con·verge
[kən-ˈvərj] - (of several people or things) come together from different directions so as eventually to meet.
This is a perfect description of what happened last Tuesday night in Romania at our very first Master's Commission Romania graduation. Seven young people - four Romanians and three Americans - received their diplomas as two distinct happenings in time converged.
You see, in 1989 a revolution took place in Romania as the people of that nation shook off the chains of Communist oppression and became a free country. The same year, Donna and I traveled to Phoenix, AZ where we were introduced to a program called Master's Commission. At that time there was just one program located there in Phoenix, but I knew it was the kind of program we wanted here in Lafayette, so I came home and launched the very first Master's Commission program outside of the original. Many more would follow and now Master's Commission programs exist all over the world! Thanks to one of the graduates of that first extension program here in Lafayette - Shawn Marcell (pictured here with Donna and I) - that list of nations with Master's Commission programs now includes Romania! The stage was set in 1989 by two events that would pull me in and allow me to experience their impact and last Tuesday, Donna, Shawn and I had the joy of watching those two worlds converge!
