Homecoming

This weekend was my undergraduate homecoming.  I was asked to speak at a luncheon with select social work students.  How crazy is it that I am now the "professional expert"?  It felt like I should still be the drowsy student struggling to stay awake, hoping to make a good impression on the guest, knowing that the professors were watching me, waiting to see if I would have an intelligent question for the speaker.  And, I have to admit, I felt far less than the expert.  Most days I go home from work and wonder if I have done anything worth while, anything worthy of what a "Licensed Master Social Worker" should be doing.  Sheesh...send me back to school.

I didn't end up going to the football game.  Doesn't really matter anyway cause we lost.  lol.  But, none of my friends were able to make it in this year, except for the one who still lives there.  And, she had a birthday party to go to.  So, I spent some time with a non-EU friend who lives there.  And, I made a trip to the campus.  The game had already started so the campus was pretty quiet...barren, actually.  The changes were tremendous!  In just five years it has progressed so much.  Evangel is a private Christian college with the Assemblies of God church.  There were several new beautiful buildings and a new clock tower that sits where all of the sidewalks on campus intersect.  There was a verse written on the side of the tower.  I wish I had taken a picture of it because now I don't remember exactly what it was.  But, it spoke of being aware of what God has done, of all He has brought us through.  I know I'm a cry-baby sometimes, but I actually teared up when I read that.  In that moment I think I felt the most proud of my education than I ever had.  Sure, I was proud when I graduated.  But, I never really thought I had done anything that great.  It was school.  Lots of folks do it.  It was just something I did.  However, I am the first Vansell to graduate from college.  In that moment, looking up at that beautiful clock and reading that scripture, I was flooded with so many memories of the struggles I and my parents endured just to get me onto the campus in the first place.  No college fund.  No major scholarships.  No second generation student.  Everything was a first.  Everything was a new endeavor.  And I conquered.  By the grace of God, I made it, went to graduate school, graduated, struggled to land my first job, kept moving up in positions, and now I am back at my Alma Mater giving advice to current students.  Even now, I'm overwhelmed. 

The education I received at Evangel is top notch!  It is actually a fairly large and well-renowned University among the Christian sector.  But, I am aware that not everyone has heard of it.  My grad school was University of Missouri.  And, I am very proud and thankful for that as well.  But, in all honesty, many of the skills I still utilize in practice today came from my time at EU.

Well, I didn't really have an intended purpose here.  :-)  I am just so thankful and I guess these ramblings are coming from a sincere, grateful heart.