Letters from Today

The following are letters addressed from us to the university: one from the future editor-in-chief, one from our current faculty advisor, and the final letter from our current editor-in-chief. First, we will hear from the future, Amelia Stefanescu, and we will conclude with the present, Dr. Scott Moncrieff and Chris Ngugi. After are letters from the rest of the Student Movement Staff.

From the day I stepped foot on the Andrews University campus, I began a process of change, growth, maturation, and coming-of-age. Andrews became the training ground for what was to come, providing a purgatorium of sorts nestled between childhood and adulthood, between childish dreams and aspirations and real, raw life. Now, as I enter into my fourth and final year at Andrews, I grow increasingly aware of how important these years are, have been, and will be in all of our lives, past, current, and future students alike. Their purpose is to arm but also to shield, to push us forward, and also to catch us when we stumble. I’ve found myself most prone to wishing time would stop during these years, mostly because I know that life after Andrews won’t ever return to how it was during my time here. This, in turn, has made me more grateful and more appreciative of these college years, something I believe should be learned sooner rather than later for lack of regret. As students and young adults, our purpose should be in learning, and I don’t mean purely academic learning, but learning about ourselves, others, and life, and the institution we attend should make that learning its top priority. So my message to students is this: make the best out of these years, learn everything you can, and practice gratefulness because this period of your life is limited, and no period of your life is ever wasted if you approach it with the right mentality and attitude.

— Amelia Stefanescu

In my time at Andrews University, beginning fall semester of 1988, there have been plenty of changes: four presidents, splendid new buildings—The Andreasen Center for Wellness, The Howard Performing Arts Center, Buller Hall—and many generations of amazing new students. Personal desktop computers were fairly new when I started and nobody I knew had a laptop. The internet and email were still a few years in the future and nobody had cell phones. Students talked to each other when they arrived early to class and when they mingled in the halls. Lamson Hall was already middle-aged, Meier Hall and Burman Towers were 25-30 years old and Damazo had yet to be born. But no, I did not arrive in a horse and buggy, we did not hand pump buckets of water for bathing, and Professor Goodwin and I did not personally capture the woolly mammoth whose skeleton resides in the Museum of Natural History. Every generation has its day in the sun, and it is my hope that our precious, diverse, international learning community will continue nurturing and enriching its members to go out from Berrien Springs with knowledge, skills, and vision to help make this world a better place. May God continue to bless Andrews University.

— Scott Moncrieff

Andrews University. My university. Growing up in Berrien Springs, I have always felt a sort of belonging at Andrews, a sense of home. But this university represents so much more to me than just a home. As an anchor, it pulls me and reminds me of where I’m from and where I am going. As sails, it empowers the sojourns of a thousand miles. To me, Andrews University represents wings, carrying me as I soar far, far away to the far corners of our planet, bursting with cultures and languages I have yet to know. Upon my every return, it embodies a nest, fast and true, a place to rest where there is safety and peace. But my university, my home, is not just a nest or an anchor to ground me or even wings or a sail to carry me to where God leads and guides. Sometimes, my home is a wall. A beautiful, intricate, gentle wall, but a wall nonetheless. But what is a home without four walls? 

Flipping through the pages of my university’s history, I have learned that the bricks and contents of the walls are a bit different every generation, but there are always walls. Keeping people safe, protecting them from the formidable unknown beyond the gates. The unknown, remaining so, can be no threat if it stays outside of our walls. These are the walls that have protected me here in my town, in my university, for decades, and the walls that have remained steadfast for 150 years. 

As is tradition in the Student Movement, as this year’s editor-in-chief, I would like to leave you with a final message, a “final word,” as it were. As we celebrate the milestone God has granted us, I entreat us as a university community to reconsider some of our walls. What is a home without four walls? Still, a home.

— Chris Ngugi

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I entered college as a rather naive high school girl who thought I could figure out everything on my own. Andrews quickly showed me that I was wrong – in mostly good ways. I thought that I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life and how to get there, but these past three years have demonstrated that God’s timing is rather unusual but perfect. I’ve forged life-long friendships, been mentored by some great professors, and become involved in life-changing opportunities on campus, all of which have guided me closer to a sense of purpose. To those of you reading this: embrace change, the people around you, and the experiences life throws at you, both good and bad. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, so long as you’re willing to learn from them. As I enter my last year of college, I look back and realize I never had to figure out everything on my own, and, in fact, doing life with others is much more meaningful.
— Abby Shim

My past few years studying at Andrews have been a wonderful experience of learning and using newfound knowledge to fuel an outlook viewing life with wonder. To all current and future Andrews students, keep in mind that you are part of something great, having tied yourselves to a school that has seen many generations of individuals grace its halls over the past 150 years. Embrace the opportunities that Andrews brings your way, expose yourself to different cultures, branch out, try new things, and make good friends. Work hard but also take time to share ridiculous moments with your friends, like speeding around the dorm in rolly chairs for study breaks, playing “Manhunt” in the science complex, exploring the area, and having spontaneous adventures. Most importantly, find friends that help you keep God at the center through it all. There will be difficult days. I have had many hard moments and mental breakdowns during which I felt lost and confused, but the support system I built has helped me through every step of the way, and they can do that for you as well. So ride out the low points, enjoy the good times, embrace challenges, and take breaks when you need them. The college years can surpass your every expectation, the way they have mine (so far), but that can only happen if you throw yourself out there and get involved. Together, these experiences are what make the university experience worth it and will equip you to change the world!

— Melissa Moore

My time at Andrews has been marked by a sense of nearly constant self-evolution. Experiencing life through my own perspective, I often do not have the frame of reference to compare and contrast the various iterations of myself that have existed over the years. With the end of my collegiate career looming close ahead, however, I am compelled to acknowledge the ways in which I have grown since entering college and the role that AU has played in my self-development. Here is a non-extensive list: At Andrews, I have begun to develop my own philosophical paradigm and experience the world through its lens; I have made friends that I will keep for the rest of my life; I have discovered the things that I am passionate about; I have encountered many individuals who have made a profound, positive impact on my life–including professors, mentors, and fellow students; and I have been given the tools that will allow me to succeed in a career that I have truly fallen in love with. Though I have much longer to go on the path to self-actualization (shoutout Maslow), I am eternally grateful for the pieces of myself that Andrews has molded. For those continuing their journey at AU, I urge you to live as fully as you can. Discover the things that make you feel alive and pursue them. Form deep, genuine friendships. Be kind. Give God your first and your best. Learn as much as you can, and make the most of all that Andrews has to offer.

— Wambui Karanja

I’ll be graduating this year, and even though I feel like a baby bird being kicked out of a nest on a cliff-top, I also can’t believe the amount of care that my professors have taken to prepare me for my next steps in life. There have been so many classes and conversations that took place at Andrews that changed the way I live now, and I wouldn’t be writing as an editor now without the encouragement I’ve received from the English department. The confidence that I’ve gained in my major and my writing is all due to the incredible amount of support and involvement that they have given me over the course of my entire undergraduate years, and I wish I had known that as a freshman stepping into Nethery hall for the first time. I will never be able to thank them enough, and I imagine that other students at Andrews feel this same loyalty and affection towards their own chosen departments of study. Although you might not be lucky enough to take the same amazing and unique classes that I did, we’re all lucky to be in a place where we meet other students and faculty every day who change our lives in hundreds of different ways.

— Grace No

I don’t have much to say except enjoy college!

Learn new hobbies, find new sides of you, and build friendships. 

Don’t stress yourself out because college is not the last stop of your life: you’ve barely passed the start line.

“Don’t waste your youth growing up.” - Pablo Picasso

— Gio Lee