The Real World?
I'm writing this blog entry as I sit in one of my classes. I'll confess that I am only half listening to the professor.
I've been thinking a lot lately about this whole concept of Christian higher education. I chose a Christian college because I thought it would help me to intergrate my faith with my future. I can look around this classroom and see the limitless potential of these co-eds to do great things. Here is a college full of strong, confident, capable people and a world outside of us in need of help. But I feel like, at times, Prov is stiffling this pontential. That Prov is limiting the potential of its students.
We aren't exposed to the reality of world outside us. We live inside this tiny bubble, and we become so preoccupied with what is happening inside this little world that we forget that there is life outside of Prov. Instead of focusing on the needs of the outside world, we draw in. We see ourselves. We see our own future. We become...selfish.
At lunch last week, I was sitting with a friend who is in her final year here. She looked around the busy cafeteria and said to me, "Look at this. Look at all this potential. And look how we are spending our time. We crowd around tables and talk about exams, we flirt with the opposite sex, and we think this is the ultimate college experience. I can't wait to get out of here."
At times, I can't say I blame her. Sometimes I want to grab people by the shoulders, shake them, and say "This is not reality!" It's not, and I hate it. Even worse, I buy into this shallow lifestyle as much as anyone...and I hate myself for that.
Where is reality? And how do I get there?
posted by Emily @ 9:13 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I understand your frustrations with the bubble, but it is entirely your responsibility as an adult to live a real world lifestyle. Providence students chose to come here, some to have the experience, some to train to better teach the world about God, and a large number came for the safety of exactly what you are trashing. Some of these people have come to escape the horrible realities of their lives in hopes to live a more normal life.
On another note, though you may be right that Prov doesn't present a 'real world' lifestyle to their students, they are also not restricting them to experience one. Aside from the secluded location (which we were all aware of when we applied) Prov is in fact encouraging students to step outside the campus and experience in anyway they can through Field ed, touring ministry groups, and Social Concerns committees.
Perhaps the real problem isn't in the school but in the students. You can't deny that there is ample opportunity to experience the real world, and speaking from someone who must deal with Prov Staff/Faculty on a regular basis, Prov is a real world, and sometimes unforgiving place.
Post a Comment
<< Home