Notes from the Quad

"Notes from the Quad" is a publication of Yale Divinity School.  Their most recent article featured a picture of yours truly.  I was sitting in a class titled "Ministry and the Disinherited", discussing a book called Jesus and the Disinherited, when my friend and classmate pulled it up on her computer to show me.  Our class is made up of people from different backgrounds and walks of life.  Refugees of war.  Individuals who grew up in poverty.  And, myself included, individuals who grew up privileged….

Geographies represented in this picture: Taiwan, West Coast, East Coast, Jamaica, Germany
Faith traditions represented: Seventh-Day Adventist, Lutheran, and everything that I have come from: Baptist, Congregational, Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Evangelical.

As much as this makes me feel like a #PosterChildforDiversity, I also find it strangely congruent with some of my recent musings and posts (see my two August posts on "Identity") and hopefully indicative of what I'd like my time at Yale (and life beyond that) to be about.  Can I just say that, as much as I have mixed feelings about being in this picture due to my "make and model" (Female: Asian, 1986), the snapshot itself gives me a feeling of exhilaration?

So, instead of spending time and thought on deciphering what kind of PR move it may be on Yale Divinity's part in choosing this picture for their publication, I'll just say that the moment captured in this picture:

• Was truly a candid picture of a genuine moment.  I had no idea someone was taking a picture!

Also:

• That handshake was the beginning of one of the best "get-to-know-yous" I had during my Divinity School Orientation.  I met TONS of people during Orientation week, and not every group conversation felt like it flowed and had life to it.  This one definitely did, even though it was one of the briefest :)
• Not every person I met at Orientation became my friend, but I am still friends with (and have really come to appreciate!) 2 out of the 3 people I met in the picture.  In fact, we are all in the "Ministry and the Disinherited" class together.

And last but not least:

• This is probably, pun intended, #Hands[Not]Down,  THE most flattering picture of my right arm I have ever seen.  It gives you the illusion that my arms are toned and non-flabby.  It's an illusion, but I'll take it!