A Farewell to...the Unique Opportunities of Immanuel
In my nearly four years at ILHS I have seen the full richness of God’s blessings. In terms of uniqueness, Immanuel has to rank very highly among the United States’ high schools.
When looking at ILHS, it’s easy to see we’re different. As far as I know, we are one of two boarding high schools in Wisconsin. This allows us to branch out in terms of meeting people from all over the country, and even the continent.
This widespread distribution of our students causes us to have dormitories. This is something that most people do not get to experience until they’re 17 to 18 years old. Most of us are 14 when we first start living away from home.
Having a roommate can be one of the biggest blessings of the ILHS experience for some people. That one person can become a friend for life. You potentially could live with them anywhere from one to four years of your life. Again, all of this gets to happen from the ages of 14 to 18 at Immanuel. This is an opportunity you do not find many other places.
One of the main things that people will talk about as a special blessing of this high school is that we are able to make great friends who may differ from us in where they live, their personality, their likes and dislikes and opinions, but we are all rooted in the same place. The basis of faith in the true Triune God is a huge gift from the Lord to us enrolled here. My point is not that believers shouldn’t be friends with unbelievers, it’s that when we have a time of spiritual difficulty, we have someone to turn to. While we may argue about sports, school, or politics, we should never have to argue about the most important topic which is God’s Word. All of the topics mentioned before are temporary things which will not travel with us when we die or Judgment Day comes. The fellowship we have with one another by believing in the doctrine of Scripture is an eternal blessing which we experience continually here at Immanuel.
I will miss the great extracurricular opportunities that this school provides as well. At bigger high schools, students are often devoted to one extracurricular and aren’t able to play as many sports because of the larger enrollment. Here at ILHS we are given chance after chance to go do something outside of our academics. I have loved being able to take advantage of that in my time here.
When we focus on academics, though, what a joyous thing it is that we are able each and every year of high school to have at least two hours and fifteen minutes a week of religion class. This is certainly a gift that the Lord bestows to very few high schools among the nations. We are able to learn from the true Word of God so that we may grow spiritually under the tutelage of instructors who are sound in their doctrinal teaching. Throughout high school, we learn what a danger false doctrine can be. Thanks be to God that we do not intend to ever have it found here.
Remaining in a Christian atmosphere is something that Immanuel provides each second of each day. The religion classes and chapels are a privilege that do not last forever. The majority of my classmates as well as I are headed to secular places next year, whether it is a public or private university/college, a technical school, or just heading home to take a year off. The two (sometimes three) guaranteed chances we have to hear God’s Word almost every day of the week will not be given to those of us who are not returning. Thanks be to God for this merciful gift! Not every high schooler gets an opportunity to be surrounded by people and experiences that will prepare them for eternity. We here at ILHS are truly blessed to call this our school. I will miss all of it greatly.