Today was one final graduation, and I think it is the most important graduation. It shows a dedication of time and determination to achieve on a variety of fronts. Today my son graduated from Seminary.

I talk about seminary periodically, so many of you know I teach a seminary class. I thought I would share a little bit about the program, and the requirements for graduation.

The purpose of Seminary is to help the youth come unto the Savior Jesus Christ, learn of Him, and strive to become more like Him so that they can follow Him more fully in their lives. They study 4 books of scripture, the Old Testament, the New Testament, The Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, each book for 1 year.

Seminary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a little bit different than what you might think of when you hear the word seminary. Our seminary program is offered to youth that are in High School. You can attend as much or as little as you’d like, but to graduate from seminary you must attend all 4 years and fulfill the requirements set forth.

I grew up on Utah and was part of a released time program, so I could attend seminary at any point in my school day. However, when you get away from the Utah and Idaho areas, there aren’t as many released time programs. We do have a released time program here in Alaska, but it’s not available at the High School closest to us.

Those participating in a released time program in our area have to make up 1 1/2 high school credits in order to graduate from high school. That is done through extra-curricular activities, online classes, or summer classes. This can make seminary a hard choice as many students have afterschool jobs, some don’t do extra -curricular activities, and who wants to go to school in the summer.

The other option is early morning seminary. This is what I teach. The class is Tuesday -Friday, 6:15-7:15 am. Many of the youth that live up in my area have to leave between 5:45 and 6:00 to get to seminary on time. This can be hard, not just because it’s early, but the majority of the school year is in the winter, so the driving conditions aren’t very good many mornings. But, even with the early hour and road conditions, we have 12-15 students (90% of those in our Church in this area who could attend) that come almost every single morning.

But they can’t just show up and pass. There are 3 requirements to graduate. They have to have 75% attendance all 4 years, take 2 assessments every year, and fulfill the reading requirements: read the required reading assignments as well as set goals for personal scripture study.

Each one of the students that graduated tonight, as well as the past students who’ve graduated, show a dedication to the Lord. It is definitely not easy, and once in a while someone sleeps right through class, but they’re there, most often participating. I am so proud of my children that have graduated, and proud of all the youth that put the Lord above their sleep, their high school graduation requirements, above the world, and dedicate time to learning about the Lord every day. They are great examples to me.