An Homage to University

It's hard to believe I'll be done with my lifetime's worth of schooling in (almost exactly) six months time. Walking around UCLA, I'm from time to time struck by not just the beauty of the campus, but also the unique privilege and environment that makes up my higher education experience.

Clearly, these benefits are not unique to my own experience at UCI and UCLA. A few of the more universal qualities that I will miss about college (and its professional school variations)...

1. A sense of community. This is probably the most missed aspect of school for new grads moving home or to a new setting. There's something comforting about simply seeing a group of people on a near-daily basis, walking the halls, in class, and at class events.
2. The ability to purely learn. Of course there are those who are simply trying to do the bare minimum to graduate, and can't wait to leave school, but for the most part people are paying excessive amounts of money because they have some genuine interest in learning. The freedom to choose your area of interest, and the ability to pursue goals unattached from a direct monetary-sum reward (as in work settings) are equal parts precious and invaluable.
3. A sense of pride in your school. This unifying quality is partly what keeps people so attached to their alma mater, I think. People like to belong to a larger entity, and while there are some elements of this at work, there's nothing quite like showing off your schools' best eats and sights, or cheering for your basketball team or football team.
4. Freedom. Sure there are your occasional enslaughts of exams and papers, but on a day-to-day basis, school affords you unparalleled daily freedom in your schedule. The lack of consequences for missing a day of class and convenience of planning a short trip unhindered are seriously taken for granted.

Okay, enough brown nosing to the higher education system for today. Down with tuition increases, down with the student loan system, down with ugly bureaucratic waste!

in praise of hymns

When I was a young child, I used to hang out with my grandma while she would play the piano. She mostly stuck to a few standby staples: a Chopin etude, some other Mozart piece, and two hymns -- "Trust and Obey" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness." (There's another incident where she played some new piece, which must have been an emotional one, because for some reason 4-year old me burst out crying. I guess I was easily touched by music from an early age. Another story for another day.)

I always felt Trust and Obey's lyrics were a little too on-the-nose, but Great is Thy Faithfulness became firmly entrenched as one of my favorite hymns that would bring back memories of that piano room in my old St. Louis house.

(Note: I'm lucky enough to have two Christian grandmas who both play the piano, so this story can be told twice. My other grandma favored "I Surrender All" and "It is Well With My Soul," both which will possess a soft spot with me for all eternity.)

This past Sunday during worship, the worship leader transitioned from a few ultra-contemporary worship songs to "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and there was immediately a change in the energy of the church. People who weren't singing before were all of a sudden belting out the lyrics with conviction, even effortlessly breaking into harmony parts. I was doing the same, filled with a joy that accompanies an unexpectedly familiar and powerful hymn. At a certain point, probably with the last stanza and chorus, I decided to stop singing and just listen, and really soak in every lyric.

It was a powerful and tangible reminder of God's presence. Thank you church for that comfort and joy in a time of sadness and hurt.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!