Why are you here? No, I don't want a discourse about the birds and the bees, nor do I have a desire to postulate about an existential quandary. I'm interested in a much narrower answer. Why are you here? Why are you at Walla Walla College? 

 I know all the cliché answers: "My friends are here," "It's close to home, " and even "the spiritual atmosphere." But why are you really here? Why do you stay? What keeps you coming back? This is a question every student needs to ask him or herself at this time of the school year. It costs you a cool $18,654 to go to school here, and I would hope that one would desire to have this be money well spent. I'm not trying to be critical of anyone's motives or reasons for being here, and I don't claim to be perfect; I merely ask that you consider for yourself what it is that makes you want to be associated with this school. If you determine you really don't want to be here, it could save you some cash. (Short note to Admissions and Marketing: don't send me hate mail! I'm not trying to lower enrollment! Short note complete.)  

To the computer gamers who stay up all night so they have to sleep through their classes: Why are you here? Could you get a job as a game tester for Nintendo and get a paycheck for playing 24/7? Maybe you like the college's fast T'1 connection. Here's a tip: install a DSL connection in your house.  

To people who use drugs or alcohol to a level that is destructive to your body: Why are you here? What reality are you trying to escape? Is life at school really that bad? Do people around you ever annoy you with their pleas to good point? "stop ruining your life"? Do you think sometimes that maybe they have a good point? 

  To the people who complain about absolutely everything, from ARA food to handbook policies to stop signs to the number of pictures in campus publications: why are you here? If you really dislike it here so much, shouldn't you go somewhere where things are better?  

To compulsive studiers, who spend any free time in your room, poring over books: what are you getting from school here? You know, don't you, that employers are more likely to hire someone with a slightly lower GPA and a good set of extracurriculars?  

Nobody admits any more that they came to college to find a spouse, but I have a suspicion that there are quite a few. To those people: this school is not the only native habitat of single people, Adventist or otherwise. And like wise, there's no need to fret if you're graduating without a fiancé. If you haven't found that special someone yet, do yourself (and that person) a favor and wait. Don't marry the wrong person out of a fear that you'll never marry otherwise. But I digress. The point is that starting off a married life with college loans is difficult. God knows who you can succeed with, spouse-wise, and it's possible that you don't have to go in debt to find him/her.  

O.K, so maybe you don't fit into one of those categories. If so, good for & you-make the most of your time here. But if you do, I only ask that you think about what you've just read; run it over in your mind and see if the situation could be better elsewhere. 

 Walla Walla College is a great school. There's no doubt about that. But the truth is, at Walla Walla, you will find what you are looking for. If you are looking for a good time, you will find it. If you are looking for a fight, or drugs, or scandals, you'll find those too. But the beautiful thing is this if you are looking for Christ, you will find Him at Walla Walla; likewise, true intelligent thought, love and earnest desire on the part of the faculty to help you learn.  

I urge you to know why you stay here. Why are you here? Hopefully because you want to be.