Et cetera : Baccalaureate: VSHS seniors urged to think of others first

Baccalaureate participants sing during the annual event at VSHS.

Gerald Horst directed the quartet of Matt Walston, Alex Springer, Emma Horst and Tess Noeller.

Tess Noeller delivered the Class Charge during the 2012 Baccalaureate service.

Vinton-Shellsburg High School graduates, as they face one of the biggest changes of their young lives, chose as their baccalaureate speakers two adults who have made many changes of their own in recent years.

The first speaker invited by the Class of 2012 Baccalaureate Committee was Mike Timmermans. He had been their principal in 2008, when they finished eighth grade. Since then he retired from education and has begun a new career as the director of the Virginia Gay Hospital Foundation, where he coordinates hospital fund-raising efforts.

"Becoming an adult is more than a function of time," he told the students and others during the event on May 16. "It's not a matter of piling up years; its about making your own decisions, paying your own way."

Those changes, he said, may include starting a job, going to college or joining the military.

While these changes are part of growing up, Timmermans said there is one more important factor: Thinking of others first.

"Adults keep promises," he said. "Do what you say. Live truthfully. Tell the truth gently and sincerely."

Referring to the "wisdom that comes from above" mentioned in the Bible (James 3:17), Timmermans told the students that others would challenge their beliefts.

"Diversity makes the world go round; adversity makes it stronger," he said. Live so that your core values remain unchanged. Think of others before you act. Ask yourself, 'How will doing this affect the ones I love?' Show your faith by example."

Timmermans ended with a few short sentences of advice:

"Start with a smile. Embrace one another. Give of your time and attention. Be the person who is faithful in small things and big things. Be someone others can count on. Live so the phrase, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant' applies to you. Do well, but more importantly, do good."

The second speaker is also a recent graduate, of the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque; Jo Kinnard grew up in India, then later converted from Hinduism to Christianity. She is the author of the book titled “Out of the Fog, Into the Sun: My Journey from Hinduism to Christ”.

Kinnard told the audience about the many changes in her life. She first began studying to be a veterinarian, then chose to become a professor of philosophy before beginning a long career in the IT field. She thought she was done attending college, but after her conversion, she began to feel the call to enter the ministry -- which of course meant returning to school.

Graduation, she told the audience, is an example of what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote that Christians are "new creations in Christ."

"We are all fresh graduates." she said. "We are all being shaped and formed all the time into new beings, learning new ways of living."

Even though it meant returning to college yet again, Kinnard said entering the ministry is what she was meant to do, and in doing so she has found true peace and contentment.

"Experience the joy and freedom that comes from doing what you were designed to do, in humble obedience to God's will for you," she said.

Every graduate, every person, she said, is gifted by God in unique ways: Music, math, and many others.

"There are so many ways we gifted by God; everyone is precious and important," she said.

Kinnard urged the graduates to be "open to God's calling and show love and compassion."

"Wherever you go, you will meet new people, new places, new friends," she said. "Remember that all of humanity yearns for that same closeness with God that you and I yearn for. Whatever your vocation is, know that God is sending you as an apostle."

A quartet of seniors (Emma Horst, Tess Noeller, Alex Springer and Matt Walston) sang "The Summons" and "We Are Called." Senior Samantha Jorgensen began the event with the welcome; Payton Bartling did the reading.

The last speaker was a member of the Class of 2012.

Tess Noeller gave the class charge. She, too called upon her classmates to continue to think of others first.

"At times you will have to ask yourself the hard question: Is this the way I should be living my life?" she said.

While school is often a busy time, Noeller said, it is important to focus on the goals, not the obstacles.

She urged the audience to focus on the true purpose of life.

"It's not about money, but about God and all of the immense blessings he provides," she said.