Why did you come to college?
Ask that question around a table and the first answers are easy.
Football.
Architecture.
A degree. A career. A plan for whatever comes next.
But then Maggie asks a slightly different question:
“What did you think you’d leave with?”
And suddenly Ryan isn’t quite so certain.
“I don’t know.”
Maybe that’s not a failure of the plan.
Maybe that’s part of the plan.
Today I received a story from Benedictine College about student Bence Duka. He came to the United States from Hungary at 15, eventually competing in both football and basketball while studying finance. But the part of his Benedictine story that stood out wasn’t athletic or academic. During his years at the college, his faith changed too, ultimately leading him into the Catholic Church.
It made me think about what college is actually for.
We arrive with majors, schedules, ambitions and reasonably confident ideas about who we’re going to become.
Then we meet people.
We encounter ideas.
We succeed at things. Fail at others. Ask questions we hadn’t thought to ask.
And somewhere along the way, the education becomes larger than the degree.
Back at the Little Station, Ryan finally figures out his major:
“Finding out.”
Maggie is skeptical.
“Pretty sure that’s not accredited.”
From somewhere beyond the panel comes the Station keeper:
“Yet.”
Perhaps some of the most important parts of an education never appear on the transcript.
ROOK
Different adventures. Same journey.