The gleaming rows of white chairs are set like soldiers facing Hannah Hall, ready for black robed and square-cap clad graduates. The landscaping has been freshly mown and mulched. The “Congratulations Grad” sign is planted in the lawn outside of Stover. Professors don their stoles again. It is May, and it is time for another class to graduate and end their brief time at Waynesburg University.
It is with what might be considered a disproportionate amount of pride that staff and faculty watch students, whose lives they have encountered in classes or tutoring or sports or activities on campus, celebrate a landmark achievement in their academic life. It is a day of celebration and speculation, a day of wonder and reflection. What will the impact of these students' time at Waynesburg University be for the rest of the world or the rest of those students’ lives? Did we make the most of the chances that we had with them? The years flew by.
Just last month, the Writing Center, Eberly Library staff and the entire English department celebrated National Poetry Month, and appropriately for these graduation celebrations, the theme poem chosen by the Academy of American Poets was “The Chance” by US Poet Laureate Arthur Sze. The poem opens with images of a road trip and emphasizes the transitory nature of life, the pursuit of passions while living within swiftly moving and sometimes harrowing times: “even if the darkness precedes and follows us, we have a chance, briefly, to shine.” Sze emphasizes making the most of life’s opportunities.
Time at Waynesburg University may be fleeting and contain some hard or dark moments. Hopefully, the knowledge gained or the influence of a good class, friend, staff, faculty member or mentor on campus offered some highlights. Now, as graduates turn their tassels, it is time to carry their lights into the world, enjoy and embrace the chance to shine. Congratulations to the class of 2026!
