Beth Gripping BA English Literature

Beth's Graduation Story

Graduation, Finally!

April 29, 2008 - Well, I did make it to Saturday's stage walk. As my row of graduands approached the platform, I felt excited but nervous, too. I had much to remember: shake hands, accept the parchment, turn for the camera, walk but don't trip, hand the hood and cord to Tim and Rita-without dropping anything-flip my tassel, and smile. When my turn came, I walked through a fog. I think the dean announced my honours, but I didn't hear it. I think Dr. George Durance asked about my family, but I'm not entirely certain. I think Brett Fillmore kissed Dr. Riley Coulter, but I couldn't tell you for sure. Like the events of that shorter walk, my next steps after graduation remain unclear. However, I know my Ambrose experience will serve me well. I don't mind a little uncertainty, either: "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, / and your plans will succeed" (Pr. 16.3).

I Love Exam Week

April 25, 2008 - I love exam week. I can't say I love exams. I don't. However, arriving at exams always feels like a break after the seemingly endless march of papers and presentations through the preceding weeks. In fact, I handed in the last papers of my undergraduate degree on Friday morning, and I'm beginning to feel that I might even make it to Saturday. I also find exams exciting, if terrifying, because they pose the summative task for each course and testify to a semester-long effort of listening, writing, reading, and studying; the grades I receive won't reveal many of the ways I have grown socially and spiritually at Ambrose, but they will attest to some of my mental development. This semester, especially, exam week presents the last big challenge of my degree: I wrote my Modernism exam on Friday, and now I can check the exam, the course, and-almost-the semester off my to do list.

Professors are Human Too

April 22, 2008 - Over the last four years, a friend and I have kept a tally of the profs we have heard say-yes-"icky." By now, our list includes several well-respected professors at Ambrose. Strangely, as I conclude my degree, that word means a lot to me because it reminds me of my relationship with the professors here. Throughout my degree, my professors-and especially my primary instructors Dr. Tim Heath, Dr. Rita Dirks Heath, and Ken Nickel-have been real with their students, even real enough to say icky. Oddly enough, professors are human, too. More importantly, even, our profs have remembered that students also are human: in this year's Capstone Seminar, Dr. Tim Heath included Timothy Findley's Not Wanted on the Voyage, a powerful novel of ethics and relationship, because it speaks to our own voyage, the voyage we live. At Ambrose, I know, my professors care about my voyage.

Highlights of my Ambrose Experience

April 15, 2008 - My four years at Ambrose have taught me some of what it means to live together physically, mentally, and spiritually. I lived in Rez for my first year and a half, and I not only developed relationships with my roommates, floormates, and residence assistant but also learned a lot about myself: after four years of roommates, I know I'm better at living in community. Similarly, chapel and choir have allowed me to worship God, make friends, represent my school, and have lots of fun. Literary Landscapes 2007, a travel course with the English department, has also enhanced my understanding of community: spending lots of time on a bus with sixteen others tends to make everyone great friends or worst enemies; thankfully, I returned with great friends. Actually, I find working on campus increasingly hard: even in the library, I land at a computer next to a friend and start chatting-in whispers, of course.