Finally…my bags are packed and I’m outta here!

Dear first-years, have you heeded my warnings this year? Probably not! You more than likely skipped a few classes – please tell me I wasn’t the only one! - or maybe you went on Facebook in a Payton class and he caught you red-handed. Such things can be assumed since the history professors seem to have a gift for detecting online networking. It’s like their senses are heightened to things like MSN, Twitter and Skype. My dream was to see someone try to have a Skype conversation during class. Maybe that’s something an inexperienced first-year could be persuaded to do next year, eh?
I have a small secret to admit to you, first-year. I didn’t write eight articles about life at Redeemer for your sake. Nope. I didn’t intend to teach you grand life lessons. What I really wanted to do was remind upper year students of the great times they had as first-years. It’s the easiest thing to lose the wonder of first-year when you’re a fourth year and you’ve locked yourself in your room for four days to write a 25-page research paper. My hope is that the people who’ve experienced Redeemer for more than a year can come back in September with the excitement and wonder reminiscent of first year.
So here is my final piece of advice to one-and-all: Let Redeemer (the school, the friends, the faculty and the staff) become a living entity to you. The day that Redeemer became more than the building where I attended classes was in second-year. I had a major spiritual panic attack in the washroom of dorm 38. It messed me up, but it also turned out to be a pivotal time in my life. After that day Redeemer, and everything that it embodied, became a safety net for me. I have no doubt that if I had never gone to Redeemer than I would be living a sad and empty life. Hey, I love Redeemer so much that I’m even in the official promotional video for it, and I did it for free. That’s true love.
Having said that, I do not think that attending Redeemer guarantees a level 10 spiritual life because I’ve seen the complete opposite too many times to be naive. In my case I let Redeemer take life of its own and God used it to rescue me from a horrible pit or, better yet, my own miry clay. Give God opportunity to do the same and you might find that when you graduate you’ll miss this old place just like you’ll miss your old university friends.
Heck, even the Ed kids, the fourth years and the four-and-a-half years who just want out will miss Redeemer. When September comes and goes all of this year’s graduates will mourn for Redeemer while they look for a job in their field of expertise. Wish us luck!
Now for my final farewell, which resembles my upcoming 2023 Oscar speech, (I plan on being like Meryl Streep, and wine, and getting better with age hence planning to win an Oscar 13 years from now) I would like to thank: the Registrar’s Office, Student Life, Financial Aid (they introduced me to my soul-mate, OSAP), all the professors who are glad I didn’t major in their fields and the ones who weren’t so lucky. I’ll thank my friends and most of all I want to thank you, dear first-years, for your time and for reading all of these articles. God bless you in the many years to come, at Redeemer or *gasp* not at Redeemer. Just promise me that you’ll pass on your wisdom to next year’s first-years …those poor, unfortunate souls. Sincerely, Joy.

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