Letter From the Editor

by Keegan D’Alfonso

On behalf of the entire Cedars staff, allow me to welcome you to Cedarville University. This issue of Cedars is for you, the incoming freshmen. We hope to offer you a taste of student media, some helpful tips to get you started in this new life journey that is college and maybe a few biting jokes (sorry, even in college, upperclassmen like to pick on the freshies).

You are about to start an amazing adventure here at Cedarville. College is a great opportunity to grow and learn, not just academically, but also as a person. Who you are today is not who you will be four years from now when you graduate, and that is OK. You are going to make mistakes and experience failure, and I hope you do because the best tool for growth and learning is when God takes us down to our knees in humility as we realize how much we still have to learn.

Too often we pursue life goals with a preconceived idea of what success will look like and where we want to be 10 years from now. Having goals is good, however, you need to be flexible and allow your goals to change and realize that true success may be different from what you envisioned at the start of this journey.

Proverbs 16:9 says, “In their hearts, humans plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps.”

You do not determine your own journey and praise God for that because it gives you so much more freedom. God has already set a path before you, and contrary to what your parents or friends might say, what you do here in college does not determine the path for your life.

Take this time in college to figure out what you value, grow from the child that left home to a man or woman who will be a Christian witness to the world. However, just because you are at a Christian college doesn’t mean you’re going to experience profound Christian growth through osmosis. All the chapel services in the world aren’t going to make a difference if you aren’t willing to submit yourself to God.

Finally, it’s OK if you leave college without achieving all of your goals. Godly success isn’t measured in grades, how many accolades you received or if you found the perfect spouse. Performance is a trap the devil uses to steal your peace. Success is found in following Christ and the heart in which you serve him.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” ­— Colossians 3:17

Keegan D’Alfonso is a senior journalism major and the Editor-in-Chief for Cedars. He enjoys telling stories about his time in the Marines, making corny jokes, and sharing his passion for intercultural communication.