A covenant for a post-graduate

Four years as a HELM Leadership Fellow and a Centre College student. In little over a week, I will walk across the stage and receive my diploma, drive away from what has been my home for the past four years, and leave this part of my life behind. I have achieved so much at Centre and as a HELM Fellow, but facing the new challenges in my life requires some reevaluation. I must consider, as with all major courses in life, my purpose.

For the past four years, it has been important to have my involvement as a HELM Leadership Fellow on my list of major goals. Every fall I must sit down and seriously think about what I want to accomplish in the year, write it down, and get to work. All along, these experiences have been preparing me to become a future leader in the church and continue my involvement with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). What an amazing opportunity this has been. Although as a HELM Fellow I must take initiative on my campus to fulfill my leadership goals, the HELM staff and my fellow peers are always encouraging this effort, providing support and guidance. And every spring, I must sit down to evaluate the year, consider my successes and failures, and decide what I can improve upon.

After graduation I will say goodbye to the familiar and move to a new city. I will attend law school, and no doubt become consumed with these new responsibilities. Yet now, I aim to consider a new covenant with myself as I prepare for my career and new life. It will be my purpose to serve others in some way throughout law school and beyond, and maintain my commitment to God and the church. These general goals are the foundation for ones which I intend to further develop in the next few months and years, as God and the church have been the foundation of my life for as long as I can remember.

Psychology teaches us that those who write down their goals attain them, much more often than those who do not. Fortunately the HELM Fellows have the opportunity to prepare covenants each fall and send them in to the HELM staff. This practice has taught us to hold ourselves accountable, as we are also held accountable by HELM. As we all take away the many lessons we have learned as HELM Leadership Fellows, I encourage the current or soon to be graduates to continue this specific practice: in order to live out your purpose, write down your goals, and become dedicated to your personal covenant.