Taking Chances: Senior Speech.

Senior year comes and goes very quickly, and before I knew it the year was over. While at the last campus crusade meeting of the year I heard a message that moved me. A girl gave her testimony and talked about leaving an impact on those around you, especially while you are in college. I felt discouraged because I had let all four years slip by and had never tried to share God's love with those I encountered. Then I remembered I had one day left, and one shot left to change that.  

The next day was "Senior Speeches" in my sorority, meaning I had the opportunity to speak in front of 200 girls. At that point I had been feeling this little push inside me to talk about my past, but I wasn't sure. When I heard that message I felt like my answer was clear. I was going to take this last chance and talk to these girls about what had happened to me, and how God led me through it. I was nervous because this was not a typical senior speech and I would defiantly be going against the grain. After talking to family members and close friends I prayed that God would take my hand and write what He wanted me to say. Below is the actual speech that I read aloud to the girls of my sorority. I don't take credit for it at all, I was simply pleased to be an instrument. I hope you all enjoy! 

"I could sit up here and give shout outs all night long, but I am going to take a different approach. There are so many of you that I love and I hope that you know I love you, but for those of you who don’t know that I want you all to hear this.

For the past 4 years I have portrayed myself as the fun loving loud mouth, party girl who occasionally said funny things in a cynical manner and wanted to been seen as someone not to be crossed. But that is not how I want to leave this place. So tonight I am going to share a little about myself, what I have been through and who I want to be from now on.

First off I want to say some of the greatest friends you will ever have are sitting right next to you. I found mine here and would not be same person if I had not met them. I started off college as a very different person, all I cared about was having a good time and not making my parents too mad. Don’t get me wrong I had fun and had some really good times but I was living for all the wrong reasons and my world quickly turned upside down.

Sophomore year my grandfather suddenly passed away. This night will always remind me of my dear friend and sister Heather Howard. I called her and said that my grandfather had a brain aneurism and I had to go home immediately. Without missing a beat she packed my bags and my black dress before I could even get back to the dorm. That night I called her in the hall way at 12:30 to tell her my grandfather would not make it. She stopped what she was doing on a Saturday night and cried with me.

Little did I know that was the beginning to an extremely hard two years for my family. Later on Junior year my parents lost everything, our house was taken from us and my family was torn apart. I had the best friends surrounding me but I could not pick myself up of the ground. I needed something more than a shoulder to cry on. My mom told me that God was going to keep taking from me until I stopped and surrendered my life to him. I thought that was crazy talk and I was still mad. A few weeks later I went to church for the first time in a year. Something started to change in my heart.

I started off Senior year with a desire in my heart for more, slowly but surely the Lord was turning my life around. I was still acting the same on the outside but I was changing on the inside. I decided to start a bible study second semester this year and my sweet roomies were my faithful members. I don’t think they will ever fully know how much it meant for me to be able to talk with them about God.

One night I was absolutely inconsolable about what had happened to my family. I was on the floor in Amy’s room crying and Brittany said to me “Watching you go through this hard time has made us all want to grow closer to the Lord!” I immediately started crying because I was so happy. I will never forget Brittany’s kind and true words. I am so grateful for that moment.

Amy Cook has been my roommate for three years now, although we have not been besties for the full four years she means so much to me. She was the first person I went in depth with about the pain in my family and I feel so blessed to have had her as a partner.

Although I have been through some rough times in the past few years my sisters have stood by me, when I changed my focus to be more on Christ they supported me and helped me. I had never had friends like that before.

If you take anything away from my story know that I wasted so much time in college chasing after a good time, but now I get it. Life isn’t measured by how many nights you can’t remember but by how much love you have spread and how many lives you touch. Don’t waste time. I am by no means perfect and I have a lot of things to fix, but I didn’t want to leave this place without being honest with you all.

I love ya'll so much, even the girls who I haven’t had the pleasure to meet. If anyone ever needs anything or just wants to chat; I will always be here for you. I promise."