I’ve been back in the United States for almost a month now. Mostly, I’ve been lying on my couch watching hours and hours of TV, hoping to transport myself back to Cambridge by binging the first three seasons of Granchester (so far, unsuccessfully). I struggled quite a bit with apathy and loneliness for the first two weeks at home. I moved out of my apartment in Cleveland before winter break, so I’ve just been living back at my parents’ house while I wait out the remaining weeks of the semester. I drove up to Cleveland every week to see friends and check off last-minute graduation things, but other than those few days, I‘ve really missed being so close to the community I built at Lee.
I turned in my final assignments of undergrad ever this past Tuesday, and now I am back in Cleveland for a few days to GRADUATE! It is a little bit unbelievable, to be honest—all the hours spent slaving over papers and cramming my brain full of senseless knowledge has led to this moment. By the grace of God, I am graduating Lee University summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English-Writing and a minor in Advertising. During my four years at Lee, I have had the opportunity to be a resident assistant in both an underclassmen dorm and during Lee’s summer honors program, participate in a work-study as a section editor for Lee University’s biannual lifestyle magazine, the Vindagua, and round out my time in undergrad with a semester studying abroad in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Along the way, I’ve both lost and gained friends. My dreams have evolved and adapted to the person I am becoming. God has revealed Himself in unique ways and places I never expected to find Him. I could go on, but I‘ll save the sappy-ness for my diary.
As I’ve been back at Lee, surrounded by friends I saw everyday for three months and friends I haven’t seen since freshmen year, I‘ve listened as everyone excitedly shares their post-grad plans for the future. It warms my heart to watch people fulfill the dreams they‘ve idealized for four years.
You may (or may not) be wondering where I’ve decided to land my feet this fall. For a while I considered applying to graduate school or applying to jobs in big cities. Instead, I‘ve chosen an unconventional path that freshman Hannah never seriously considered.
In September, I will be heading back up to the Pacific Northwest to pursue a Discipleship Training Program with YWAM in Salem, Oregon. I‘ll be living on the YWAM base in Salem, which sits in a 35-acre evergreen forest. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect from this experience. I was drawn to Oregon through a summer trip to visit my very good friend, Victoria, in Washington state, and we somehow ended up spending half of the trip driving up the Oregon coastline. What specifically drew me to the area was the knowledge that the Pacific Northwest is the most unreached region in the United States. I grew up in America’s Bible Belt, and until I studied abroad in England, I had never lived in a culture where Christianity wasn’t the norm. I am so eager for a change of pace in my adult life and for the opportunity to live in an environnment that pushes me outside my comfort zone.
Once the excitement of graduation dies down a bit, I’ll be updating my blog with travel anecdotes and photos, as well as a detailed story of how I ended up doing YWAM. Until then, cheers!
Comments