In The Meantime: How to Remain Content In The In-Between 

Letter from the Editor

By Julia Swain

If you’re a senior like me, either stepping away from the field you just spent four years studying or staring at graduation with no clear picture of what next year holds (or both), I see you. I’m right there with you. 

As much as I’m more than ready to abandon communal bathrooms, dining hall food and the endless slog of papers and projects, there’s a larger part of me that will miss the college lifestyle. I’ll miss the freedom of running out for coffee between my 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. classes, the late-night Taco Bell and Sonic runs, and the trauma bonding over a particularly rough gen-ed (biology, I’m looking
at you).

On top of that, it can be hard to look forward to the future if you have absolutely no idea what it will look like yet. For the first time in my entire life, I have no idea what I’m going to be doing come August, and that can be a terrifying thought. 

Deep in the throes of this uncertainty, we can all remind ourselves of Deuteronomy 31:8. 

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” 

While the Lord does not promise that we will land our dream job on the first try or that we’ll avoid rejection, uncertainty, or seasons of waiting, he does promise to be steady and present through it all. 

Whether you’re a freshman still trying to figure out life away from home, a sophomore trying to decide if you picked the right major, a junior feeling the pressure starting to pile up or a senior standing on the edge of graduation with more questions than answers, the promise remains the same: you are not walking into the unknown alone. 

So, let this issue of Cedars be a reminder that the future and all the opportunities it holds are already known, and what feels uncertain to us is not at all uncertain to him. What feels delayed is not forgotten by God. 

As you flip through these pages and read these stories, my prayer is that they will serve as a comforting reminder that your story is still unfolding — carefully, intentionally and with purpose.

And as we step into whatever comes next, that truth gives us more confidence than any perfectly crafted plan ever could.

Julia Swain is a senior Journalism student and the Editor in Chief of Cedars. She enjoys concerts, coffee and watching and analyzing any Cleveland sports team.