Laura Hyde: “Joy for the Journey” (Grad Sunday)

When thinking about what to share with you all today, I started making a list of possible stories I could tell: my first time at Pres House, joining Freshman Connection, going on BWAP, applying for Council, my first retreat, and many more. But as I was listing things, it became clear to me what this story should really be about: joy.

When I arrived at UW-Madison four years ago, I was bombarded by all the things that come with being a college freshman: new friendships, midterms, being away from family, and a thousand possible organizations and groups you could join. I spent much of my first year just trying to keep my head above water and figuring out where I felt like I belonged and with whom I wanted to spend my time.

Like many of you, I arrived during welcome week, and I happened to see an event where you could get a free cookie. I grabbed the only friend I had at the time, and made my way down from Bascom Hill toward Library Mall. As I arrived, I looked down at my GPS, then up at the building in front of me, and said, “Oh, it’s a church.” Hesitant for what kind of encounter we might have, we went inside only to find out there were no cookies left. Devastating, I know. But despite that, we stuck around. I met Nii Addo and some of the Council members at the time and we played Uno for about two hours. From that point on, I started showing up to some Sunday worship services and slowly became a regular at Freshman Connection. But while my connections were beginning to grow at Pres House, the rest of my life seemed to be coming to a low.

By the time I started my sophomore year, I felt myself sinking. My problems all started to feel really real, and it became overwhelming. I began to tell myself, I just need to get through this semester, I just need to get through this midterm, this week, today, this class. I was living to get through. My life became a series of lists and boxes to check off to prove to myself that everything was fine and I didn’t need to change the trajectory I was on because it was all about the end goal. And I did get through, I survived, but I lost track of the days, weeks, months, and even years. Then suddenly one day, I became a senior and found myself thinking, Where did all the time go?

I spent so much of my college experience thinking about how stressed I was, how much I had to do, and how I wasn’t smart enough or good enough because of a bad grade. I also took for granted some of the most important things in life. What I had forgotten was the joy. It sounds cliche, but the things you remember most from your college experience are not the papers or the exams, but the people and the moments of joy and whimsy you have shared with them.

Life shouldn’t be so serious, and yet, sometimes it is. I will not stand up here and pretend that choosing joy is easy or will solve all of life’s problems, nor will I say that over the last four years, my life has been free from sadness, anger, and struggle. Believe me, there are still days where I question everything and feel like I don’t understand why the world is the way that it is. But through my years at Pres House, sermons on Sundays, moments in the lounge, silly games played at retreats, and conversations over broken bread, I realized that understanding the world is not the point. Getting to some end goal is not the point. Joy is. It’s our purpose and the way to sustain ourselves on the journey of life that is full of ups and down. So, how do we do it?

I like to think of it this way. People can be candles, and they bring light into the world in many different ways. When I started to look for joy, I realized it was all around me. What I saw was so much light coming from every person, each in their own different way. I saw people sharing their gifts on Music Team. I saw people dedicating precious free time as a college student to helping clean dishes after dinner. I saw and felt the light radiating in the warm smiles and welcoming greetings from others whenever I stepped into the building. There is so much to be joyful about and so much light in others. But we also have the opportunity to be candles ourselves and share our own light. I don’t have all my questions answered and I don’t know where life will lead us all, but I do know we will never get lost on the path of life if we are the ones lighting the way.

Laura Hyde (she/her) graduated in December 2025 with a B.S. in Neurobiology and a certificate in Gender and Women’s Studies.