This past week I went along on my daughter’s middle school drama club field trip to New York to see “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”  It really was a great show, and the trip was lots of fun.  The group of 8^th grade girls I was in charge of were patient and cooperative, quite pleasant to spend the day with.  Things went off without a hitch; no one got lost, we made it to our lunch site, the show, and the bus on time.  No drama.  However, spending that much time in the midst of 100 middle schoolers made me keenly aware of how much I like working with college students.

Though there is sometimes drama and angst in your lives now that that may seem reminiscent of middle school, think for a moment about who you were back then, and who you are now.  Think about just how far you have come since you were a 6^th, 7^th or 8^th grader.  Consider how much you have grown, the resources you now have, the insights you have gained, the skills and abilities (academic, professional, and personal) that you couldn’t have imagined back in those middle school years.  In fact, you’ve all grown and learned a great deal just since you started at Penn State.

Growth, change and maturity often seem to sneak up on us, happening while we are paying attention to other things.  When we stop and look back months or years, we may be surprised to realize how we have grown and matured.   As the academic year comes to an end, consider for a moment how you have changed.   For those of you preparing to graduate, think about how your time here, the people you’ve met and the choices you’ve made have and changed you.

With any luck at all, we spend our whole lives in the process of growing, learning and becoming.  Whether we are 12, 21, 35 or 70.