Keep Calm and Pray

The “Keep Calm and Carry On” craze seems to be an appropriate one for this time of year on campus. It’s the season of exam taking, furious grading, campus beautification (go maintenance crews), retirements, weddings, reception food, awards, and graduations. In other words, it’s the season of stress. Golf carts are whipping around the Dell carrying everything from electronics to dishware. So many pieces of paper have to end up in exactly the right places. Chairs have to be labeled, bulletins carried, grades finalized and every diploma has to be slipped into a tube, alphabetized and toted to the platform. We are graduating our first class of DPT students at LC. It is a fantastic accomplishment for each of the 44 students graduating and for the faculty and staff that have made it possible. On the other hand it has meant some redesigning of the “way we have always done it.” If you are bothered by the shifts, please brace yourself for the construction this summer.

Keep Calm and Carry On was a slogan developed by the British Government Ministry of Information. They were responsible for WWII publicity and propaganda. The posters were supposed to boost morale. The plan was to post it only upon the invasion of Britain by Germany. Since the invasion never happened, the poster was never officially seen by the public. The rediscovery of the few remaining posters over the past few years has led to mountain of parodies. One of the Dell “Red Chairs” bears the phrase “Keep Calm and Graduate.”

You may at this point want to take a scrap piece of paper and amuse yourself with completing the phrase for your own situation: 

     Keep Calm and…..use up every last red pen, grading papers

eat another cheese cube

party before the parents arrive

pack

refuse to answer any more questions about summer plans

The point is that this is a stressful time of year for all of us, so please find a way to play a bit, to let off some steam, to step back and get some perspective. The details are important, but the experiences and sharing them with the people you care about are more important.

If you are a praying person, Keep Calm and Pray. Please remember to pray this week for our campus. Pray for the students who are graduating and the students who are returning. Pray for those who will take a break. Pray for the staff who juggle so many things and for the faculty whose commitment to education and teaching nurtures the gifted learners that come here. Pray for parents and families. Pray for those involved in the construction projects. And please remember to pray for good weather Friday and Saturday. Everybody needs extra prayer this week.

Blessings, Stephanie