Throughout my final semester of college I have been lamenting. Lamenting the fact that I haven’t had enough time to take advantage of everything the community of GC has to offer.

I wish I would’ve worked for The Globe. I wish I would’ve taken Human Sexuality with Keith Graber-Miller and Restorative Justice with Regina Shands Stoltzfus. I wish I would’ve spent a semester at Merry Lea. I wish I would’ve been apart of Goshen Monologues. The list could go on.

I think the tendency for us, as students, is to either become so overwhelmed with all that is in front of us or fail to acknowledge all that is in front of us.

Because when else will we have the chance to be surrounded by such a vibrant community with such a diverse group of people all here for the purpose of learning and growing as students, as athletes, as leaders, as people of faith?

In my final month as a student at GC, I will stop my lamenting and instead, focus on the two years I’ve spent in this vibrant community.

As President Stoltzfus said in her inaugural address, “We offer an education that liberates—engaging the whole person,” she said. “It awakens and enlarges the capabilities of our students through the integration of the arts, the sciences, the humanities, and the application of knowledge to do good.”

I have felt this liberation here at Goshen College. I have felt the freedom to explore and question things I haven’t questioned before. I have been pushed to let my received worldviews, biases and privilege fall apart becoming more and more the whole person I long to be.

So I want to say thank you.

Thank you to José Miguel Chiquito, Yazan Meqbil, Erica Ewing and Eli Studebaker. For in more ways than you know, you have given me hope and challenged me by your example to take action in a way that is fueled by deeply rooted compassion for all living things. I look forward to seeing how you will change the world.

Thank you to Duane Stoltzfus, along with the incredible team of editors, staff writers, copy editors, layout editors and photographers I’ve had the chance to work with this semester. For me, putting this paper together has been nothing but a labor of love. There are so many hands that have a role in making the Record what it is and I have learned something from each one.

As I prepare to leave Goshen College as a student, my hope for this community is reflected in these words from President Stoltzfus, also in her inaugural address:

“Let us embrace relevance and controversy and challenge. Let us practice how to listen deeply, to be curious about our differences and to create a conversational space when it is uncomfortable even distressing. Let us manifest our respect for the intrinsic worth of every member of our campus community and also our freedom to ask challenging questions and speak opposing views.”