Sometimes a person’s words just stay with you.\u00a0I am still thinking about a comment I overheard at Parents’ Weekend about how important parents are in their student finding a way to college and being successful.\u00a0The speaker said that students need support to get here and need ongoing support to excel at Lynchburg College.\u00a0You don’t have to be here long or talk to many of our students to realize that some come from helpful supportive families, but others do not.\u00a0Some have two parents who love them and both check in regularly without meddling.\u00a0Some have one parent.\u00a0Some have a grandmother who is responsible for nurturing a desire for a college degree or a foster parent who first challenged our student about the value of a college education.\u00a0Occasionally a parent is even a negative influence, and many students are estranged from one of their parents.\u00a0 It\u2019s just the way our community and are world are.<\/p>\n
I come from a “broken-home,” but was lucky enough that both parents supported me even if they fought a lot about the ways that support would be portioned out.\u00a0I am a single parent who raises a daughter, born in this modern world of artificial insemination, in a three generational home.\u00a0My mother moved in with me to take care of my daughter while I am working.\u00a0And if you haven’t seen me in a few weeks, I am expecting another baby before Spring Break!\u00a0I firmly believe that families are what they are and that you should define family in the way it works for you.\u00a0That may or may or not include the people who are biologically related to you.<\/p>\n
I hope you had a great Parents and Family\u00a0weekend.\u00a0For students, if your parents were here, I hope you had fun showing them around campus and introducing them to professors and the places you now call home.\u00a0I hope they are proud of you and your work here at LC and that they are at a place where they can let you grow up, but still help with the laundry.\u00a0If your parents didn’t come this weekend, I hope you were able to get your roommate\u2019s parents to take you out to dinner or to get out with friends. If it was a rough weekend for you, I hope that you can find some new family here at LC, and people who can be proud of you for who you really are.\u00a0For faculty and staff, I hope you got some insight into some of our student\u2019s families–both the ones who are supportive and the ones who are less helpful.\u00a0Faculty and staff make the difference here for our students who have less supportive families in big and small ways.<\/p>\n
So I am thinking a lot about families this week.\u00a0We have students, faculty and staff\u00a0who have recently received news of the death of grandparents and parents in the past weeks.\u00a0We have other students, faculty and staff whose parents have significant health issues, who have children about whom they worry and families who need their attention.\u00a0Our community is a strong one, but we also miss the pain under the surface sometimes.\u00a0I invite you in this week to reflect on the joys and celebrations of your family and to cherish your time with them.\u00a0Overlook the shortcomings you can and forgive those that weigh you down.\u00a0 Invite supportive friends to be your family when your biological family is less helpful and reach out to those who have experienced loss.<\/p>\n
Blessings,<\/p>\n
Stephanie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sometimes a person’s words just stay with you.\u00a0I am still thinking about a comment I overheard at Parents’ Weekend about how important parents are in their student finding a way to college and being successful.\u00a0The speaker said that students need …<\/p>\n