Would you like to know what a baby born on your Graduation Day can look forward to on this planet? TIME magazine ran this fascinating list of statistics under the headline “Hello, My Name Is Sophia: I’m an American baby born in 2012, and I already know a few things about myself”: ·        I am one of 4 million babies who will be born in the U.S. in 2012 (China will be home to 16 million new babies this year) ·        I can expect to live 81.3 years—until 2093 (American boys born in 2012 have a life expectancy of 76.2 years—5 years less than girls) (An Indian girl born today can expect to live to 66) ·        My parents can expect to spend about $150,000 on my in-state tuition at a public U.S. college or $500,000 for four years at a private college (before financial aid, loans and scholarships) (But if I’d been born in Germany, my university education would probably be free) ·        If I finish college, I can expect to get married at about age 30 (I’ll get married a few years earlier—at age 26—if I don’t earn a college degree) (A Brazilian girl born in 2012 has a 25% chance of marrying before age 18) ·        By age 40, I’ll be making $95,733 a year; by the 2070s I’ll have earned $4,033,688 after working for 40 years (An Indian baby born in 2012 can expect lifetime earnings of $494,241) ·        There’s a 60% chance that I’ll live in the suburbs; 28% that I’ll live in a city (90% of Brazilian babies born in 2012 will live in an urban area) ·        I’ve got a 23% chance that my marriage will end in divorce—and a 41% chance I’ll never marry at all Welcome to the “brave, new world” that is already yours! And congratulations for your successful wrap on this first long chapter of your life. Your best days are straight ahead! Because there’s one more statistic for you—one you can bank on for your future: 100% of Andrews University’s graduates this spring will have the unprecedented opportunity to probe the farthest reaches of human knowledge in the furthest corners of a still expanding universe, beyond the confines of a season or a school year or even a lifetime. One hundred percent of this graduating class is being offered cart blanche a paradise for the intellect—unlimited exploration of an infinite variety of mens corpus spiritus (the Andrews University Latin motto) pursuits. And you may have it all with this single proviso—that you avail yourself of this offer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Simply because when you embrace Christ as your personal Savior, you align yourself not only with your Creator and the closest, truest Friend you will know—you also join your life to the Being ancient Scripture called “Wisdom” (see Proverbs 8), the everlasting Teacher of infinite science and art and philosophy and truth. So wherever the road leads after Graduation Day, I am praying it will lead you to a lifetime pursuit of this same Jesus who raised up both this university and you for such a time as this. In the words of Oswald Chambers, “And the road is the way He went.” So follow Him. Godspeed. Till we meet again. At the end of the road. Which, of course, is just the beginning.