I graduated-columbia class of 2024!

As I’m writing this, it’s late Wednesday night after a day of graduation and festivities. I graduated May 15, 2024!!!! There’s been lots of photos taken, fun songs like Congratulations by Post Malone, scrambling to find friends in the midst of crowds full of families and students, and the like. I didn’t think it was possible, but now I am officially in possession of a graduate degree. (Now that I’m in possession of this degree, I can give more love and attention to this space which I hold dear.)

I didn’t think I’d cry at this graduation. I remember crying in high school, usually moved by emotion as I stood on stage and gave the speech. I remember crying on the lawn at the University of Virginia next to my friend Mary, as President Jim Ryan said that the light would always be on waiting for us to return. And yet, sitting in the same row as my reporting classmates, who I began my grad school journey with, I teared up as our class president Lotoya talked about coincidences and Godwinks.

In the two weeks, I’ve seen a great deal of coincidences. Most of them in regards to Virginia, funny enough. I so deeply resonated with Lotoya’s speech because it’s in these moments of coincidences where I see God so clearly, where everyday life is imbued with meaning because He cares about the details. God cares about our tiny desires and longs to make Himself known to us.

Recently, I was talking to someone about my prayer life and how cyclical it is. Some seasons I am consistent and full of faith, eager to ask the Lord to do big things. Other seasons I turn away or forget Him completely. Either the busyness of life takes me away or I’m in despair about the prayers He hasn’t answered. But every now and again, God will answer a small prayer so quickly that I know it’s Him. In the case of the coincidences I’ve noticed lately, God is answering a prayer I didn’t even know to ask for.

Despite being a journalism grad, I do not know that I will use my degree as a journalist in the near future. The life I imagine for myself is one of stability and rootedness. The life of a journalist is one of volatility and always being moved by the state of the world. That said, God had a purpose in sending me to journalism school, even if it’s not one I understand yet.

A song that’s been in my head all day is Good Plans by Red Rocks Worship. The lyrics go, He has good plans, He has good plans for me, so I will take heart in deserts and gardens, He has good plans, He has good plans for me, ‘cause I know my Father, I know my Father. My God is a faithful God, a keeper of His promises, and His greatest gift is His presence.