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Old 11-03-2013, 09:45 AM
 
Location: Georgia
484 posts, read 880,003 times
Reputation: 259

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I am at a point in my life where I have to make some difficult decisions. I am not going to base my decision solely on you guys' responses on here, but I would like some feedback and possibly some advice. I am currently in a community college ( in my hometown ) and my initial plan was to transfer to my state's flagship university (UGA) after a year. I have grown up near UGA so all of my friends and most of my family is here. But in my senior year in high school my friends and I got into some trouble with partying and I am afraid that if I were to attend UGA that I will fall into the same temptations that I have before. Recently, I have been looking into some Christian colleges that are out of state they look appealing. I feel that if I were to go off to one I may be able to further my relationship with God and resist temptations better, such as partying. I have been in prayer about this, and am still searching for guidance. What are you guys' thoughts on this? I am I crazy to consider such a radical move?
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Old 11-03-2013, 10:23 AM
 
400 posts, read 599,401 times
Reputation: 56
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhans123 View Post
I am at a point in my life where I have to make some difficult decisions. I am not going to base my decision solely on you guys' responses on here, but I would like some feedback and possibly some advice. I am currently in a community college ( in my hometown ) and my initial plan was to transfer to my state's flagship university (UGA) after a year. I have grown up near UGA so all of my friends and most of my family is here. But in my senior year in high school my friends and I got into some trouble with partying and I am afraid that if I were to attend UGA that I will fall into the same temptations that I have before. Recently, I have been looking into some Christian colleges that are out of state they look appealing. I feel that if I were to go off to one I may be able to further my relationship with God and resist temptations better, such as partying. I have been in prayer about this, and am still searching for guidance. What are you guys' thoughts on this? I am I crazy to consider such a radical move?
Tough question. Look at your career plans and goals. I had a history professor in Bible College who had to go to a public university for his doctorate. It was important for him to receive his doctorate at a secular university so his works could be published in certain journals. It also aided his credibility and peer acceptance.

Having gone to a Bible College I can say some students are not above partying. While certainly not at the same level, you can take the following way out of context and twist "seek and ye shall find", in this case party goers, and find they exist everywhere.

I'm impressed you are thinking about your personal relationship with God, your weaknesses, and your temptations. In prayer is the place to be. If a Christian College be His will for you, then go for it.
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Old 11-03-2013, 07:50 PM
 
Location: Gettysburg, PA
3,051 posts, read 2,905,942 times
Reputation: 7168
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhans123 View Post
I am at a point in my life where I have to make some difficult decisions. I am not going to base my decision solely on you guys' responses on here, but I would like some feedback and possibly some advice. I am currently in a community college ( in my hometown ) and my initial plan was to transfer to my state's flagship university (UGA) after a year. I have grown up near UGA so all of my friends and most of my family is here. But in my senior year in high school my friends and I got into some trouble with partying and I am afraid that if I were to attend UGA that I will fall into the same temptations that I have before. Recently, I have been looking into some Christian colleges that are out of state they look appealing. I feel that if I were to go off to one I may be able to further my relationship with God and resist temptations better, such as partying. I have been in prayer about this, and am still searching for guidance. What are you guys' thoughts on this? I am I crazy to consider such a radical move?
I don't think you're crazy at all for considering such a move. I really feel that those with whom you are around and associate with really does have an impact on your own personal character, no matter how strong-minded you are. Satan is always looking for ways to tempt us, and being in an environment which will leave you open to situations which are tempting for you is something I feel which may prove to be a weight on your spiritual body. I hope that God will direct your path and lead you along the one which will be the most glorifying to Him as well as where you will be able to enjoy Him most profitably.
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Old 11-03-2013, 08:33 PM
 
Location: Southern Oregon
17,071 posts, read 10,861,621 times
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You can have both a school with good academic credentials and at least some basis for connecting with Christian values. Check out Guilford College - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as an example
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Old 11-04-2013, 05:03 AM
 
Location: Georgia
484 posts, read 880,003 times
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Originally Posted by nateswift View Post
You can have both a school with good academic credentials and at least some basis for connecting with Christian values. Check out Guilford College - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as an example
The school I'm looking at has good academics.
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Old 11-04-2013, 06:09 AM
 
Location: In bucolic TN
1,706 posts, read 3,296,648 times
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My undergraduate school in NJ was decidedly non-Christian. I didn't know about it at the time (and didn't really care) although they had a very good Christian club on campus. I also belonged to a very good church at the time and for me the school was commuter, so I would attend (twice per week) and return home to my lifestyle at home.

