Becoming, Not Arriving

Dr. David Fraze: So we got a great group, five of them.
And so now we're going to take a lot of their time.
If you are graduating senior staff or faculty, this is just for you.
We're going to invite you to that mile marker one celebration,
which is in the banker conference in your honor.
Kind of the beginning of your transition out of college into the other world out there.
And also a celebration of just what y'all have been in our lives.
So it gets pretty emotional.
We're back there praying, and I'm looking at all these people going, I remember when.
And it's cool to see you up here, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
So again, faculty, staff, and graduating seniors, make your way to the Baker as soon as we're done.
I realize some of you may have classes.
Who has classes up here?
I didn't say that, but he's retiring.
Where are you, Byron?
Skip them or at least be late.
Just be late.
I want you to skip them totally because some of you need to graduate like some of my graduating seniors that haven't been showing up to class.
That's outright shame.
Okay, so I'm excited.
Introduce yourself and what degree are you graduating with?
And go, Chloe.
Okay.
Chloe Clark: My name is Chloe Clark, and I'm going to be graduating with a degree in elementary education.
Rachel Davison: My name is Rachel Davison, and I'll be graduating with an English degree.
Ruth Blaylee: my name is Ruth Blaylee and I'll be graduating with a degree in biblical text
Josiah Whiting: my name is Josiah Whiting and I'll be I will be graduating with a degree in chemistry and a degree in mathematics
Nolan Maples: my name is Nolan Maples and I'm also graduating with a degree in biblical text
Dr. David Fraze: it's awesome did you just say math and chemistry yes sir a lot of pain on this stage a lot of pain
on the stage chloe we'll start with you you actually grew up here coming to camp and just
it's crazy to see up here so congratulations elementary ed very cool um if you were a freshman
again and you had all this knowledge, what would you tell your freshman self? Okay, the advice that
Chloe Clark: I would give my freshman self, honestly, is to not let the temporary things distract me from the
eternal things. And this can show up in a lot of ways. Okay, go ahead. But I would say that this
really showed up for me academically. When I came to school, school is what mattered. And I mean,
I kind of lost myself along the way, caring so much about my grades and what my professors
thought of me that I lost sight of what really mattered and I was just so focused on being
successful that I forgot what true success even looks like. I forgot that to be truly successful
I need to be in alignment with the Holy Spirit and that I can't be successful unless I know
and I acknowledge that I'm not a student first here. I'm a disciple maker and I'm a disciple
first and those things should come at the forefront and so I would just go back and
remind myself that it's okay to say no sometimes, to say yes to kingdom things, even if it is school.
Don't fail school, obviously. I think it's important, but it was just, there have been so
many moments where it was too important to me. So just to remember to keep the first things first.
Dr. David Fraze: That's awesome. Thank you, husband. Did you say husband? Husband. Is he a plant in the audience?
Chloe Clark: So you have somebody responding to you? We talked about it a lot, yeah. Does husband have a name?
Dr. David Fraze: No. Didn't think so. Okay. That's fun. All right, Rachel, what did you learn? What would you tell
Rachel Davison: your freshman self? Okay, I think the biggest thing I would tell my freshman self is to stop
freaking out. I freaked out about a lot of stuff, and a lot of that stuff didn't really matter as
much as I thought it did, or even if it did matter, it wasn't, like, I didn't need to freak
out about it, right? And so obviously we can't always turn off our emotions, but there's a
degree of control that we do have over choosing to worry or not. And I think it's important to
just say, I'm going to choose not to worry today. So what are some of the things I'm going to ask?
Dr. David Fraze: I'm going to prod a little bit. So what are some of the things you freaked out about? And what are
some of the things you wish you would have known freshman year that's brought you comfort?
