Sattler Graduation 2022

In August 2020, our youngest moved to Boston to attend Sattler College. Refresh your memory here. She earned her certificate in Biblical & Religious Studies, but due to the pandemic there was no commencement a year ago. The plan was for the certificate students to return in May 2022 for a postponed graduation. 

For the past year, I had in mind to do a mother-daughter trip to Boston, to attend her graduation. She worked so hard for that piece of paper and I thought she deserved to be recognized, even if it was a year late! And I deserved to be her paparazzi, of course. 📸 But it didn't quite work out that way. We won't talk about how hard it is to zip it when you don't see eye-to-eye with your adult kids. Last minute she did decide to go, but I was not able to go along. 

Thanks to technology, I was able to "attend" commencement last Saturday afternoon. It was not as good as being there in person, but it was better than nothing.  

When the professor announced "Arianna Beth Miller", I was remembering the moment of panic in her eyes "what am I doing here?!" when she was moving into the dorm... the tears streaming down our cheeks when we drove away, leaving her behind in a big unknown city [in quarantine]... the phone calls with some version of "I'm in over my head" after another tough homework assignment... worry over GPA... the mask-wearing, frequent COVID tests, and awful quarantines over and over... days of sequestering in the guest-room-turned-study to finish the fall semester remotely thanks to the pandemic... the late night talk & dread of going back for the spring semester... proof-reading her papers that were 'over my head'... trying to be a calming support from afar when there was an uninvited rodent roaming the dorm... the overwhelming [for an introvert] witnessing requirements... hours upon hours of studying... "Mom, can you pray for me?" ...and the gradual finding of her place/ hitting her stride, growing in faith, and falling in love with the big beautiful city.      

That is what I was applauding in this moment. 

I'm so stinking proud of her. She did it! She fought a good fight, she finished the course, she kept the faith. (And she can now read Greek.) 

I wasn't expecting to get all drippy, but wow, when the choir sang "Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee", somehow I got choked up. She accomplished what I never made it far enough to do. I came really, really close to being a college student once upon a time ...until a certain young man derailed my plan. Watching your kids pass you up and succeeding at life brings out all the emotions for a mom.   

Congratulations Class of 2021!

Arianna, Dad & I are proud of you for graduating but even more proud of the beautiful person you are becoming. 💕