Better than a full ride scholarship

The best friends are the ones your recognize the first time you see them.

This past week was enrollment week, which is always an exhilarating and exhausting week. We welcomed over 100 students into our program, spending time with each individual to talk about education and career goals and how we can help them attain those.

I always love meeting the new students and spending one-on-one time with many. Often they share some of their personal story with me, including why they are now pursuing an education. Their eyes are filled with hope, determination, and sometimes trepidation.

Two students I met were especially bubbling with life and energy. When counseling with one of them, I told her about the scholarship we could offer her to obtain her pharmacy tech certificate. In just a few months she will have a new highly marketable skill that will help her pay her way through college. She returned a few minutes later with her friend. "I told her about the pharmacy tech program and she wants to sign up, too," she told me.

They were both excited and laughing, already talking about how much fun they were going to have in school together and making plans for the future. Assuming they were old friends, I asked how long they had known each other. "Oh, we just met yesterday at enrollment and have been talking non-stop ever since."

They have both recently moved to Kansas City from other states, and neither has made any local friends yet. They were instant friends, though, discovering quickly how much they shared in common.

Watching them, I knew that they will both be highly successful in the program, in large part because of their friendship. They will encourage one another, add joy and laughter to learning, celebrate their triumphs together, and challenge each other to aim higher and reach further. That's what healthy, life-giving friendships are all about.

We give our students every tool and resource available to us to help them succeed, but we can not give them one of the most valuable tools, the one I would most like to give each and every one. All we can do is provide the right environment. They bring the shared passion and vision that are the both spark and kindling for kindred spirits.