Rachel Davison: uh yeah so i freaked out pretty much about everything um a lot about school i wanted to
be perfect in every way i like cried about a 95 i got on a quiz one time and my dad laughed at me
Dr. David Fraze: um but like hold on whoa whoa whoa you cried about a 95 i did honor student yeah have you
Rachel Davison: ever made a b not in a class but probably on an assignment yeah how did it feel i don't i don't
know. I don't remember. Probably bad at the time. I am a perfectionist, so I want to do perfect at
everything, but fun fact, I'm not perfect, and neither are you, so. Wow, that's, I just should
Dr. David Fraze: have hung around with you and let you do my homework when I was here. Okay, so I didn't say
that, so tell me, what have you found out here that you wish you would have, instead of freaking
out, what was it that kind of stopped the freak out in your life? When I was in Spain, I got to
Rachel Davison: do a lot of Bible study and reflection, and I remember reading the Sermon on the Mount, and
just the sense of, like, the passage of, you know, don't worry about what you're going to wear, what
food you're going to eat, because I've got you, right? God's got us, and everything that we need,
God's going to provide, and the cool thing about God is that he provides a lot more than we need,
so worrying about the grades, or, like, what I'm going to do after graduation, or even bigger
things like health or food or paying rent, God's got it. And that realization really helped me
to recognize that stressors are always going to come. They're never going to end when you
graduate, right? You'll find something else to stress out about, but God's peace is eternal for all situations.
Dr. David Fraze: Awesome. Thank you. So go study in Spain and find God. Is that what you're saying?
Definitely. Awesome. Ruth?
Ruth Blaylee: I would tell my freshman self that God not only sends you, but he also sustains you. I think sometimes we can trust God to send us somewhere and we can
trust God to give us the blessing. But then once we arrive at that place, we try to use our own
effort to sustain that blessing. And college is one of those places that God sends you and he has
a purpose for you, but it can be so easy when you're in the midst of it to start to put so
much pressure on yourself to sustain that blessing, and you miss opportunities where
God is trying to teach you about himself or teach you about community or whatever it is because
you're so busy putting the pressure on yourself to hold the weight that he didn't ask you to hold.
So yeah, I would tell my freshman self to trust that God not only sent me here, but he also is
going to keep me here and he's going to send the experiences and the people that are meant to keep me here
Dr. David Fraze: so at one point you were like the president of the world anything that could be a president
you were in charge of and uh you're very eloquent so if your dean ever wanted somebody to say
something to donors they'd go go get ruth so i mean you you've been right in the middle of
everything this year you took a step back is that why um because of the sustaining of god what you took a step back?
Ruth Blaylee: I took a step back because I realized that I had started to put my identity
into those things that I was doing and I needed to see my worth outside of those things and I
needed to see that it was God who put me in those places it wasn't myself that put me there
and so taking a step back my senior year allowed me to reflect on those things joyfully without pressure.
Dr. David Fraze: That's amazing. So you say no, and God shows up and gives you more than
you can ask for. That's awesome. Josiah. So what I had thought about was staying involved.
Josiah Whiting: I did really good at getting involved my freshman year. On my sophomore year, my junior year, I didn't do
very good job of staying involved, and that didn't, that cut off an outlet for me to kind of relax
from classes and all the homework and all the stress of life and so it added even more stress
not having that outlet rather than taking away from it so I would tell myself to stay as involved
in all the things that you get involved in because you have a lot of excitement your freshman year
Dr. David Fraze: so just stay in those things and not fizzle out of them so I got to ask for those some of these
are sophomores and juniors going I got to be in chapel today because I'm going to have to pay a
Fine, which we're so glad they're here.
Why did you back off?
Josiah Whiting: Classes.
So having two majors means that I normally take 18-hour semesters every semester to graduate on time.
But that doesn't mean that I can't make time outside of that to keep going to things.
And even if it's cut back a little bit, instead of totally dropping out of all those things,
you can kind of cut back and schedule your time a little bit better.
Dr. David Fraze: So did you and Chloe talk about what you were going to say?
A little bit, yeah.
No, a little bit before this or just off stage?
Before.
Which Chloe?
This one right here.
Because it's pretty amazing.
Oh, sorry.
Yeah.
He has a wife.
That Chloe wife.
Why didn't she?
You, your husband, just his husband.
Chloe Clark: Oh, Landon.
Dr. David Fraze: There you go.
Awesome.
So both of y'all talk about the idea of not taking academics so seriously
and literally getting involved in student life.
So it really is that important.
It is, yes.
Awesome.
So there's more to LC than just the incredible professors and greats.
Very much so, yes.
Awesome.
Don't be so excited about that.
That was a setup.
So glad.
Nolan.
Nolan Maples: First of all, I don't know.
Incredible professor.
