Trinity comes alive
it’s time to dream big
March 23, 2006
Matt Laine
Do you remember the first time you ever stepped foot onto the Trinity Western campus? Do you remember that initial anxiety as suddenly it dawned on you: Holy cow. I’m a university student? Remember the weirdness of moving in with someone you didn’t know, sharing space with people you’d just met, and having to deal with other people’s habits, paradigms, and odors? And yet, despite the fear and anxiety, do you remember that excitement you felt when you realized for the first time that mom and dad weren’t in the room next door, that there were no curfews, and no one to look over your shoulder? Every choice you had to make was now completely, solely, and absolutely up to you. Remember all the programs, all the events, all the opportunities you learned about during O-Week? It seemed like there were literally a million different things going on in this brand new world, a million different ways to get involved, to have voice, to affect change.
Do you remember when you woke up one morning and suddenly that excitement had begun to fade? Gradually, perhaps, this new life wasn’t quite as exciting anymore. Life rolls on and the daily grind chips away at any feelings of newness, of freshness and excitement. Each day feels so much like the next that we become all too familiar with the pattern that shapes each moment. Either Christmas or summer is always right around the corner and of course there’s always next year. Next year to do that thing you always meant to do. If only you weren’t so busy.
As university students, and Christian ones at that, it’s time for something new. It’s time to herald the beginning of the post-apathy era. “Being so hip that nothing matters” is clichéd and overdone. Maybe even being a keener could be cool again. We live in an amazingly fascinating world, with amazingly fascinating things happening around us all the time. We happen to be attending Trinity at one of the most exciting times in its entire history. Not only have we just welcomed a new president, but the things our students are doing are downright astounding. Our sports teams are national champions. Our artists are recognized nation-wide. Our Laurentian students are having an impact on the very policy that affects Canadian lives. And your student newspaper was recently chosen as the #1 bi-weekly publication in all of North America. All these things are not the work of some elite super-human group of students. These are the things that happen when regular TWU students work together. We’re all capable of super amazing things.
As we look forward to the future of this university, remember that despite all the buildings that get built, all the dances that get danced, and all the classes that get taught, the future of this university is us. We live in the dorms, we go to the classes, and we pay the bills. Don’t let the hard decisions get left to someone else. Don’t let life happen to you, but rather, happen to life. Everyone here has something to say, something that needs to be said. Write for the Mars’ Hill, run for student leadership, lead a D-Group, speak up in class, get your vote on, find out from someone you’ve never met why they love Jesus, draw, paint, sculpt, sing, dance, yodel. Whatever it is that you do, do it passionately.
Remember those feelings of being able to do anything, those feelings of excitement. Dream big, bigger then you ever have before. Life is amazingly cool, don’t let it pass you by.
Now you go...
Got something to say?