Happy Spring, Classmates!
As I write to you, it is the beginning of March, and I can't help but think about how two years ago, none of us had any idea just how much our lives were about to change. My youngest child hasn't known a non-pandemic world (he turns two in August)! One minor change was having to pause our plans to travel a lot with our kids, which is something important to us personally in raising our kids to be compassionate humans, although travel with two young kids also seems way harder than with just one, so that may have factored in just a bit as well if I'm being honest!
Regardless, this led to us deciding to bring a high school exchange student into our home for the 2021/2022 school year - we figured if we couldn't broaden our kids' horizons how we had planned, this might be a way to bring the world to them! We've had so much fun getting to know Silvia and learning all about Spain. It's been intriguing to see the world through her eyes, and to have a hand in her education and life experience. We've seen her grow so much already, and she's only been here six months so far! I hope the confidence she's gained from conquering life and school in a new place and language is something she'll carry with her forever.
I would like to think that our experiences attending Luther were similar in many ways, thrusting many of us into an unfamiliar place with no one we knew, leaving behind our homes and friends and familiar experiences. But as most of us found out, there were even more wonderful people to get to know at Luther, people who maybe had some things in common with us, even if they were from a completely different town, state, or country. We learned that going way outside our comfort zone and doing things that might seem scary can lead to immense personal growth, in ways we never even dreamed possible.
Silvia is just one of many students starting to think about college, but it has reminded me just how badly I want to make sure that places like Luther are still able to provide those opportunities to students from here and from around the world, as well as the opportunities Luther students have to travel and make a difference in the world as a part of their Luther education. And those skills and life lessons learned from new experiences at and through Luther will enable them to follow their dreams after Luther, become lifelong learners who live with purpose and compassion, making an impact in our world. Giving to the Luther Fund ensures those opportunities will continue to be available, so please consider giving this year if you are able. Thank you!
Soli Deo Gloria!
