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Last fall, North Park’s first-year and transfer students were welcomed to campus with a weekend of picnics, outings, and ice breakers. The highlight of the activities was the Welcome Convocation, where students and their families heard inspiring speeches and words of wisdom from President Mary K. Surridge, Professor Karl Clifton-Soderstrom, and alumnus Timothy Ahlberg.

President Surridge offered sound advice to the Class of 2023.

I can share one small piece of advice on this day, it would simply be this. Say YES!

Say YES to an opportunity to try something new …

Say YES to joining a club.

YES, to the prospect of joining the Gospel Choir.

Say YES to running for the Student Government Association.

Or YES to a Global Partnerships trip.

Say YES to a Catalyst 606 opportunity, or YES to a service project through University Ministries …

Say YES to cheering on the Vikings every chance you get and YES every time we offer Lou Malnati’s pizza on campus.

Now, having said all of this—you don’t have to say yes to everything the first week or even the first year—but say yes to something you have never tried before. This is your campus, and this is your chance. Make it your home.

And remember that we are here to walk alongside you every step of the way. That is our promise, and you have our word on it.

We promise to pray for you and to support you in every way that we can.

And we look forward to the many contributions you will make to this community in the months and years ahead. On behalf of our entire campus family, welcome to ÂÜÀòÉç!

Professor of Philosophy Karl Clifton-Soderstrom used his address to encourage students to embrace their college experience as just one chapter of a long, illustrious life story.

College can seem overwhelming at times, because it is so packed full of events—class presentations, exams, sporting events, chapel services, theatrical performances, protest marches, musical concerts, political or religious conversions, first dates, breakups, etc. It really is too much. Your task is to keep asking yourself—but what’s the story? No single event, no chapter of your time here is the whole story. No single failed exam, or team loss, or crisis moment between you and a friend, is the whole story …

Whatever story you have lived so far that leads up to today, it is important to remember that you are in the middle of it. Your life did not begin today … this chapter is not the first chapter of your story, it’s in the middle.

Tim Ahlberg, who majored in business and Spanish while at North Park, works as a management consultant. As part of his job, he travels weekly to Puerto Rico, where he is helping forge a new path forward for the government and their people in the wake of Hurricanes Maria and Irma.

So what does it mean to apply this Threshold framework to your first year of college and beyond? It means you leave your door open while you’re just chillin’ in your room playing video games or noodling around on the guitar. It means that you sit next to some new people from time to time in the cafeteria … Applying the framework means studying that extra hour to get that good grade. It could also mean NOT studying that extra hour to sit with a friend going through a hard time. It means getting INVOLVED. For such a small college there are so many ways to connect with people outside the classroom. I was on the soccer team, in student government, gospel choir, attended Chapel, took internships, managed the campus-run snack shop. You don’t have to do ALL these things. You don’t even have to do half those things. But please do something. Connect with people. Tap into North Park’s greatest resource—its people and its community.