This evening was the annual JMC Awards Picnic. We do this inside because sometimes it rains in April. But it is a picnic! A catered by a local barbecue joint, linens on the table, animal crackers in little bowls on the linens on the table, extra pie for everyone picnic.
The faculty give out awards for outstanding student media work, top grades, the various academic and leadership organizations, announce summer fellowships and so on and on. The students give out awards to the faculty as a big joke to wrap up the night. Everyone has a lovely time.
Here’s Dr. Jones and two award-winning students now:
There always seem to be just the faintest hint of dust and allergens in that room. You watch these people grow and develop and in four sudden years they are sitting at the front tables and cleaning up on all of these awards and getting ready for The Next Step and it stirs you. There are a lot of hugs and a great deal of laughter. And the students get a bit philosophical about the whole thing too:
I am so blessed to have spent four years in the @samfordjmc dept. I can’t imagine a more encouraging community of students and professors.
— Jackie Long (@jackie_london) May 1, 2013
So thankful for @samfordjmc and the way it has shaped my time at Samford and my future. This department is one of a kind! #seniormoment
— Rachel Freeny (@freenster) May 1, 2013
Absolutely overwhelmed & humbled by the community I’ve been surrounded by for the last four years in the journalism department. God is good.
— Katie Jewell Willis (@Katie_Jewell) May 1, 2013
Tonight, though, there was a real sadness about us, too. Around noon came the official word that a student was found dead in his room this morning. He was only a sophomore, but it is clear he’d made a huge impact on the community. We’ve been collecting these reactions all night:
To be in such a loving place is a wonderful thing. It all says so much, and so little, of our time in this place.
