I graduated from Sutherland Elementary School in 1966 and went to Morgan Park High School on the south side of Chicago, graduating in 1970. Like many of my classmates, I had applied to colleges and universities and was thrilled when I was accepted to Northwestern University in the northern Chicago suburbs. It was the school of choice for Mom, Dad, numerous friends and even my Grandpa LaRue, Mom’s Dad. All had attended and I was to be the first of the next generation. In fact, I was accepted into the first six year combination program that would include a Bachelor’s degree as well as the completion of medical school in one program. I was also accepted into IIT, a top drawer engineering school on the near south side of Chicago.
Each year, Mom and Dad would take us to Homecoming weekend at Northwestern and in the fall of 1969, the students were particularly negative and dug a group of mock graves in the center of the campus, in protest of the Vietnam War. Right there on the spot, Dad told me that none of his children would ever attend Northwestern after what he witnessed that evening. I was crushed, to say the least. Northwestern was off the table… so I would be attending IIT, another top tier engineering school that I had been accepted to. I had a keen interest in bioengineering back in the day – the design and use of advanced medical instruments that I could be a part of inventing.
Anyway, my Uncle Wayne was instrumental in my being able to go to Germany the summer after high school graduation and while I was gone overseas, my space at IIT was given to someone else. I returned home on August 15, 1970 with nowhere to attend several weeks later. In a frantic last ditch effort, I hastily applied to UICC, the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, primarily a commuter school. I was accepted and started classes on time. I was enrolled in the engineering school and, frankly, I hated the entire experience. I was angry about the Northwestern situation, losing my spot at IIT and ending up at what I considered a very second rate school compared to what I had envisioned for my college years. And… I lived at home while most of my friends were going away to school. It was one of the worst periods of my life. I only met three people the entire time I attended university and it was a lonely time – I was purely focused on getting done as quickly as possible.
Two years later, my grandfather died and left each of his grandsons two years of college at the school of our choice. At last, a way to get back to Northwestern… I applied to start as a junior and was turned down… crushed again… I finished at UICC and graduated in less than four years. I couldn’t wait to get out… I went to school all year long and actually changed my major several times. Anyway, I graduated with a degree in Microeconomics. But another thing happened that same week in March, 1974… Dad was diagnosed with cancer.
Medical school was off the table for sure and I sat down in Dad’s chair at the office to try and hold the business together while he was engaged in lifesaving measures to survive his cancer… I never got to medical school… but eventually went to seminary when I was 47 years old. God works in such mysterious ways!
This past Friday, I received an email from UICC (now renamed UIC – the University of Illinois at Chicago) inviting me to a 50th anniversary graduation celebration to be held in December of this year. I was stunned. Not only did it never occur to me that I graduated from college 50 years ago, but all of the angry, heartfelt stuff, including Dad’s cancer, that I had been dealing with at the time came flooding back.
I have no intention of attending but I found some of the questions interesting. For example, did my spouse graduate from the school? No! Who was my favorite instructor? Believe it or not, I can’t remember the name of even one of my professors the entire time I was in school! And frankly, to top it all off, I consider myself successful in spite of, not because of, my university experience.
Janet and I have spoken many times about how our lives may have been quite different had I attended Northwestern. In fact, Janet doesn’t think that we probably wouldn’t have found each other and ended up together. The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with her. Life would have been different. And I don’t mean better – there’s no way that things could have turned out as well as they have. God had His finger on our lives the entire time. I’ve just had to accept that my plans weren’t the right plans for me.
Tonight’s verse is a well known one from the book of Jeremiah that we use quite frequently in career transition ministry. Jeremiah tells us, in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God has been faithful to that declaration our entire lives. My encouragement this evening is that God knows what is best for us and even if it isn’t what we want at the time, His plans will include the use of our spiritual gifts and His blessings in our lives. My prayer is that we can all trust the process and realize that the One who created us knows where we will ultimately excel and serve His Kingdom on earth. Just realize that it’s sometimes difficult to “let go and let God!” Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…