It might surprise you to know that I was in the top six of my high school class. Pretty impressive, I know. There were only six people in my graduating class, but that is irrelevant.
When you come from a small place, let’s face it — you’re a pretty big deal. I would call recruiters and could almost hear their jaws drop when I told them that I was valedictorian, student body president, head of public relations for the drama department and involved in enough various other activities to make any soccer mom pass out in exhaustion.
The point is this: I am extremely talented. OK, that is false. But when you come from what might be called a “small pond,” it’s an inarguable truth that you start to feel like a pretty big fish. When you come to a “bigger pond,” you start to feel like a pretty small fish.
Harding was a big pond for me when I first came as the eager-eyed, frizzy-haired freshman I was. You may have come from a bigger pond and have no idea what I’m talking about, but just try to wrap your mind around the concept that Harding alone is about four-times the size of my hometown altogether.*
I’m reminded of all this as I look around at the prospective students visiting campus, with their eyes wide-open in the disbelief that we know our way around campus, have the physical ability to walk from one end to the other and even know the names of most of the buildings.
As an incoming freshman, I was a pretty intimidated little fish. I just knew it would only be with the Lord’s help that I would ever be able to keep the names of all the social clubs straight.
But I’m pleased to tell you, that in only three short years, this pond seems so much smaller. As I’ve gotten to know my fellow classmates, social club sisters, co-workers and teachers, the Harding “bubble” seems like a completely different world than when I came for Summer Stampede so many semesters ago.
The fact that they make you keep your Harding ID picture all four years is a constant reminder of how much everything has changed since then. It is also a constant reminder that I will never have much of a future in shampoo commercials. I’ve accepted it.
The truth is that once I leave Harding, I know that I will again be the small fish in a big pond. While this can be intimidating to think about, I know that over time I will adjust and eventually know my way around the pond again.
This sounds so sentimental and would be a pretty good farewell, so I may recycle this the semester I graduate. Until then, let it be a reminder that if you feel like this is still a big pond, it won’t always feel that way. If you’ve been here a while and are starting to feel claustrophobic in the pond, remember that there’s something bigger waiting for you outside the bubble.
This turned out to be kind of a nautical column. But I’ll take nautical column over not-a-cool column any day. I know, I know. Stay away from the jokes.
*This tally does not include the cows. There are many, many cows.
