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Centennial Effect

5/18/2015

 
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It’s 5:30AM.  We were all ready as planned to make the drive to Southern Methodist University (SMU).  We quickly found out as we parked in the Moody Garage, we were not early, as we had thought.  Each member in our entourage lined up for the doors to the Moody Coliseum to open at 7:00AM. Who goes to a graduation commencement this early?  Friends and family of the 2015 graduates at SMU do!

This was the centennial effect in action. This past weekend marked one hundredth celebration at SMU. It was a special graduation on many levels. The 43rd President of the United States- Former President George W. Bush gave the commencement address. Our youngest daughter graduated from SMU, concluding our family college journey.  The past four years went by too fast!

As each facet of the day’s celebration went by, I realized though our family college journey has come to an end, our “village” has not. Rather, our “village” has grown and continues beyond what we could have ever imagined. You see, our youngest daughter-Lade (meaning God’s Crown), was also having her own centennial effect.  She came to see the fulfillment of the desires God placed in her heart as an engineer after four years of hard work. Lade is twenty years old and this past Saturday, graduated cum laude with two bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering, minor in Art, and master’s in Systems Engineering. As her parents, my husband and I know without a shadow of doubt that the only way Lade was able to successfully carry such a workload in four years was through the divine endowment of the Holy Spirit.

We also know that God blessed her with extraordinary support in her professors, mentors, faculty, friends, campus pastors, and peers.  We are deeply grateful for the village we have been privileged to have.  Though God entrusted Lade into our care as her parents, our village at SMU ensured that the gem God placed in her, was extracted, acknowledged and utilized.  For example, Dr. Hugley-Cook was a relentless guide for Lade being a National Boren Scholar.  Ms. Starke’s motherly care of PS students. Dr. Raad’s encouragement to maximize her potential. Dr. Willis’s for seeing Lade’s potential and mining them out.  Dr. Krueger, Lade’s fluid mechanics professor who held a high expectation of all students.  Dr. Richer, for going above and beyond to ensure Lade understood the core of the content. Dr. Borzova, for her care and humor, that helped lessen missing home. Dr. Hurmuzlu for been down to earth.  In fact for every person, God placed in Lade’s entire path not only at SMU, thank you for all your investment.  Her world is brighter because of each of you. Thank you for the global opportunities SMU provided. Thank you for four years of full ride scholarship as a President’s Scholar. We are grateful and thank you seems so little. Assuredly, Lade and her peers are leaving SMU full-tank, ready to put into action the mission of SMU: “World Changers Shaped Here.”

                                   “This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” Psalm 118:23

 

 


College Choices

5/4/2015

 
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It is that time of year!  Graduations!  High school graduations. College graduations.  Some of the precious moms in my study group asked me a question last month about how to select the best college for their high school children. I promised I would prayerfully get back to them with an answer. Today’s post is my response to their question.  Since this is graduation season and a topic most parents are tackling, I wanted to share the answer with hopes it will be helpful to other parents. Through the grace of God, my husband and I have been privileged to see three daughters through college successfully.  Selecting a college should be a joint family decision. However, the ultimate choice should be the child’s. A college choice made by the child with the support of family will ensure total commitment and success from the child. A college choice made by parents with the support of the child will open the door to confusion. In this case, the child might tend to think he or she is going to college for the parents. 

How do you arrive at this place of joint decision?  Begin your college talks very early (elementary school). Find out what your child/ren like to do and what aspirations they have.  For our family, prayer was a huge part of our joint decision. We prayed together on the aspirations of each child, asking God for guidance and wisdom. Based on the child’s aspirations; find out what colleges will best benefit the child in achieving those aspirations.  In our case we added a basic guiding principle that helped focus our college search. We established that undergraduate colleges have to be in Texas and graduate pursuit may be done anywhere in the world.

Many parents often ask if they should search for Christian/private colleges or public colleges.  Search for colleges that will enable your daughter or son to grow into all he/she was created to be.  This growth can happen at a Christian/private college or a public college. One of the reasons this question is dear to parents is the concern of spiritual health and growth.  Just as parental involvement is important during K-12 education, so it is for college but with a difference. The difference is that parental involvement during college years is meant for mentoring and friendship rather than for parenting.  Furthermore, the spiritual foundation that a child brings to either a private or public college determines growth into a thriving adult.

Here are some helpful tools to begin the search for that “best fit” college.  The Christian College guide has a college search tool that begins with a question- Do you know where you are going? Christian College Guide.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has put together a college navigator tool for private or public college search NCES College Navigator. Happy College Search! Love and Blessings to All!

  “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel  you with my eye 
     on you.” – Psalm 32: 8 



    Dr. Feyi Obamehinti

    A Blog for Equipping and Empowering people to thrive with the Word of God. Daughter of the King, Wife, Mother, Daughter, Sister, Friend, Mentor, & Educator enjoying the Blessed Life in Christ Jesus. Oasis Focus Inc. is a ministry of restoration & equipping. 

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