Promotion Time (36)

It's almost over. School year 07/08 is drawing to a close as the students prepare to go through finals week. Graduation invitations have been sent out, tickets home have been booked, and the last blogging assignments are being written. Juniors are anxious to be promoted to the coveted rank of seniors, and seniors are about to arrive at the bottom of the pecking order once more.

Here are my parting words to this year's batch of smartened cookies. We've had a great year. Campouts, choir trips, field trips, and S.A. socials are some of the fun memories we all share. But even the homework and sometimes boring classes paid off in the satisfaction that every student felt at least once when they saw a red "A" scrawled over their assignment.

A few words of wisdom for the classes: Freshmen, remember that it only gets better next year as you advance up the ladder. Sadly, it is true even at W.A. that freshmen get picked on the most. Sophomores, this year may have been busy, stressful, and jam-packed with homework. But being a junior won't be any easier. Enjoy! Juniors, it's all downhill from here (That's just my theory, but if those clowns graduating this year made it, it should be doable.) Seniors, you were a fun-loving bunch and it definitely brightened up the school. If you transfer some of your enthusiasm to studying, you'll do just fine in college. Good luck!

I express my sincere appreciation to my teachers and the neat staff of W.A. Since you always are involved with the students, we've all gotten to know you outside of the classroom. Mr. Boyd, always loving an adventure, Ms Jenkins telling the wildest true stories, Ms Chi promoting NPR, and Ms Polk and her "little" endearing terms.

W.A. is a special school because of the people that make it up. No amount of government grants and subsidies could have made Weimar what it is. Weimar Academy has truly changed lives and in turn changed the world. Let us uphold the tradition. And one day soon, friends, students, teachers, and staff alike will gather around the Throne and sing "Side by Side".

When Today Becomes Tomorrow (35)

Ask a ten year-old if five years seems like a long time and most likely you'd get an answer saying it would take forever for that amount of time to elapse. Indeed, back in elementary school I never imagined I'd be 17 years old and a junior in high school. But strangely enough it happened, and even as I tap the letters on the keyboard I am on the verge of becoming a senior. When (and if) 2013 arrives, what will my life be like? Perhaps it will look something like this:

Nearly four years of college will be behind me and I'll be getting ready to graduate with some sort of a Balchelor's degree. Maybe I'll have gained my education in the recently resurrected Weimar College or maybe I'll be packing up my dorm room at Andrews University. By that time I'll have had a bit more practice producing videos and hopefully I'll have put my backpacking equipment to good use. I'll be looking for a job related to my college degree (maybe a high school Chemistry teacher) so that I can start earning money to take flying lessons.

My formal education will be almost behind me and I'll be getting ready to launch off into the work of mission aviation somewhere in the jungles of someplace. My writing will have further matured through college and my portfolio will have a good amount of published articles in it. Eventually I will be starting up a column in a mission magazine that chronicles my mission pilot experiences.

Maybe at that time I'll start thinking of getting a driver's license. Since I was living at home while attending W.C., insurance just wasn't worth it and my bicycle sufficed for everything except town trips. But the airport is an hour bike ride away, so a car would come in handy. These are some of the possibilities and only the Lord knows what will transpire in the next five years. We may not be here that long. Or we may. One thing is certain; time is relentless.

The individual hardships and joys of days gone past are forgotten as a person grows older. And just as I never imagined I would someday be a high school student, it's hard to imagine that the Lord's coming will really happen. But it will. And even the seemingly long years of a lifetime will fade into insignificance when that small black cloud the size of a man's fist appears on the horizon. Only the blink of an eye separates today from eternity.