Trying on Caps & Gowns
A couple weeks ago, the seniors tried on their caps and gowns to ensure proper fit. Of course, proper fit with a graduation gown is a somewhat “loose” term. Jill Young and I were checking to make sure the gown came down somewhere between the knee and ankle. The gown itself should fit any size person, but teenage girls have a different opinion.
Mikala – “Miss Musick, is it supposed to look like this?”
Me (checking the hem length) – “Yep, it’s the right size.”
Mikala – “Are you sure? I think mine is too big.”
Me – “No, it’s just right. It’s right in the middle of your calf.”
Mikala – “But it’s so baggy!”
Me – “They’re supposed to be like that.”
Mikala – “Can I make it cuter somehow? Like wearing a belt over it?”
My little brother David is graduating from Wheaton college in the next couple hours. In fact, the ceremony has already started! I don’t think he’s worried about making his gown look “cuter.” Congratulations, David! (thanks for shaving). I wish I could see him walk across the stage, turn the tassel, and magically transform into an esteemed adult. Being here in Germany means I occasionally miss out on life events back home, but whenever I “miss” something, it reminds me of why I’m here. Right now, I’m here for the students of BFA, and in May I will get to watch all 60 of my seniors graduate walk across the BFA stage and turn their tassels, and hopefully I have been a small part of their maturing toward adulthood.
Senior Transition Day
As these students mature, they have to “leave the nest.” Many of them have already left the security of their parents’ homes to live in BFA dorms, so they feel prepared for college. Yet college, even Christian colleges, do not have a supportive network to the extent of that BFA does. Part of our job as senior sponsors is to help prepare these students to leave the BFA environment.
Transition Day, held last Thursday, was a morning to discuss the ins and outs of transition from BFA to college. Part of leaving well is finishing the year on a good note, and saying goodbye to life here. Unlike most American schools, kids can’t come back to BFA in 5 years and find the same people there. Graduation is a real goodbye. Yes, reunions do happen, but reunions always require international travel, so the goodbyes have to happen now.
Though the community at BFA is great, these seniors will have to create a new community in college. A couple speakers gave some helpful advice in finding that community. They also discussed making wise choices in college and various other issues – some normal to all teenagers facing the dive into college life, and others specific to TCKs (third culture kids). The final portion of the event was a video from last year’s seniors discussing their transition to college. All 3 in the video said the transition was harder and took longer than expected. It was helpful for the seniors to see those who had gone before. As they go through tough times in their first semester, they can remember that those fellow BFA alumni also went through the same things their first year and yet survived and are even thriving.
Senior Skip Day
In a normal school, all the seniors decide to skip one day without any help from teachers. BFA is definitely not normal. In past years, seniors went to the Kandern pool for the whole day, which usually was rather boring as they had nothing to do but try to escape the enclosure.
This year, we combined skip day with transition day. For the skip portion of the day, we (the senior class sponsors and all the students) took a double decker bus to Luzern, Switzerland and let the kids roam around in groups of 3 for almost 4 hours. Amazingly, all 60 students and 8 staff showed up on time! Then we all ate dinner together at a restaurant in Kandern to finish off the evening.
Junior/Senior Banquet
JSB is like prom but without dancing. It’s partly a chance for the juniors to celebrate the seniors, and partly another excuse for the girls to get dressed up in their finest. This year it was on a Friday, which meant there was a bit of a panic from the girls – how could there possibly be enough time to get ready?!? The boys didn’t sweat it – until they realized they had to entertain their gorgeous dates for an evening!
One of the highlights of the evening was when the senior sponsors showed this video to the students. We love them and will miss them!
Copy and paste this url into your browser if the video link above didn’t work: https://vimeo.com/41585657
For more pictures, go here.
