Each year the month of May comes. For educational institutions, it’s like the last week in December. Every possible reel from the previous year is played on television during the last week of the year. The highs and the lows are reviewed. The famous and the infamous are discussed. All the while, each day takes us closer to the midnight hour when we move from one year to the next. May comes each year, and some of our community depart through Pomp & Circumstance. Robes with purple and gold trim line the halls while parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, relatives, and the community at Taylor cheer, clap, applaud, and wish them well. When I meet with new students and their parents in different venues beginning their college experience, I often remind them that this day is coming. This oh-so-important day of celebration. Each year May comes, and I have to remind myself that there will be incredible celebrations, award ceremonies, honors & accolades bestowed on this group who have worked so very hard for this day. I have to remember to take my vitamin C and catch some extra sleep when I can because, from May 1st on, the days are filled with moments of students saying, “This is the last time as a student I will….
Take this walk with my friends.
Study all night for an exam.
Go to chapel.
Wake up late for class.”
Each year, May comes, and I am reminded of my first May on the Taylor campus. A graduating senior reminded me (because I had no idea how quickly this moment crept up on all of us), “Rev Dyson, in all my life, I’ll not get this graduation moment again. Please take time to celebrate our class and our achievements.” I needed that reminder! So much is going on, and I tend to lean into all of it and attempt, in their final moments of college life, to do everything but celebrate with amazing students the accomplishments they have worked so hard to achieve. Each year, May is upon us, and each year the clock runs down like the buzzer at a sporting event. So I wish I had posted this at the end of March; then, we could have taken a deeper breath and been better prepared to celebrate. Let this post be a reminder to you as it is to me, it’s May already! We prayed for this moment, and forgive me if I seem somewhat focused on celebrations, but It’s their time to shine.
Come what May.
