{"id":3766,"date":"2018-06-19T09:55:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T16:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideout.insidewp.test\/?p=3766"},"modified":"2025-02-22T14:07:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T22:07:43","slug":"advice-to-the-class-of-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/2018\/06\/19\/advice-to-the-class-of-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"ADVICE TO THE CLASS OF 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY MEGHAN FRANKLIN, CLASS OF 2015<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My younger brother (and only sibling) Evan will be graduating on Tuesday. As I\u2019ve been watching him and his friend\u2019s prepare for prom, exams, and the excitement of commencement over the past months, I can\u2019t help but reflect on when I was going through those same experiences myself three years ago. In some ways, it feels like it was only a few months ago, and in other ways it feels like it was a lifetime ago.<\/p>\n

Nerves of excitement<\/span><\/h2>\n

I know the majority of high school graduates are very excited to be done this chapter of their lives and start the new adventures they have dreamed about. New found freedom, moving out, going to university, travelling the world, leaving the town they grew up in, etc. For me, the excitement was there but I remember being very nervous.<\/p>\n

When I was at ACS, I was involved in everything I could possibly sign up for, and I thrived. I loved the regular routine of getting up and having a place to go where I felt accepted.<\/strong><\/span> I loved my friends, my teachers, my classes, my extracurricular activities. I was not looking forward to this coming to an end. I understand for a lot of people this is not the case, but for me, after graduation, I really struggled.<\/p>\n

Three things I learned<\/span><\/h2>\n

Although each person\u2019s experience after high school is very different, I wanted to use this opportunity to give some advice to future graduates about things I have learned since I walked the stage.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Don\u2019t feel pressured to go to university right away, just because your friends are going, or you feel like it is the right thing to do.<\/strong><\/span> Please don\u2019t take this the wrong way, university is awesome and I don\u2019t want to discourage anyone from going! I think it is important to know that getting a bachelor degree isn\u2019t the only way to get a job that will be life giving for you. If you are not sure what you want to do for university or for a career, don\u2019t sweat it! Take a year off, work, volunteer in a field that interests you, go to YWAM, and try new things! You will be surprised what doors God opens up for you.<\/li>\n
  2. Take this opportunity to expand your friend group and types of people you interact with.<\/span> <\/strong>As a student at a Christian school, who lived in a Christian family, and attended church and youth group, it is no surprise that all of my friends were people with the same faith as me with very similar beliefs and interests. I don\u2019t think I truly realized this until after graduation. It is awesome to have friends who share your faith, but it is also important to have people in your life who don\u2019t share the same faith as you. I attended a course at UFV, started working at a dental office, and signed up for adult ballet classes on Tuesday nights. By hearing other people\u2019s stories and opinions, and sharing my faith has really enriched my life.<\/li>\n
  3. Experience, ponder, and develop your faith with what you believe, not what you have been taught by school or parents.<\/span> <\/strong>Ultimately, your relationship with God is between Him and you. What you learned from parents, teachers, and mentors is important, but take the time to develop your faith as your own, especially as you step into this next chapter of your life. Talk to loved ones, mentors, pastors; read books, pray, journal. There is no exact formula; you need to do what works best for you and God.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Congratulations class of 2018! These next steps will be a new adventure. We are here cheering you on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    BY MEGHAN FRANKLIN, CLASS OF 2015 My younger brother (and only sibling) Evan will be graduating on Tuesday. As I\u2019ve been watching him and his friend\u2019s prepare for prom, exams, and the excitement of commencement over the past months, I can\u2019t help but reflect on when I was going through those same experiences myself three […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":3772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,35],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-3766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-secondary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3766"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=3766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}