I don't know if you're including yourself in that group.
I would say I was trying to think of something that wasn't cliche,
but I think you're going to sound cliche no matter what
when you're being reflective on a season of life.
And I wanted to say, like if I was talking to my freshman self,
I would say it's okay to change.
Like when I was coming in, I had this idea of where I was going
and the kind of job that I wanted and who I was being formed into.
But just kind of over time, I saw that change a lot by the people I lived with,
by this kind of holistic transformation that I was going through
that even the ways that I'm thinking are not the same.
Dr. David Fraze: So freshmen literally show up with this idea of what you're going to be
and you're going to be here and you're going to do this,
and it changed because of not only the classroom
but all the environments and the activities.
Is that what you're saying?
Nolan Maples: Yeah, absolutely.
And I've felt that, like, you can tell as you go through the way
that your courses are designed that they kind of build on each other
and you see this kind of like opening, like I'm going deeper into my mind
and discovering things about myself, discovering things about God,
just in the way that I'm living here at LCU.
Dr. David Fraze: So every degree, I'm familiar with all of your degrees, believe it or not, even yours.
I know math people and chemistry people.
You have a semester that makes you question your life choices.
He's retiring.
that sound very wicked, you know, that there is a, there is a time of discipline in everyone's
major on this class. It could be a language, your first time in exegesis and the first time
in Greek and going, oh my word, math is its own pain. Elementary, when you do your first placement
going, I'm not so sure I love kids anymore. I mean, you get those moments and in English,
you read something that you're like, can I ever understand this or be there or produce something
like this. So it is just a head shake. Is it important to go through those semesters too
when you don't even understand why you're taking the courses?
Yeah. Can you shake it for the people in the back? Right. Yeah. So there is a method to the madness.
All right. That's your first bit of advice to the rest of these people. Let's start back here.
Okay. What would you tell these individuals and those watching online? There's a camera on you
right now. And someone will take sound bites of you in the next few moments. And if it's wrong,
they're going to make fun of you and it'll go viral. Just trust me. Her name's Janae Rogers.
She's mean that way. Now, here's what I want you to do. Tell them some advice from your experience,
mile marker one. What do we need to know? What do the students need to know to go to the next level?
Chloe Clark: My advice to you guys would be practice asking for help.
You are in the perfect place for it.
Coming from someone who this hasn't always been a strength of mine,
LCU has really been a catalyst of change for me in this area of my life.
It took me to where now not only am I okay with asking for help,
but now I can see a kind of beauty in it,
whereas before that wouldn't have been the case for me.
And I just thought that by doing everything myself,
not asking for help, that made me really strong and made me really selfless, but that just wasn't
the truth. Me not asking for help, it wasn't resilience. It was actually just my pride in
disguise. It was me saying that I can do all of this on my own, and that just, that wasn't true.
I couldn't do it all on my own, and I still can't do it all on my own, and you can't do it all on
your own, and that's not on accident, because when God in all of his goodness created us, he created
us to be in community and he created us to be dependent and I think that sometimes that word
kind of irks people kind of makes them draw back because we live in a society where independence
is king but you were created to be dependent and so I would just urge and encourage you guys to
lean into that dependency and really ask for help humble yourself enough to ask for help
when you need it. And remember that you weren't created to do all of this on your own. And pretending you can doesn't make you any stronger.
Dr. David Fraze: That's so good. Thank you. Amen.
Rachel Davison: Yes. Wow, I really hate to follow that. That was awesome. I guess the piece of advice I would give is to
follow your dreams, guys. That sounds kind of cliche. But for example, I love school and I
I really wanted to go to grad school,
but I couldn't figure out a reason to go to grad school.
I didn't need a graduate degree for what I wanna do.
But I decided to go to grad school anyway,
and I'm gonna be paying a lot of loans in the future,
but that's okay because I'm doing what I love to do, right?
And so I think sometimes we make a lot of excuses
for when we really want to do something
that seems kind of out there,
like go to medical school or go to grad school
or to not go to grad school or medical school.
We try to justify it through a worldly lens,
but there's so much else, right?
We don't just have to make decisions
based on what we're gonna do as a job,
or what can make us the most money.
God, you know, there's so much more to life than that,
and our society lies to us about that all the time.
