BUIES CREEK — Campbell University’s first day of classes for the 2015-16 academic year don’t begin until Wednesday, Aug. 19, but Andrea Davenport already feels like her real college experience has begun.
That feeling came Sunday, Aug. 16, in Gore Arena where she and more than 1,000 other new students received their Campbell medallion during New Student Convocation, a tradition the university started about 11 years ago. Getting one marks the start “of my real college life,” said Davenport, a biology/pre-veterinary medicine major from Whitaker, North Carolina.
The medallion will also serve as a reminder of the remarks that Dr. J. Bradley Creed made during his keynote address to the new students, she said. “It’s the starting of a new page for all us.”
Like them, Creed is in his first year at Campbell. “I have about a 44-day head start on you,” said Creed, who began his duties as Campbell’s fifth president July 1. “This is a new experience for me like you.”
Probably like them, he added, he’s excited about what lies ahead during his first year at Campbell, such as meeting new people and experiencing new opportunities. But probably also like them, he’s “a little nervous. I’ll tell you that I’ve never done anything significant or meaningful in my life without being a little nervous, without facing challenges.”
You have to face challenges in order to realize your dreams, he added. Think of the Campbell medallion. Symbolizing the university’s purpose and past, the medallion features an open Bible, a Celtic cross and the university’s motto—“Ad Astra per Aspera,” or “To the Stars through Difficulties.”
“You aim for the stars with a college education . . . ,” said Creed, who also received a medallion Sunday. “But on the way to completing a college education and fulfilling your dreams, Campbell is asking you to struggle a bit.”
Why that ask? “We only become whole persons, more complete, by confronting difficulties and accepting new challenges,” he said.
So embrace the adversity, he said. Take the courses that cover subjects you don’t understand. Engage in topics that challenge your viewpoint. Do difficult research projects that require hours of hard work. Stretch your mind. Push yourself in ways you never have before. Take an active role in your own success. “These will be the highlights of your educational experience.”
To encourage the new students to embrace adversity and live out the university’s motto, Creed offered eight charges to them, listed below. “I look forward to sharing in this exciting journey with you,” he said.
President Creed’s charges to students
1) “Engage the struggle, for this is the nature of life.”
2) “Commit yourself today to doing your very best — not just becoming a more intelligent person but also a more virtuous person.”
3) “Develop an inner resolve and resilience. Keep moving from the darkness towards the light, even when it hurts your eyes and you have to squint.”
4) “The path from adversity to the stars requires courage, facing your fears, and sometimes doing what does not come naturally.”
5) “It also requires humility, which means, among other things, that you should not take yourself too seriously.”
6) “By all means have fun while you’re here.”
7) “Be curious about life, learning, ideas, the natural world, and especially the people around you.”
8) “Above all, have faith in God. Ask for God’s guidance and help, for God is faithful and for God can be trusted.”
[View the story “#CampbellWelcomeWeek 2015” on Storify]
President Creed to new students: Embrace challenges, adversity