so we dropped adam off at northland college today which was kind of bitter-sweet. really more sweet than bitter. this is what we have been raising him for … for him to go out into the world and with the help of GOD, family, and friends really become the wonderful man that his mother and i see in him already. he is going to do great, learn a ton, challenge many assumptions (both his own and those of others), and continue to become an amazing person.
so here it what i hope college does for him.
- helps him to grow as a man of GOD. as adam recently taught me this involves two things: 1) being a man, and 2) being of GOD. adam is going to face more challenges than he ever has before. people, places, events, difficulties, etc. he is going to be doing more on his own than he has ever had to do. welcome to the world of being an adult. i have no doubt he’ll make it. these challenges will include his faith too. there will be people around to help him (it isn’t like we are disowning him) but the majority of it will be on his shoulders. that’s how growth happens in all areas of life, from academics to faith. should be fun to watch him respond (even though i will be restraining myself from jumping in for him).
- helps him to learn what his passion is and enables him to go after it. i don’t care what he gets his degree in as long as it points him towards something he loves and enables him to do it more effectively. while i would like his degree to be “marketable” i am more concerned about him getting his degree in a manner that doesn’t keep him from being able to follow his passion. right now adam is majoring in outdoor education a degree that i know of several uses for. if that ends up being his passion that is great but it will be difficult following that passion if he racks up $50,000 in debt achieving his degree. instead of following his passion he will have to get a higher paying job to pay off the debt he acquired getting his degree. pam and i are doing everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen but adam has to do his part too. pam and i have acquired 5 degrees between us thus far, with a 6th one coming soon. we have done this without an ounce of debt because of scholarships, help from parents in our bachelor’s degrees, working jobs while in school, and creative timing. i want adam to learn amazing things and do it in such a way that he doesn’t have debt that keeps him from exploring those things further.
helps him to fail in manageable ways and succeed far beyond what he thinks he can do. i know he is going to try new things and sometimes fail. those success and failures are a part of life. what i hope is that when he fails his failure is not so great that he isn’t able to get back up and try again. i hope his failures help him to achieve more than he has ever thought possible.- allows him to learn and experience so much more than i will ever know and have a most excellent time doing it. this means developing lifelong friends, practices, habits, hobbies, and more.
adam, i am continually proud of you. you are one amazing guy.