Thrive

Today I've been working a lot on the talk I'll be giving at the Intervarsity Fall Retreat in a couple weeks. The theme of the weekend is learning to thrive in college - going beyond the norm and spiritually growing and...well...thriving. I've been doing all kinds of research while preparing for this talk...reading various scriptures and books and online articles. Most of them were very helpful. However, I was browsing through some random quotes today about the value of a college education and came across one that struck me as very pointless and stupid.

"If you have a college degree you can be absolutely sure of one thing...you have a college degree." ~ Author Unknown

Shocking that someone didn't want to sign their name to that one.

But, the more I thought about it, I was forced to admit that the quote is actually pretty insightful. All a college degree really is is a fancy piece of paper stating that you have studied a subject for several hours. Even with a diploma in hand, you're probably not qualified or prepared to get the job you really want, and it certainly doesn't mean you learned anything or grew as a person while at that institution.

I think it's kind of sad, in retrospect, how much emphasis high school counselors, teachers and parents put on getting into "the right school" and choosing a major. Yes, it's important to get an education and to think seriously about what you want to do with your life. But if I've learned anything from my years at SIU, it's that college is about so much more than just going to class.

I think this is especially true for young Christians. I can't tell you how many times I heard people in my high school youth group talk about how they were "still trying to figure out where God wanted them to go for college." It's like they think they have to go to one specific college and study one thing in order to go on and fulfill God's purpose for their life. I'll admit I was definitely of that persuasion when I was that age. I was convinced that God was calling me to go to film school and then move out to Hollywood and make thought-provoking Blockbusters that would help inspire people on a global scale (and, maybe while I was out there, I'd meet some handsome actor or rock star who'd sweep me off my feet and {after I'd won an Oscar} we could live happily ever after). Well, I got my degree just like I planned. But now that I've graduated, things are much, MUCH different than I envisioned. I'm married to an Air Force fighter pilot, living in a tiny town on the Mexican border, and I'm currently unemployed.

In God's eyes, does that mean I failed?

Hardly. One of the most profound lessons I've learned recently is that we are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS, and what God cares about more than anything is how genuinely we pursue our relationship with Him and with those He puts in our path. Judging by how far I've come from the time I graduated high school to now, I'd say that my college experience was a huge success. I didn't just survive college and earn a degree - I allowed God to show me how to spiritually and relationally thrive.