by David Melton
In Boston we love our hockey — the Boston Bruins. I grew up ignorant of hockey. That all changed in my years in New England. The Bruins may not be a full-blown religion, but if you have to choose between a Bruins game and a good steak dinner … I guess it comes down to how hungry you are?
The Bruins have a goalie right now named Tuukka. He’s Finnish. Watching him again last night, I learned something about a finish — not the Finnish. Hockey teams play 60 minutes of regulation in a game. The one time we all got to celebrate a Stanley Cup Championship, in my recollection, they called the team’s achievement “Full Sixty to History.” They played the whole game. They finished. Last year, not so much. Our Bruins got back to the finals, but lost. Tuukka gave up two goals in about 17 seconds right at the end of the game! So from the Finnish I am reminded about the finish.
Working in a college, the concept of “finish” sits in front of us all the time. Our recruiters urge prospects to finish high school strong. Then, once students come to Boston, finishing is paramount. Finish every assignment. Finish your full preparation for exams. Finish your degree. We are all about “finishing” in Boston. We want to do everything we can to help students get the degree and get out there to serve.
Lots of colleges make transfer of credits a headache. It is really a simple business strategy in truth, rarely having anything actually to do with course content or even source of accreditation (though that myth is still out there). No, every college realizes that every course you take in transfer is one more course a student will not take from your college and will not pay you for! I know firsthand, transferring credits can be an all-out war.
Not in Boston. Years ago we settled in our minds that our job is to find ways to help our students finish. We revamped our curriculum and made it amazingly flexible and accommodating, within the rules of educational authorities, to say yes to transfer credits. We are in the finishing business.
Never has this been more important than now. More and more students are doing work at community colleges. Plans change. Sometimes young people discover only partway through college somewhere that they really want a solid Christian education — regardless of their career field. And they need to finish college. I can say this emphatically … nobody looking to complete his or her degree should make a final choice until they check with us. We are absolutely a ‘’finishing school.” I could reel off name after name of our students who are proof of what I say.
In hockey we celebrate every goal, and even a good hit or a good save. But if we don’t finish well, you should see how fast our Finnish goalie zooms off the ice when the job doesn’t get done. But when we win, Bruins have this tradition of banging helmets with Tuukka. Hey, can we do that at Commencement?