Changes

Over the past week, I have been reminded of the effect I have had on people during my time at uni.
Firstly, I have spent most of the week away at Club Veg (note: link may become outdated), where the topic was on love, sex, chastity & marriage. However, the speaker, Ian Powell (who is always a great speaker) seemed to have concentrated on the second part of the 4. Anyway, I learnt a whole lot of stuff (stop thinking in the gutter) about topics such as singleness, dating & various other subjects. Interestingly, one of Ian's daughters, Claire, was there, so it was interesting to see how that went. I haven't heard of any fihgting in the Powell household, so I guess everything worked out :)
What is traditional with Club Veg is that there is an informal farewell of graduates. There were a few leaving, but what struck me was the number of people who have contributed to EU through their leadership or organisational skill & ability. It seemed that of the dozen or so who were leaving, 10 had been active in either planning or helping in events, which is a big loss, but i'm sure EU will be as good as ever. I was asked to reflect on my experiences in EU, which I did, but I had to keep it brief. As a result, I think i'll post a more thorough discourse in due time.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I was up at the crack of dawn to take my dad to the airport. Currently, he's roughly 1/2way over the Atlantic on his last leg to Toronto, having gone via Singapore & London (i'll explain later, if anyone is interested). I managed to get in, get my dad through the check-in line & back in the car within 30 min (which was good, as I only had to pay $6 as opposed to $12 if I paid a minute later. Then I was off to work. After work, I had to rush to uni, for a farewell to Chis. Chis (otherwise known as Graeme Chiswell (who is Nicky's other half) has been a part of EU for 15 years, and has been a great mentor and friend to many, both with the Science crew, and with the exec as well. For me, Chis was a great mentor, with his talks (on community, wisdom literature and Romans, to name a few) being helpful, and for being a good listener, as well as a big cricket & West Wing fan (although the show has gone downhill in the past couple of seasons). He will be missed here, but Monash has acquired a great asset in which the Eu there will grow.

The night was also an opportunity to catch up with Science crew of years past, and was a great time in catching up with people. At the end of the night, while saying goodbye to people, I started to think about the past 5 years, about the people I have met & how I have grown as a Christian, and was sad about leaving. What Chis said in his speech rang true: "I am sad to leave, because I love the place." I think that applies to me too. I'll miss the place.