Dispatches from the DOWN HOME DIVAS

 

#7 – For Every Medal, A Mountain

Berea College Pinnacle, April 19, 2012

 

To our dear, devoted readers who we love to pieces and simply could not live without . . .

“You never cease to amaze us. This is a lot of love and acceptance. We guess that we’re still doing something you all like and we pray that we continue to do the things that keep y’all comin’ back and saying, [Divas], we like it, give us some more! We’ll do it.”

These are the words of country music entertainer Reba McEntire when she humbly accepted the Country Music Academy award for Top Female Vocalist of the Year in 1992, an honor she has received seven times. As a matter of fact, sister Reba has won an award every consecutive year since 1984.
As we learn to accept our laurels gracefully, we turn to Reba.

We’ve had more than our fair share of awards and blessings since our Down Home Diva journey began. You all don’t know how much it means when one of y’all stops us on the quad just to say, “I loved what you all wrote in your column this week.” To us, a precious moment like that is just like a little bitty Country Music Academy Awards ceremony right there on the sidewalk. If what we have written touches any one of you fellow Divas, it touches us even deeper. We hope that we’re doing our job right because whether you read the column with a Bible by the bed or a cigarette in hand, or both, we want our words to help you draw upon your own strength. It wasn’t us, honey, it is you. It was Loretta. It was the Lord. We are proud as peacocks to hear all these sweet things from you all, and now it is our turn to give you the standing ovation you truly deserve.

But for every medal we claim, there is a mountain to climb. As the Supreme Diva Dolly Parton once said, “It takes a lot to face the trials of everyday living,” and honey, sometimes life at Berea College ain’t no everyday living! When you manage to claw your way out of bed and get yourself to that 8 o’clock class on time, you have succeeded in more than “everyday living.” You have announced to the world that you have not been whupped. You are a survivor.

Though all those award ceremonies and good grades are certainly real nice, the pressures that are mounting as we approach the end of the semester can seem like more than any human being could possibly bear. We are all damn near covered up with papers, presentations, convocations, evaluations, celebrations, expectations, notifications, REGISTRATION, neglected labor hours, administrative struggles of every manner and variety . . . and on top of all that, the near Biblical trial of room selection. It’s enough to kick a mud puddle in your hind end and stomp it dry, make you fall on your knees in the Danforth Chapel, and cry out to the Lord.

But as the tempest roars and we stand in the midst of this struggle, we have forgotten one vitally important detail. We are all here at Berea College because we are the most capable, the most intelligent and the best looking students ever was. None of them Ivy Leaguers can hold a candle to us; Sister Helen Prejean said so! For every little defeat that we bound over each day, we have two honors waiting in the wings. We may smack the snooze button off the alarm come 8 every morning, but by God, we get up and go out and get on with it and Lord knows what would become of this place if we didn’t. If we must look back, it should be on the good we’ve done and as we look forward, we should know that there is still much left to do.

The Divas’ last words this semester . . . don’t let these struggles get the best of you and accept your awards with Diva grace. Thanks for believing in us. We believe in you. This is a tough row to hoe, but as the old song says, “keep your hand on the plow and hold on.”