"The end is where we start from"

"What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from." -- T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding" 

Last week, I graduated from BYU.

There still are no words to describe everything.
Endings.
And beginnings.
Pomp and circumstance.
Ceremony and ritual.
Faith and intellect.

So I think. I think the best way to record this is through pictures. Pictures and poetry. And a bit of prose.

"And every phrase
And sentence that is right (where every word is at home, 
Taking its place to support the others, 
The word neither diffident nor ostentatious, 
An easy commerce of the old and the new, 
The common word exact without vulgarity, 
The formal word precise but not pedantic, 
The complete consort dancing together)
Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning." 

 Sharisa and I started our BYU experience together and ended it together. We were roommates for 5 years. 

And the lovely Hannah and I were also freshman roommates. 

The best part of the day? Spending time with my loved ones--friends, families, and mentors. All celebrating this accomplishment. 

Probably one of my favorite pictures from the day of cousin Michael and me. 

Although this one's also pretty good. 

 My wonderful grandmother. 

And wonderful, supportive parents. 

"We die with the dying: 

See, they depart, and we go with them. 

We are born with the dead: 

See, they return, and bring us with them. 

The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree

Are of equal duration. A people without history

Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern 

Of timeless moments." 

#ShamelessSelfie

I loved the commencement and convocation addresses. Probably because it was my actual graduation and I'm like, "This is for me!" But also because they were quite good. I especially loved the ones for the College of Humanities Convocation. One of the speakers spoke about Middlemarch and the character of Dorothea. So, of course, I was all ears. Because I love that book (goodness, I wrote my English capstone paper about that book). And I have a lot in common with Dorothea. And I believe in the importance of trying to see the world through another's point of view and to empathize.

And shouldn't humanities graduates be able to do that the best? I think that we have a responsibility to do that the best.

Honestly, as BYU students, we all have that responsibility.

"We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of our exploring 

Will be to arrive where we started 

And know the place for the first time."  -- T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"