I later got into a program in CA that touted itself as Christian, though I thought this was just below the surface and had other political rumblings going on. It was a very supportive, very collegial environment. I found if you were not that religion or didn't fit their ideal of what was true and spiritual, it could be damaging to you (one of my profs was gay, a brilliant man, and he never made full professor) but it was all kind of stuffy, so I couldn't really think about the 'appeal' of being in such a school. Again, it was more of a commuter school (at the graduate level) and I had a home church locally in which I was invested.

I moved to MN and was accepted into another program there. I did well in that environment and it was quite a collegial place, very open and accepting (a woman came out while in her first year for her, I felt very encouraged by the support she received). It was an altogether supportive, secular environment (though a few of the professors were former priests or ministers) and (again) I had my own home church and did what I felt needed to be done to attend to my own spirituality.

I came to CA again due to life circumstances and attended a very Christian school. The environment was quite hierarchical and competitive and I wound up with the beginnings of an ulcer. The religion was very self-evident and there was a relatively high level of competition there. I had support from a number who were very spiritual and those who just moved along. I finally graduated from this program after an 'extended' student tenure there. Once more, I had my own home church at this school, which was different from the school's religion (one was more conservative and the other more liberal) but participated fully and broadly in both arenas.

Did any of my schools help me professionally? I think G-d continued to strengthen me in my walk wherever I went. I had friends who went to minister's schools and became pastors (very conservative environments) who spoke of the women at the schools who would simply want a minister husband and used the school as a way to meet, nearly almost throwing themselves in bed and at the feet of the men. I also found the highly competitive environment at my last school, while quite challenging, giving me an edge over many of my colleagues when I went on practicums and internship insofar as my colleagues didn't have such rigorous programs and mine was incredibly so. It was important we learned everything in every way, and it paid off big dividends as it made me even more 'sellable' in the job market later.

While many don't know too much about my last school, many are amazed at what I have learned and the benefits bestowed upon me in my educational travels. This put me at a far greater advantage than most and allowed me to get into jobs many could not secure without such a background.

To the OP: is the school stellar in some way in the profession you desire? Can the school give you a greater competitive edge than others - my abilities in my field really out-shone my colleagues and in so many ways put them at a disadvantage, although they worked with greater diligence in cooperation and team building? Has my schooling made me something of an elitist? Not really, I'm actually quite a humble fellow (with all this learning you realize quickly how much more you need to know). How do the alumni get on after getting their degree? While most of my colleagues are working in the jobs they desire, none have 'struck it rich' or have received 'fame and fortune.' In our profession, that's not the goal. Perhaps an underlying message from the religious based schools is that you will be doing a tireless ministry and that you will need restoration and rejuvenation outside, so find many, many other ways to get that second wind and the support to be successful.

To the OP, look a long way down your path and forge ahead with diligence. Speak to the schools about your concerns (one place I applied 'prayed' over all applicants and G-d 'told' them who to pick for admission. Another place was very racist and incredibly elitist - they made ministers of all applicants as well as degreed fellows and felt it important to be steeply immersed in their doctrines and theologies - I would later write to the accrediting board for their vile double standards which were dehumanizing). Speak to others in your profession about concerns in attending a Christian school. Because my profession enables spirituality as part of healing, it has not been a trip; having said that, it also allowed me opportunities to work in high security environments, getting Pentagon / DoD clearances, which was an even greater 'trip' for me.

And as was mentioned, you will find what you are looking for when you arrive. Go and do fellow, go and do. If you seek greater details, DM me. And I intentionally did not mention my profession or schools because that is broadly irrelevant. It was what I got out of it and how it offered benefit to me professionally. It is very easy to be found in my profession and that is not the intention of this board or inquiry. It is more important in this venue that the OP's questions are answered. Don't hesitate to challenge yourself, to go further, to do better. Did David consider the same on his path? Did Abram wonder about a spiritual environment? Recall, no matter what happened or whatever else went on, Moses and Lot were removed from perilous environments - G-d can do the same for you.

