Why
I am Here
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I am here to speak about why I am at Bryn Athyn
College, but before I begin I would like to say that I am not related
to anyone here – the Asplundhs, the Actons, the Adams, the
Synnestvedts, the Pitcairns, the Coopers, the Glenns, the Roses
– not even to Dr. Silverman and definitely
not to Chris Barber. The reason I say this is because
I seem to look familiar and am often told that I look like "someone.”
Unfortunately, however, I have yet to be told that I look like Tovah
King.
Two years ago when I moved to Bryn Athyn College, I had no idea
what to expect. The frightened first-year student who arrived is
not the person here before you. That scared first-year student could
hardly speak up in class because there were too many people, even
though my largest class consisted of 10 people. The frightened college
student of three years ago has been impacted in countless ways,
allowing me to grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
I am here for many reasons: some may differ from traditional reasons.
I was not raised in the New Church and so I come from an entirely
different religious background. I chose Bryn Athyn College because
it was small and because of the encouragement of my roommate –
in Alabama at the time – Merry Farmer. I
had been home schooled and was afraid of getting lost at a big college
or university.
When I finished high school I was very shy and very scared of people.
Even here I have tried to go unnoticed, but I guess I missed the
boat on that one. The people who have known me over the past two
years say that I have changed so much; they just don’t realize
how much I have changed in the last five years. Despite its smallness,
I still found the college so overwhelming. But that has changed.
One of the things that startled me the most in my first year was
that people – especially professors whom I had never spoken
to, knew my name. I was still struggling to keep the names straight
of people I saw every day! Truly, I have never in my life met so
many great people in the same place.
One thing that I love about Bryn Athyn College is that I was quickly
able to build a rapport with my advisor. Poor Dr. Bedford
had to handle a weepy student on a regular basis –
namely me. In how many colleges would you be able to build a rapport
with your advisors and professors? And they are so endlessly accessible
if there is a problem.
Another benefit of being at Bryn Athyn College is my internship
and job at Glencairn Museum. I have worked there since my first
year; it is one of the things that has endeared me to the Academy.
What other college would enable me to work in my field while still
working on my undergraduate degree? My co-workers at Glencairn have
become like a family to me. My data entry work is not always interesting.
This is overwhelmed by the fact that I work with crazy, fun people
on an almost daily basis. An example was when Pete Childs
nicknamed me the “Work Terminatrix” due to my ability
to finish my jobs more quickly then expected. Glencairn has enabled
me to connect with the history of the New church by learning stories.
When I started work I never expected to learn and create stories
to tell.
Of course, my adjustment has not always been perfect. I still sometimes
consider myself an outsider. This has happened less and less over
the years. And sometimes I want to consider myself an outsider,
especially when I realize I am starting to know the “strange
songs” that seemingly pop up at random occasions. This honestly
scares me. I am not at all used to the small town-isms, having grown
up in a place where you barely recognize your neighbors, let alone
know their first names, and their entire history and the moment
they sneezed yesterday and therefore they must have pneumonia.
Those of you who know me well, know that I constantly complain or
make fun of the College. I do it because it has so much potential
to grow. I am personally so excited to see all the improvements
being done on campus. Not because I think we should grow for the
sake of growth but so that more people like me can find and come
to this fascinating, endlessly-philosophizing place.
Although I am not related by blood to these people – the Asplundhs,
the Actons, the Adams, the Synnestvedts, the Pitcairns, the Coopers,
the Glenns, the Roses – I am starting to want to relate to
these people for their creativity, their uniqueness, their variety,
their acceptance, their striving to be better people, their search
for the Truth with a capital T. This search is what makes Bryn Athyn
College so original. Everyone I have met seems to want to know the
truth to understand it, to discuss it in the greatest of detail,
so that they can understand the Truth even more fully, so that they
can serve their use to the best of their ability. Very simply, I
am still at Bryn Athyn College because of this search for the Truth.
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