Senior Chapel: Living a Legacy

One may ask what Nana’s Ice Cream, hand prints on Cougar Walk, and APU Seniors all have in common? Such a query may only be unraveled by stepping into the first Senior Chapel of the 2006-07 school year.

On Monday, September 11, an abundance of seniors trekked the stairs leading to Upper Turner Campus Center (UTTC). Upon their arrival, mingling began, and a line formed near a table holding an assortment of delectable flavors from Nana’s Ice Creamery.

Such an event offered more than a few flavors of ice cream. This event marked the start of an enduring finish for this year’s senior class. According to Senior Chapel Intern Matt Hoenshell ’07, “Senior Chapel is an intentional community of just seniors, where they can encourage each other, build each other up, and just be together.”

This very concept was supported when Hoenshell and fellow intern Taylor Bartlett ‘07 performed a skit for their peers, which summarized what APU life is like from freshman to senior year. Such a vision cannot be put into words, but the response from the room was nothing less than bursts of laughter.

Though the event started on a lighthearted note, a focus was soon brought by Shannon Taylor from APU's Office of Student Success. Taylor is the interim director of OMEGA, a transition program designed to help graduating seniors step into a new stage of life, and she asserted that mission and goal to all who were present in the room.

Senior Chapel Graduate Assistant, Alayna Goins, shared that Senior Chapel “offers students the opportunity to talk and hear about issues and subjects specific to students who are transitioning out of the college environment.” Goins is excited “to see this senior class pour into the underclassmen in their last year.”

Senior Chapel provides a time for upperclassmen to be filled in a deep and communal way with the love of Christ, and because of that, all who are below may in hope, receive the overflow of the deep well that is being formed.

As the evening progressed, a time of worship to God filled all who drew near. Senior Chapel Intern Charlotte Causly ’07, brought the vision of the night, and of the year to terms. “We want to come together as a [senior] community,” spoke Causly. The question was posed, “What kind of legacy is the class of 2007 going to leave behind?”

These words were not just spoken, but acted upon. As the night came to a close, each person received a piece of chalk. To be filled means to pour out and fill others. As a symbol of the reception to such a vision, the class of 2007 left their handprints all over Cougar Walk.

The legacy has begun....may the legacy live on.