Rigorous

I arrive at the picnic that kicks off our semester of Penn State Christian Grads. I gather with many new Ph.D. students who have more enthusiasm and intelligence than you can imagine. I'm so thankful to live in a world where people devote their lives to understanding and then advancing various fields like autism and communication, applied linguistics, mechanical and environmental engineering, statistics, food science, math education, physiology, nursing, biobehavioral health, and too many other programs to mention.

I listen to the way students live in complete fascination and utter curiosity about their disciplines and how, one day, their research can help so many others. I think about the sacrifices they make to do the work they do here at Penn State. I'm inspired again about the joy of learning, of hard work, and of rigorous investigation. It is so exciting to see these new students filled with wonder and worship and the kind of passion that makes an entire university work.

I want to love and support graduate students even more. Go love a graduate student!