Passing the gavel

As the spring semester winds down and many of us prepare to take final exams, I hope that most of us finish the race as well as we started. Speaking for myself, I believe it to have been the most difficult of all my semesters here at North Lake, and I don’t believe that I will finish well. Not due to the class loads or the professors, who have been nothing less than the most supportive, but due to life’s obstacles that appear to be insurmountable.

Many of you share a commonality of struggles with each other. A portion of the student body is nontraditional, returning adults. “Non-trad” students, as we are called, have additional burdens to carry. We have lives outside of our studies with additional responsibilities that more traditional students do not share, many of us as single parents. Yet, we persevere and push on toward the goal we have set for ourselves while at times envying what we perceive to be an easier life the more traditional students live. We continue to pursue our dreams in spite of the fears we face each day.

But is this truth? Does whatever higher being we each worship segregate the obstacles and burdens placed on us all by age, giving us “wiser” ones heavier responsibilities? I think not. I believe that each of us is given exactly enough to help us learn and grow into a stronger, compassionate and empathetic human being as each lesson is taught to every person, young or old.

Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” I encourage every one of you, whether non-trad or traditional, to continue on, to never let go of your dream, to persevere through whatever may come your way that may stop you from finishing your personal race.

Our semester with you at North Lake is ending. Your Student Government officers have finished well this year, with many goals finished. Many of you may not be aware that since our campus opened in 1978, we have not had an official mascot.

This semester, your officers participated in the unveiling of our first official mascot after a year and a half of working on the project. SGA’s visibility campaign finally began after many bumps and bruises along the way. Our largest impact on our community was our lobbying in our state Legislature this semester on behalf of increasing appropriations and state funding to the community colleges to benefit you, the student, and you, the professor. We continue to pursue the Student Life Center project.

The officers will continue to work on other goals and projects throughout the summer and “pass the gavel” in the fall semester. Most of us are leaving for a four-year university in the fall. For those of you remaining, we encourage you to never let go of your dream.

— Dawn Lassiter is the president of the Student Government Association.