't do me a lot of good because eventually everyone I know is going to be graduating and in the same boat I am in now, this is just a part of growing up and a new phase in my life. That is a hard pill to swallow.

I am incredibly excited to see what the Lord has planned for me over the next year, but I am also absolutely terrified. So if you feel so inclined to just say a little prayer that I will find some comfort and that God will just lead me in this new phase of my life, I would really appreciate it.