'We are a body'

As graduation nears, I am beginning to realize just how amazing and formative my time at Milligan has been. It is a place I have come to love dearly. Recently, I have begun to ask myself what my life would be like if I had not come here. I can't answer that question, but I can honestly say that I would not change that choice even if I could.

This college, however, is not the place I came to four years ago, nor should it be. Many changes have taken place. Each class should shape this college in a new way. Some things die off and new ones begin, but one thing remains the same: we are one. This is the unity we are called to in Christ and very few of us will ever live in a community this tightly knit again. Embrace it.

It's easy to become frustrated with the people you see on a daily basis. It's easy to become frustrated with policies you don't agree with or classes that are overwhelming. But never forget that by coming here you are becoming part of something far larger than you are. You are part of the Milligan community.

See yourself as a part of the community and everything that goes with it. Stop talking on your cell phone as you walk across campus and talk to the people around you. Join in campus activities, whatever they may be. Leave your doors open in the dorm. Offer people rides up the hill.

Make sure the time-honored tradition of creeking continues. Reinstate Moonball. Be a member of the Buff club. Don't let the powers that be keep control of the buffalo for too long. Play a few pranks.

These are the things that have made and continue to make this campus a strong community. I know there are those of you who are frustrated and say that you don't feel connected to the campus.

You are the only one who can change that.

This place is communal. If no one contributes to and engages in this place then no one grows. Go out and help build a house. Volunteer even if you don't get chapel credit. Watch your friends in plays. These are the things that will make this campus your home. If I hadn't volunteered to sort clothes freshman year, I still may not have eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Join your floor Bible study. Have mass study session with people you've never met. It's OK to be vulnerable. The people you walk by every day are your brothers and sisters in Christ. Live as if they are.

Worship together. Go to vespers. Stop doing homework during chapel.

We're all in this together. Rather than being frustrated and annoyed, remember that all of these annoying things are what unite us. Yes, we all want a road through campus. But for this year, that annoyance is as much a rite of passage for living on campus as walking up Sutton hill is for students every year.

We have our warts and I don't deny that. We can call each other hypocrites, we can want to strangle the person who won't stop asking questions in class when we just want to get out a few minutes early. We are going to be annoyed by each other. That's part of life.

But never forget that Milligan offers so much. We live, work and worship in a community that has been so strong for so many years that getting an alumni discount in the bookstore means being able to identify the Magni and the Woman of Willendorf. Places like this don't come around often.