Graduation

graduation, originally uploaded by mincaye.

These are some pictures from the d'NA graduation on 18 December. The graduates are in the top photo, and the d'NA group photo below. All around are the graduates' families. Jimi couldn't make it for the ceremony, but he graduated all the same!

All in all, I consider myself a rather stoic person. It is usually difficult to make me cry, and I cannot remember ever crying when reading blogs. But some things Janice and Sam wrote recently, brought me very much to the brink of tears.


Janice (on d'NA):

Honestly, before this camp, I was pretty upset and really didn't wanna go. I was thinking, "Why am I going for this camp?? It's gonna be a waste of time!" And I really thought that I wouldn't be able to last for 11 days.
And I was TOTALLY wrong. What I expected turned out to be totally different and i really enjoyed myself as well as learnt so many things and really pray that whatever I learnt will not go to waste but I'll use it for God and not myself.

When I remember d'NA Stage 1 in 2003, I realise that all our expectations and preconceptions were shattered. And how wonderful it was to know the meaning of the phrase, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"

God's still pulling surprises, leading us all deeper in his abundant, infinite grace and love.


Sam (addressing the CIMP graduates, Sunway College):

My fellow graduates, the experiences that we have gained here, will be a guide to us in our future undertakings...

This journey could not have been possible without the support and encouragement from our parents, lecturers, friends and families. On behalf of the graduating class, I would like to say A BIG thank you to all of you. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my peers and friends in CIMP for making this journey a memorable one.

One interesting part of the journey through CIMP was the door that exposed us to community activities. This semester, the focus was on the Selangor Cheshire Home which is a home for the handicapped and disabled. Together students and lecturers worked hard to organize and run a week long food sale to collect funds for the home. On the 23rd of August the residents of the Selangor Cheshire Home visited the Sunway University College where a forum entitled “overcoming challenges” was held. The 10 hours of community service required to graduate this programme is a very good course component, because through these activities, we were able to develop our people skills and become more aware of what is actually happening in our community outside our comfort zone.

After today, all of us will be heading our own ways to continue on with this journey of life. We all will be graduating with a diploma today. This diploma is just a stepping stone to the future career decisions we will have to make. Learning is a life long process which will never end. We must always strive for more knowledge and never be content with what we have.

Today, we stand, as if before a row of thousands of doors, each door different from another, each potent with opportunities for every one of us. We must try all these doors, opening them to look at what lies within. We should pass through these doors with an open mind. Sometimes some doors may be shut, but we cannot be discouraged. Instead, we must look forward to the opening of other doors.

We must always seize our future and tirelessly strive towards excellence. "It is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o'clock."

It dawned upon me that if Sam were at d'NA, he might have said those very words.

But as I read the last portion, the difference between graduating from college and 'graduating' from this community, is that in the latter, the trick is not to 'avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities and get back home by six o'clock.'

Rather, our journey is something that time cannot contain, and there will be many pitfalls, into which some or even all of us will fall. Our assurance is only this: that we have one another to count on, and a God whose mercies go deeper than the deepest pits of life.

Graduation is not the end of the road; it is the end of this phase, just as the harbour is the end of the land. But the endless seas that lie before us are in want of exploration; the sails could use some wind, and it seems the sailors are dying for a lame joke or two.