bryn athyn college commencement address
Delivered by Reverend Eric Carswell, Vice Chancellor, May 2013
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ongratulations to all of you who will be walking across this stage today: Associate, Bachelor’s, Master of Arts in Religious Studies and
Master of Divinity. Congratulations to parents,
friends and faculty who have supported you in
your long journey to this day. I hope you already
have a strong sense that the education you have
received at Bryn Athyn College has prepared you
on so many levels for the next stage of your life.
Do you recognize how it has challenged you to
develop spiritual purpose, to think broadly and
critically from a variety of perspectives, and to
build intellectual and practical skills? Do you feel
prepared to make a difference in this world? I have
confidence that you are prepared.
I hope those of you who are graduating from
college realize what an accomplishment this is.
As of last year just one third of the adults in the
United States ages 25-29 had attained a college degree. Two decades ago it was less than quarter of
adults that age.
It is a rich, varied and challenging adult world
that many of you are entering. Some of you may
be cheered by the thought that you have taken
your last academic class, turned in your last paper, completed your final exam, and received your
concluding set of grades. All these things may
have indeed occurred. I think you will find that
the adult world you are entering, some might call
it the school of experience will not be entirely different. One way in which it is fundamentally different is that in real life no one, absolutely no one,
gets straight A’s. There is no 4.0 average in real life.
The real world of adult life finds us all sometimes
responding in ways that deserve a low C grade or
outright failure. This can actually be a harder realization for those of you who have found academic
perfection somewhat attainable.
As has been observed, one thing about the
school of experience is that it often repeats a lesson you flunked the first time. As one man in his
30s stated, “I realized the common factor in all my
failed relationships with women was me.” From
this realization, he found the energy to work on
being a different human being from what he had
been before.
Almost any quality that you have will be a
strength in some settings and a weakness in others. Perhaps you have had experience with this
phenomenon. Part