Commemoration Chapel

Five years ago this week, Patrick Henry College opened classes for the first time. That event was commemorated in chapel today. There was a slide show (about 5 minutes) of selected pictures from the past five years--each of the building going up, the dedication ceremony of Founders Hall, the change in landscaping, and (of course) lots of pictures of the students, faculty, and staff who've been a part of the school. A few minutes were taken for some recognitions: those who have been here since the beginning of classes were asked to stand and be recognized, the women's soccer team stood and was recognized (they won their game last night), the men's soccer team stood and was recognized (I believe they are having a winning season), and then the names of the winners from the debate tournament this past weekend were read (4% of the student body received a trophy at that tournament). Finally, the college president spoke on "Excellence without Arrogance." Making the point, that while the college and its students have achieved highly and well (high SAT scores, excellent internships, graduate school admissions), one must continue to rely on the Bible for direction and study and remain open-minded to arguments, especially those that are biblical.

Of course, such an event brings back my memories of coming to PHC. Job searching while finishing my degree. Taking my mother's advice to contact PHC, and then later to accept the job. Joining the library staff as Public Services Librarian. Visiting the library the day I started--carpet just laid, no shelves, books, tables, or computers. Spending the first two weeks in our temporary space: meeting the other college staff, creating publications for the library, determining the library website content, and receiving training on the library software. After that, the next six weeks in the library: setting the shelving, unpacking hundreds of boxes of books, sorting through the books, processing the books to go on the shelves, and still spending time finishing the library publications and website. I think we had 3,000 books on the shelves by the time students arrived (an achievement that was accomplished by almost non-stop cataloging by TM).

Then students arrived, classes started, and the five years since then have been times of growing, learning, and changing.