Amid the stress and chaos of the semester’s end, graduating seniors are able to slow down and reflect on their experience at Taylor through annual send-off traditions.
The senior share chapel service, held in Rediger Auditorium on May 13, provided seniors with an opportunity to share this experience with the entirety of campus.
Lauren Huitsing, a senior public relations major who has been working in the chapel office this year, acknowledges how special the senior share chapel is to those graduating.
“It’s a time for the seniors to testify to how the Lord has worked in their life through their time at Taylor,” Huitsing said. “Every person has a different story, a different thing that brought them here with different struggles and hardships.”
Huitsing hopes that the messages shared by the seniors will resonate with current students who may find themselves in similar situations to those expressed by the speakers.
The service was structured differently than a typical chapel would be. Seniors spoke in between sets of worship songs, and the service closed with words of prayer being spoken over the graduating seniors.
The Rev. Greg Dyson, vice president for spiritual life and intercultural leadership, said every senior who submitted a testimony will have it printed and shared. Only a few are able to be shared in the actual service due to time constraints.
According to Huitsing, every senior who shared in the service based their response off of one question: “How has God used your Taylor University experience to grow you?”
“It’s great to read the responses that come in and see the way that the Lord has worked in people's lives at Taylor,” Huitsing said. “It is also really encouraging to see the big role that chapel has played in (spiritual growth) for a lot of people.”
Dyson values the unique and special position this chapel puts seniors in. He understands that their words may impact students deeply on account of them being spoken by their peers.
Dyson anticipated the service being emotional for many due to the raw honesty present when the seniors shared their testimonies.
“I always like the senior share moment because it’s a real expression that says, ‘There have been ups and downs and joys and sorrows, and in all of that I’ve learned about myself and about the God who created me,’” Dyson said.
Dyson believes that the senior share chapel service allows people to process major life changes in healthy and meaningful ways. Students can see firsthand growth and maturity in people they genuinely know.
While the senior share chapel allowed seniors to share their experiences with all of campus, the annual senior dinner set to occur the night before commencement allows them to share their experiences with their families.
Sara Brookshire, the director of parent relations & strategic events in advancement, said that the senior dinner exists for seniors and families to gather for one final meal in the Hodson Dining Commons with an elevated menu.
“Our hope is that they can reminisce together in the dining commons where students have spent their last four years,” Brookshire said.
According to Brookshire, there is not set to be any programming or speakers during the dinner, just fellowship and relaxation before the commencement ceremony the following day.
Brookshire appreciates that the dinner provides a time of closure and nostalgia for the students.
The commencement ceremony itself, which is scheduled for May 23, will be a time to fully celebrate the growth and achievement of the graduating seniors.
“We’re very intentional about all the pieces of the commencement ceremony,” Brookshire said. “It is one of the most important events for the lives of our students and their families.”
The event will feature a bagpiper to pay homage to the Scottish heritage of Bishop William Taylor, for whom Taylor University is named.
The ceremony will also include a faculty tunnel for graduates, which Brookshire said helps make the event unique.
“It’s just a way for faculty to show that they support the students through commencement and beyond,” Brookshire said.
Other details that will make the ceremony meaningful include flags being hung to represent graduates’ homelands and the Bibles that will be presented to each graduate.
Overall, the senior share chapel service, the senior dinner and the commencement ceremony all exist so that graduates can reflect on what the Lord has done in their lives and look forward to what He will continue to do.
“I’m a better person for being with this senior class,” Dyson said. “The tears that I will cry will be tears of joy because I know that this is a group of world-changers, and they’re going out to change the world.”
