God’s Plan For Us
So now we are on our fourth and final installment of my Shifting Perspectives Throughout the College Years series. Today I will be talking with some of our seniors who are getting ready to graduate May 2021 or have already graduated in December of 2020. The goal is to see how their perspectives on life and school have changed over the years and to see where I fit into this whole thing.
About Me
I have felt a bit lost, to be perfectly honest. By year I am a junior, but by graduation status, I am a senior. However, I have never really felt like I belong to one over the other. In actuality, it doesn’t matter when you finish school, how long it takes you, or whether or not you follow the “traditional” route after high school and attend a four-year university. The truth is, God will use you however he needs you. Whether you go to a community college, take a gap year, go to college for four years, go to graduate school, attend a university for five years, attend a trade school, start an apprenticeship, or do not finish high school, God will use you how he sees fit. But, it is rather fun to see what sorts of changes one makes throughout their time at college and what sort of outlook they have now compared to high school.
In case you have not read my other articles, since I am graduating from college in three years instead of four, I decided to write this series because I was curious to see what others’ perspectives are as they grow and change throughout their time here at Grove City College. I also thought it would interesting to see if my outlook on life aligns more closely with a typical senior’s perspective or not since I do not fit in the normal category for graduation.
On that note, let’s look at some of our senior’s responses.
First up is Emily Ferreira a Senior Psychology and English major. Her goal at the beginning of her college career was to be a professional counselor and so far she is on track to do just that! Her current plan is to work for a few years before graduate school to get a better feeling for how much further she wants to go in her education.
Next up is Shelly Qin. She graduated this December and majored in International Business and minored in Economics and Pre-Law. In an interesting turn of events, Shelly realized that she had a love for modelling. Now she models and is loving it!
Rachel Franklin is next. She is a senior Computer Science major working towards a career in data analytics. She has loved getting to experience a second family within the Grove City College community. And she had a really humble response to the question: What would you change about your college experience if you could? She said, “Nothing that I have control over.” This is a beautiful reminder that a lot of life happens outside of our control.
Next we have Emily Roesenberger who is a senior English and Secondary Ed major. She is looking at teaching high school abroad. College has provided her with so much more than she expected. She says, “To dream/think about them [experiences] is very different than the actual experience. Like the friendships are deeper that I thought possible, I’ve had so many new experiences I never thought I could/would even have access to, things I thought I would dread have actually been some of my favorite parts of school, etc.”
Hannah Elder is next. She is a senior Accounting major. She was looking for a Christian community with tough but doable academics. Grove City College not only fit the bill but also gave her a nice balance between the two. Grove City College helped her grow and learn throughout her time at school.
Lastly, we have Sarah Robinson. She is a Business Analysis major with a concentration in Analytics. She told me part of her story about almost getting trapped in Australia when the world shut down due to COVID. However, college prepared her for such a stressful situation because she was used to getting things done in a crunch. She also had this to say: “College has been an incredible time of both personal and professional growth. Even if this last year has been nothing like anyone could have expected, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn with like-minded peers. Community was something I was looking for in a college and I am thrilled to say I found it. It looks different from freshman to senior year, but along the way I have build friendships with community members, faculty, classmates, and random people I introduced myself to.”
In Conclusion
I feel like this is a perfect place to wrap up. Sarah’s recollections about community and building friendships that look different from freshman to senior year is exactly what I have experienced as well. It doesn’t really matter if you “feel” ready to graduate because God will help you get there at the right time. All of these seniors that I interviewed are excited to be out in the world. I am too. Growing and changing over the last few years has prepared me to showcase my gifts for the Lord. All of these students that I interviewed are also working towards this as well. In fact, God is using them already! God is amazing and he has prepared a path specifically for each one of us; I am excited to see what he has in store for me!