So if you have a dream and you can't justify it,
or you're afraid to take the chance,
afraid to fail, I would say just go for it, guys. Like, the worst thing that's going to happen is
it won't happen, right? But the best thing that could happen is you could achieve that dream,
or even more than you thought possible. So, do it, guys. Awesome.
Ruth Blaylee: Very similar to what Chloe has said, but I would say find people who you trust, and find people who you can be yourself with,
but also people who push you to be a better version of yourself.
Coming into college, we're all told that we're going to find our best friends
and we're going to find great community.
But we also have to do some work in ourself.
If we want godly friendships, we have to be godly people.
And sometimes that means evaluating yourself
and that means being honest and telling people about the things that are really hard about yourself
because in the end, those people who really love you
are going to look at those parts of you
that you might be ashamed of,
and they're going to speak what Jesus has already spoken to you
over those things.
And so that's the advice I would give to anyone.
If you haven't found those people yet, pray about them.
Before I came to college, I prayed that God would send me
the people who I could be completely myself with,
but also the people who were pushing me
to be the best version of myself, and that's what I found.
But it also took work on my end to go through the hard work when you have tensions in your friendship,
to admit when you're wrong, and to hold each other to a higher standard.
But trust is a big thing.
Finding those people who you trust, who trust you, and being that type of person for them as well.
Josiah Whiting: Wonderful.
What I would say is take advantage of your professors.
They are there and they want to help you.
And building that relationship with your professors can be very powerful.
I have had classes that were only me or me and one other person that were created because I talked to a professor about what I want to do in the future.
And they're like, well, what if we did a class over this?
That would be very helpful for you.
And so there's a lot of things that the professors want to offer and want to share knowledge with you.
Have that relationship and cultivate those relationships with your professors because they know what they're doing.
They're really good at their jobs and they want to help you.
And a lot of times it can even be a networking thing.
I've gotten internships because of my professors.
And internships are huge and very important and look fantastic on resumes.
But they're harder to get if you don't have the connections to get them.
And so your professors are a great outlet at LCU and specifically to your departments.
And so I would take advantage of them as best as you can.
Nolan Maples: I think that I would say that your yes isn't forever.
say yes to things, try things out, and when people are calling things out in you,
adventure into seeing what that is.
But even your degree, it's okay if you get a degree and then you have a job
and not related to what your degree is.
When you're saying yes to something, it's like going through this job interview
where you go through all the steps, you're kind of discovering what their culture is about,
and then they offer you the job, and you've said yes all the way through the process,
but you don't have to keep saying yes sometimes.
Like, let your yes go as long as you need it to,
and it's okay to say no sometimes too.
Dr. David Fraze: You know, I hear, and y'all are exceptional students, by the way.
Can you give them a round of applause?
And I think what makes you exceptional is,
what I keep hearing is, don't have a level of pride
that keeps you from listening to others, even their harsh words.
How many of y'all have ever received, you went to somebody for encouragement, but they gave you hard truth?
At this point, are you appreciative of that?
Yeah, that's a very hard thing.
And it's probably why y'all are so successful, because I think you said it, we're not perfect.
God will take care of us, right?
We've got to have these opportunities to grow.
And none of us have it all together when we get here.
Or even when you're our age, you know, you always have to grow.
Because if you don't grow, what happens?
What's the science?
You're growing or you're, no, say it in the mic.
That's poetic.
Rachel Davison: Dying.
Dr. David Fraze: Dying.
Only from an English major.
That was the best.
Okay.
We'll start down there.
One word that kind of capsulates your LCU experience.
Nolan Maples: Empowering.
Josiah Whiting: transformative faithful and on god's part love impactful awesome that are so good again can we
Dr. David Fraze: give them one more round of applause so you're gonna do you're gonna stand but dismiss somebody
in just a moment it's gonna be great you're gonna dismiss people here in just a moment so don't
Just, yeah, it's going to be awesome.
Remember, if you are faculty and staff, let's head that way as quick as you can.
And we will spend a time to celebrate all you graduating seniors.
Thank you so much again for being on the stage and giving us some really good advice.
Would you like to do the honors?
Go ahead.
Rachel Davison: You guys are dismissed.
Dr. David Fraze: There we go.
Thank you.