Episode 9: Senior Chapel Talks by Luke Terry, Jolie Heerema, and Trent Wisian

“Focus on the good, especially the great people,” Luke Terry said in his #SeniorChapelTalk on Tuesday. Reflecting on his life, while searching for a topic for his talk, he realized he was focusing on the negative and that a general lack of awareness made him overlook all the great things that had happened in his life. Like others, he had his own stories of hardships that he could share–but when he stopped focusing on those, he could see the sacrifices others had made for him and the opportunities he had available. “We will face hardships in our lives…but there is too much good happening every day in this community to let these hardships cloud our vision. Find the silver linings,” he said to the students, “and take advantage of everything TMI has to offer.”

“Wherever you are, it’s OK to be there,” said Jolie Heerema in her #SeniorChapelTalk on Thursday. She opened up to the community and shared her struggles with depression and an eating disorder, allowing the TMI community to become a part of her journey toward healing. Through her challenges, she learned that it’s OK to ask for help and–more importantly–it’s OK to receive it. Encouraging others who are facing their own challenges and reflecting on how far she’s come with her own, she said, “no matter where you are, you might look back one day and be glad that you kept going–I know I am.”

“I know I have won, no matter what the score,” said Trent Wisian in his #SeniorChapelTalk on Tuesday. He described aiming and shooting at his rifle target during a competition where the wind gusts were so strong, targets were ripped from their stands and blown away. It was the worst he had ever shot. But he didn’t let that keep him down. Accepting the fact that there were circumstances he couldn’t control, he was proud of making it to that point and satisfied in knowing he did everything possible to prepare and set himself up for success. “Mistakes teach us to do better,” he explained, and “a lot more things will go right in life than wrong…celebrate your successes.”