Change
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I hate change. I am possibly the last person you’d
expect to be up here heralding the changes on campus. I have written
many things on the topic of change, and how much I abhor it. A few
years back, I wrote an essay entitled “Change.” My thesis
was: “I envy people who can change their trash can on a whim.”
What I meant was, people who enjoy change and welcome it fascinate
me. Think about it: your kitchen trash can; for how long have you
had it? I know the one at my house has been there for well over
10 years. How long has yours been there? It’s a fixture, isn’t
it – something with which you have become comfortable.
I’m just not a person who takes well to change. My motto is,
“There was a Golden Age, and it was crushed.” Needless
to say, when I first heard that the campus would be undergoing massive
“improvements,” I was nowhere near thrilled. Everything
that was good about the College would be destroyed by these changes:
drywall in the commons, new pathways, skylights…all the things
that destroy happiness.
This past summer, Garrett Smith created a group
on Facebook dedicated to helping people keep up to date on the projects
going on on campus and giving people a place to discuss them. For
those who are unaware of what Facebook is, it is a site on the internet
developed for social networking. On this group there were pictures
of the improvements that were going on, and I would comment on these
pictures, and leave notes of disapproval. I also was the Chief Conservative
of the group.
When I first saw pictures of the construction, my heart ached. Another
Golden Age was being crushed. I posted the following.
Oh my, thanks, Garrett. The last thing I need is a reason not
to want to go back to BACON.
And then I read that they were dry walling the commons. I posted
this.
Pen Hall is a unique building with a certain feel to it. Even
though it may not look like the Luxor or the Willard, it has such
a homey feel to it. Maybe it’s just the overwhelming sense
of community I feel when I am there with people – but what
I’m getting at is that I think it was perfect the way it was.
Kendra Knight, a senior History major here at the
College, responded to my post:
I have confidence that Pendleton Hall will still be unique,
homey feeling, and conducive to a sense of community. We liked it
the way it was, but does that automatically mean we won’t
like the "updated" version?
She made a good point, but I wasn’t having it. Nothing could
ever be as good as it was before. So I responded with this.
Kendra: As Chief Conservative, I am required to answer your
naïve question, “Does that automatically mean we won’t
like the ‘updated’ version?” The Answer: Yes.
I even made a lengthy post later on about how I wasn’t sure
if I wanted to return to the College because of all of the work
and the changes that were going on.
Now, as you have heard, I’m not all that fond of change. But
in all honesty, change is fine. I’m just afraid of losing
the things that I love. The thing that I love most in this world
is Bryn Athyn College. I was simply afraid this summer that I would
lose it. From the professors to the students, right down to the
concrete of Pendleton Hall, I love this school.
When I was questioning whether or not I actually wanted to return,
I was being melodramatic. Nothing in this world could have kept
me from returning.
At this College we have something unique, and all of you who have
taught there, attended, or are attending know that. We have a school
that’s founded on higher values, and promotes these values
to its students and staff. We try to be good people by making ourselves
useful, whether the use we serve is just saying hello to every person
we meet, organizing social events, or going down to Mississippi
to help rebuild the coast – we make ourselves useful, and
we delight in it.
And there are our professors – some of the most incredible
people I have ever met. These people work hard for the students’
benefit, sometimes pulling late nights proofing papers, or sacrificing
personal time to study with students the night before a test –
to even being there when school is out for one of their students
who is in need. The professors here care, whether they say they
do or not – they care and that means a lot to me, and most
of the students here.
We really have a great place here, and the changes that are happening
are worth it, because Bryn Athyn College is touching so many people’s
lives for the better. These people go out and add value and help
brighten many other people’s lives. And as a result, Bryn
Athyn College of The New Church is helping make the world a better
place. Hopefully, as a result of the improvements, enrollment will
go up, and more people will be able to experience Bryn Athyn College.
Though I technically have no blood relations here, I feel like a
part of Bryn Athyn as much as I would had I been raised here. Bryn
Athyn College is a place for everyone. Not just for the Kemptonites,
or the people from Kitchener or Bryn Athynites. It’s for everyone,
just like the truths we teach and the goods we inspire.
As you can probably tell, the changes don’t bother me anymore.
I actually welcome them now. I became willing to accept change this
summer while in Germany. I visited Castle Nurenberg, a castle built
in the 11th century. This castle has stores in its very walls: travel
agencies, clothing stores, butcher shops and internet cafes. I realized
that in order for this castle to have survived for so long, it had
to be able to accept change. New purposes, new people. Just as the
skyscraper, ironically, must be able to sway in order to stay structurally
sound, the same with the suspension bridge. They must be flexible
to endure through time, just like us. They are built to endure,
just like our College. Change is a part of life. If Bryn Athyn College
never adapted, it would quickly fall into the past and cease to
be.
Some of you here are happy with the changes that are going on, and
others of you aren’t. And the rest, I assume, just go with
the flow and accept the changes as part of life.
When you get down to it, the basketball court, the new lights, the
drywall in the commons, the new housing, the coffee shop, the paths
and all of these other changes – these things all are the
stores in the walls of our castle. They are signs that Bryn Athyn
College is a living, breathing institution, and it sways and adapts,
and therefore, it endures. These are signs that Bryn Athyn College
of The New Church is worth updating and improving.
Whether you are happy with the changes or not, whether or not you
want stores in our walls, we all share something, and that is a
love for this College. Whether we are afraid of losing it to the
past, or to the changes, that love is the very reason we will never
lose this College. The reason Bryn Athyn College is so unique, amazing,
and enduring, is that love.
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