Senior Sunday

 My church has been kind enough to ask me to speak to the High School Seniors the last few years.  Our church does a great job with Senior Sunday.  They wear their caps and gowns and each are recognized in the service with  pictures on the screens of them growing up.  Then there is a lunch for family and grads.  It is at this that I have spoken at different times either to everyone or just the Seniors. We had both ones going to college and ones going straight into the work world. Some of what I shared is general and some is college specific.  

Here is the outline of the talk I gave this Sunday.

Introduction:  Change can always be hard and surprising.  One of my favorite illustrations of that is the two freshmen girls who did not know each other and were assigned as roommates.  They were getting acquainted as they unpacked.  One said, "Do you have a boyfriend?"  "Yes, I do; do you have a boyfriend?"  "Yes, can I show you his picture?"  They both began to pull out pictures and realized they were.....dating the same guy!

7 Tips

1.  Choose your friends by your priorities and not your priorities by your friends.  As you transition to a new phase, you want to make friends.  It is important that you decide to make friends with those who will help you be what you want to be.  Decide what is important to you and look for people who share those priorities.

-If you want to get drunk every night, get with people who plan to do that and you probably will.

-If you want to make A's connect with people who want to make A's and you are more likely to make A's.

2.  Be intentional about your faith.  Many young adults walk away from church and their faith after high school, not intentionally, but simply because they expect it to just develop.  Make it a priority to connect to Christian events.

-For those going to college, there will be Welcome Events on campus by Christian groups like the BCM.  go to those and make connections.

3.  For those of you going to college, treat the first two weeks as the most important of your whole college career, because they are.  Many college students shipwreck their college career and even life with decisions and choices made the first two weeks.

-The habits you begin to develop, the relationships you make will go a long way toward determining the success or failure of your whole college career.

-Get into a routine of class, study, rest, and fun that you can maintain for the whole semester.

4.  The easiest way to do well in college is to go to class.

-Some years ago an ASU Professor kept a record of the 300 students in all of her Biology classes.

-60 dropped the class by the Drop Deadline with an average of 9 absences.

-Those that made A's and B's missed an average of 2 times.

-Those that made D's and F's missed an average of 8 times.

5.  Get accurate information.  Go to people who know.  Many poor decisions are based on wrong information.

-If you are a student, go to the Dean, your advisor, etc.....not the cousin of the guy who lives down the hall who said.....

-If you don't know who to go to, talk to the BCM Campus Minister and or your Church College Minister.  They will point you the right direction.

6.  Date Wisely.

-National studies show......wait for it........we marry someone we date.

-Lots of students have told me they were dating someone they would never marry.  Or, they were dating someone fun, but they did not trust them.

-Some of them later married that person.

7.  When you mess up, admit it, get help and accept God's forgiveness.

-The BCM Campus Minister or your Church College Minister can help and will help hold you accountable to your new commitment.

-God never gives up on you.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and A College Student's Guide to Spiritual Maturity is at Amazon.com/dp/B0CXTCTNB1.

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