Sitting aboard a Northwest flight en route Detroit from Ft. Lauderdale with a Microeconomics textbook sprawled across my lap; my mind was reverberating with the words I had heard the day before in Miami. A young lad sitting two seats from me on his way to Canada to meet his mom, asked about the text I was reading. “I replied it was for a college course I was taking”. Another young girl sitting right next to me – a University student returning from spring break and spotting a nice tan – said, “Your studying reminds me of what I am getting back to”; at the same time giving me a look that says “you shouldn’t be doing this on a trip”. I replied, “If you heard what I heard yesterday, you too would be doing same.

While in Miami for spring break, I had a discussion with a Christian lady that “blew my mind”. “Why settle for a B when you can get an A” was the sentence she said that caused the “damage”. From what I gathered in the discussion, she had worked hard to get the most out of her education so that she would be better prepared to serve. Listening to that, my mind immediately raced to the motto of my University which is “Education for Service”. Could it be that if I refuse to settle for a B and strive for an A, I will be a better servant of humanity? Isn’t that what I’ve always wanted to do, serve people? Is it that I am not just getting a degree for myself, but also for the millions of people that won’t get the same opportunity as I’ve got to go to school?

I reminisced about telling fellow students back in high school to be excellent at what they do, be it good or bad. Somehow in my youthful exuberance, I learnt that those that get recognition from the school authorities are those who are excellent academically or those who are excellent in misdemeanor. It was no use being in-between since those that were are not usually recognized. The Bible agrees with this point when it points out; “I know thy works that thou are neither hot nor cold: I would that thou wert cold or hot” – Revelations 3:15