Are You Ready Boots...Keep Walking!

As I approach graduation, I am often faced with the question, "Are you ready?" 

Well meaning friends and family, or my own mind, ask me this question repeatedly. Honestly, I struggle to know the answer. Am I ready? Will I get everything done before graduation? Will I ever feel ready to spread my wings and fly into the next season of adulthood?

I am honestly not the most qualified judge of my own readiness. I struggle sometimes in the midst of challenge and change to believe in myself and my capabilties. But I have been blessed this semester to be encouraged and pushed by the tough love of my professors. 

I was consistently behind in assignments for journalism and trying to communicate with my professor in order to convince myself that I could complete everything, despite the looming lack of time. 

Despite my efforts, I don't know that I really believed I could do it all.

"You'll get it done. I know you will," said Melanie, my journalism professor, with simple confidence and assurance (at least on the surface), that I would complete my work. Her words expressed far more confidence in me than I have had in myself. They were not elaborate words of encouragment but this simple statement of belief encouragmed me deeply and carryied me when time and motivation felt scarce.

I had a similar experience with my music professor, Danielle.

"You're ready," she said. Turning to me with a confident smile and nodding her head. I was finishing my senior musical, concluding my mainstage theatre career at George Fox. She wouldn't hear any excuses or complaints about how I wasn't ready or good enough for the professional world. She just nodded and smiled with pride, saying "I wonder what I'm gonna pay for your first professional show after college? Hmm...maybe $22? Yep! $22 sounds about right."

I don't know if I feel ready. But I trust her judgment. And I rest in her confidence in my growth and artistry.

Similarly, after the close of a second stage theatre production, my theatre professor, Ben, turned to my scene partner and I, we are both seniors, and told us how that final run was the moment he though: Ah, they're ready. 

Similarly to Danielle and Melanie, Ben seems to believe I am ready to leave my college world of theatre and academia and take the next steps towards my professional career.

For a while, I was terrified. The abyss of my future. The unknown of my next theatre gig. The end of a steady community of like-minded writers and theatre artists. Now, it all feels just as unknown...and I still don't feel totally ready, but the prayers of my friends, family, and professors have washed me in peace, reminding me of the Creator who carries me through this next transition. The steady belief of my professors, expressed through brief, simple, phrases in passing, fill me with encouragment as I push towards my final days of college, and my upcoming graduation.

While it is important to be intrinsically motivated, believe in yourself, and develop strong self-assessment capabilities, sometimes we need the extra boost from those around us. We can't always see ourselves in the context of what has happened and what comes next. Sometimes we need those around us to see our potential and call it out. 

Sometimes the simplest and subtlest expressions of belief are the strongest of encouragments. My professors didn't rave about how amazing I am or concern themselves that I wouldn't be able to complete my work. They didn't entertain any self-depricating arguments about my growth or readiness and feed into my self-pity. They just simply believed in me. And allowed their words to express that belief in the smallest, but most impactful of ways. 

Am I ready? I don't know. But, these boots were made for walking. And that's just what they'll do...right on to graduation :)

Sincerely, 

Sophi