The staff and volunteers of ESN seek to be attuned to the rhythms of the academic year and the spiritual rhythms of our lives with God. One of the main goals in how we set up our blog content is to provide spiritually invigorating content that understands the rhythms of the academic year. Today, as many people are nearing the end of their semesters, we offer a brief prayer by ESN Writer/Editor Hannah Eagleson. If you’re looking for more spiritual exercises suited to this time of year, Hannah also wrote a brief spiritual exercise at the end of last Sunday’s post Ice Cream, Work, and Liturgy. [Read more…] about A Prayer for Those Finishing a Semester
graduate student
If I Had to Do It Again: the Graduate School and Early Professor Years Edition (Scholar’s Compass)
Today, Beth Madison shares some things she’d change if she could redo her years of graduate school and early professorship. Read Beth’s earlier reflections “Not What I’d Planned” and “Stories for Life.” [Read more…] about If I Had to Do It Again: the Graduate School and Early Professor Years Edition (Scholar’s Compass)
Scholar’s Compass: Sharing the Wonder
Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. - Ps 111:2 (NIV)
Reflection
Psalm 111 has been called the ‘research scientist’s Psalm’ for reasons that are hopefully obvious. Scientists have the privilege of being paid to ponder God’s creative works every day. In fact, their pondering can become so intense that their field of study might focus in on a single detail. [Read more…] about Scholar’s Compass: Sharing the Wonder
How to Be a Christian Grad Student (Scholar’s Compass)
“Part of the joy inherent in a life of faith is seeing how God’s love reflected through us manifests itself in our vocations in different but wholly godly and beautiful ways.†David E. Lewis, “Integrating Faith and Vocation in a Research Career†from Faithfulness is Success: Notes to the Driven Pilgrim
Reflection
My vivid imagination has created a wonderfully precise image of a Christian graduate student who talks, teaches, writes, and researches with faith, intelligence, and success. She is articulate about her beliefs among her colleagues, brilliant in her research, and is influential in her students’ academic and spiritual lives. She weaves her identity as a follower of Christ into her research and teaching without a snag or tangle. [Read more…] about How to Be a Christian Grad Student (Scholar’s Compass)
Returning to Graduate School – Thoughts by Michael Stell (3)
Part Three: Should I Attend Grad School? Or What was I thinking?
What counsel would I give someone who is considering grad school? First, think about it in terms of vocation. If your vocation, or expanding your vocation requires you to attend grad school, then I think it is definitely something that should be considered. There are some vocations which by their very nature require more education or advanced degrees. While it might seem like these are artificial constraints which are intended to keep people out of particular professions, they do at least bring to the surface who are willing to put in the extra time and effort. No one can deny that it is sacrifice, and it can be expensive, but if God truly does call people to particular vocations which require education, then grad school is something that God does expect for some people.
Second, think about grad school as much from the perspective of what it is going to expect of me as what I can get from it. We can all endure momentary pain for expected future benefit. But grad school is not just about what I can gain, but about what is expected of me. In that case it is not just about a degree, but about what it means to have the degree. For me, it was not just about having a PhD, but about what it meant for me to be a PhD holder. That principle is the same for all degrees. It means staying current in your field. It might mean continuing education to maintain certification. Whatever it is, it is part of having the degree and you should enter into grad school knowing that expectation at the end. [Read more…] about Returning to Graduate School – Thoughts by Michael Stell (3)