Last edited by Kin Atoms; 11-04-2013 at 06:18 AM..
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Old 11-05-2013, 12:34 AM
 
Location: Tennessee
10,688 posts, read 7,674,042 times
Reputation: 4674
Default Finding the right school

When I got out of the Marine Corps in 1969 I had been praying to find a Christian college where I could not only feel the direction of God, but which would be positioned to keep my nose in the books as opposed to "party" time.

Originally I had selected Ouachita Baptist University in Ouachita, Arkansas, but shortly after I got out of the Corps I read that some big controversy had split the school and one quarter of the faculty had left. My selection had been made because it was a relatively small school and it was located in a small town. The biggest "party" town at that time would have been Little Rock, an hour away.

But after the split, I began to search some of my alternate choices and by "chance" (I believe God directed) I met another young man (I was an old 22 years by that time) who was headed to Campbellsville College (now a University) in Campbellsville, Kentucky. It was number eight on my list of ten schools. The exact geographic center of Kentucky is located on the campus, it was and is Baptist related, but welcomes all faiths and no longer has any faith expectations of students (we had required chapel when I attended). So I went with him--we roomed together one semester and then headed in different directions and rarely saw one another in a school of then only 1000 students!!!

At that time, what turned out to be a landmark move in my Christian faith, was the presence of two Bible professors, one very conservative, and the other very liberal. And that is what education should be about. Finding out all the different views of any subject so that you can make up your own mind using God's guidance for your spirit.

Frankly, my first semester there in 1969, I did not partake in ANY social activities. I studied constantly. I applied myself unceasingly, and in a small school professors take note of that and I frankly believe it gives a student some edge when they take future classes under the same professor---which you will do at a smaller school, but not often at a very large one. That first semester was the only one in my entire school career where I earned straight A's.

My second semester and thereafter I began to venture out for more than just church attendance. The school had a decent NAII basketball team, and now even has a football team (as well as baseball). In Kentucky basketball is everything to a lot of people.

I have no idea what the school is like now. I strongly doubt that in Bible courses they have the diversity that they took pride in back then. Moderate and liberal biblical professors have been driven away from most Baptist institutions of higher education. But in terms of where it is located and what the emphasis of the school is as a CHRISTIAN institution of higher learning makes it very protective of young people prone to temptation. You literally have to go out of your way to find trouble (some did of course!).

It's also less than a full day's drive from anywhere you are in Georgia . They have a terrific lake nearby for fishing and swimming, you can walk to almost anyplace in the town from the University, and for a private institution the school is still relatively inexpensive. Roughly 85% of all students receive a significant financial package to aid in schooling.

Here's what not to be attracted to in any college or university, I used to hear this all the time. "How many books are in your library?" Okay 150,000--how many do you plan to read in three or four years--and we can send off to get any that you need or you can download them onto a computer in the library.

"How good is the food?" You mean you actually are looking for culinary delights at a school of higher education? No matter how good it is, you'll still walk down to get a Big Mac or go across the street to the little deli and buy a bologna sandwich more often than not--cause that's what you do when your in school.

When I attended C-ville one of my greatest delights was to take a philosophy course for which only THREE students had signed up. In a big university that course would be cancelled. But our professor (the liberal Bible professor) held the class in his own personal office two days per week. It was a much more personalized course than you would see in just about any large school setting.

That school made a difference for me and your thread is a chance for me to honor them by mentioning it. I am not suggesting it's the school for you, because I just don't know. But I hope to have given you some material to mull over so that when you come to a decision you may years later look back and say, "God guided me in that decision."

God bless.

Quote:
Campbellsville University, also known as CU, is a private university in Campbellsville, Kentucky, the seat of Taylor County. Founded as Russell Creek Academy, a Baptist institution, the university currently enrolls more than 3,000 students and is open to students of all denominations. Campbellsville University has a student-faculty ratio of 13:1 and has a strong international program, welcoming students from more than 35 countries. The university offers associate, bachelor, and master degrees. Extracurricular activities, many of which are focused around community service and Christian life, complement the academic programs. While Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, it makes no religious demands of its students.


Campbellsville University has been named last in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” edition in the “Great Schools, Great Prices ” category of the “Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the South.” CU has been named 22nd in the “Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the South” category. In addition to the U.S. News & World Report honor, CU has been named to “America’s Best Christian Colleges” for 2007-08.
Campbellsville University - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Population in Campbellsville, Kentucky is about 9000--so students dominate the economy.

P.S. The irony of NOT attending Ouachita Baptist University, is that OBU was the school of choice by my son in 1993!
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