If I've learned one thing this semester, it's that there's something very special about being a Baylor Bear. It's not something the media sees, it's not something the sports world sees, and it may not even be something an outsider can see. Yet, inside the Baylor community, it is so obvious.
The Baylor student population knows there's something out there that's bigger and more important than ourselves. I started really thinking about it during the second half of our football season when our victories grew fewer. We were losing, and it didn't matter a whole lot to the people I have surrounded myself with. Obviously, we wanted to win. Who doesn't? However, I came from a school where if we didn't win a game, everyone was down in the dumps for the rest of the night, if not the rest of the week. The attitude following a loss was poor. I'm sure a lot of that just has to do with that being a high school mindset, but now the tables of my surroundings have turned.
Football is a big deal at Baylor. Game days are nothing short of an all-day affair for everyone who attends. Yet, we do not let it get to us when things are not going in a direction that favors our team. There is something within every human being that strives for success. The driving factor can be anything from money to making the world a better place. Sometimes, though, things do not go exactly as we have planned out, and our reaction to those events reveals the people we truly are.
At Baylor, the simple fact is we recognize that there is more to life than a football game. The priorities that come first are different depending on who you ask, but the idea remains true. We obviously want to be at Baylor, because we chose to go here despite the negative news and the more-expensive-than-most tuition rates. My fellow students and I feel like our faculty truly cares about the people we are now and the people we will be in 20 years. It is different than any other experience, and we would not trade it for the world.
Recently, my band director got us thinking when he said, "I'd rather lose as a Baylor Bear than win as a fan of any other team." He's right. We have a lot to be grateful for in terms of being Baylor students. Our experience at Baylor is changing us into better people more so every day.
The Bible says in Luke 12:48, "to whom much is given, much is required." We recognize that. So far, we have been given much. I hope and pray that we take the lessons we learn here into our world, because these lessons could change it for the best.
