In the coming week, I’ll have put in at least 40 hours at the office (in addition to my 100-mile round trip commute); 8 hours of clinical time for my CPE plus another 3 hours of CPE group time and a couple hours of prep time. I’ll spend Friday afternoon in a classroom for my first day of Christian Ethics and a good chunk of my weekend doing the reading and prepping for next week’s class, since between work and my CPE schedule I don’t have time during the weekdays for school work. Oh yeah, I’ll spend a couple of hours on Sunday at my place of worship for education and centering. Then there’s my family. I try to spend at least part of one day visiting with my parents. Anything left is committed to my spouse, three dogs and two cats.
Am I crazy? Not really. I’m one of the many United students who have chosen to make the next important step in our vocational path and are straddling the line between wishing we could devote more of our time and energy to going to school and realizing if we wait, it may not happen. Many of us just hold our breaths and jump in with both feet and do it. Surprisingly, most of us survive … and flourish.
In my household, there are two of us attending United. My spouse has been attending part-time for about four years; I’ve just completed my third part-time year, with about three more to go. Sometimes we’re able to work out our schedules so that we can take a class together – in its own way, class and commute time becomes a “date” of sorts.
We appreciate each others' support, but even if we weren’t both in school, we’d still feel supported by the staff and students at United. I’ve been to graduate school before. Seminary brings the best of the mental rigor of grad school, without the competitiveness. That’s not to say we’re not challenged by our instructors and peers. Think about it for a moment: Many of us are hoping to become pastors at some point. For the time being, we are both ministered to and ministering our classmates, faculty and staff at United. That doesn’t mean the atmosphere is one of a big “hug-fest” – it does mean that there’s a level of accountability to one’s self and the United community to grow and challenge individually … and as a community.
If I’ve got to be swimming in a sea of chaos at this point in my life, at least I’m bobbing along in good company.
-Jayne Helgevold, MDiv student
Am I crazy? Not really. I’m one of the many United students who have chosen to make the next important step in our vocational path and are straddling the line between wishing we could devote more of our time and energy to going to school and realizing if we wait, it may not happen. Many of us just hold our breaths and jump in with both feet and do it. Surprisingly, most of us survive … and flourish.
In my household, there are two of us attending United. My spouse has been attending part-time for about four years; I’ve just completed my third part-time year, with about three more to go. Sometimes we’re able to work out our schedules so that we can take a class together – in its own way, class and commute time becomes a “date” of sorts.
We appreciate each others' support, but even if we weren’t both in school, we’d still feel supported by the staff and students at United. I’ve been to graduate school before. Seminary brings the best of the mental rigor of grad school, without the competitiveness. That’s not to say we’re not challenged by our instructors and peers. Think about it for a moment: Many of us are hoping to become pastors at some point. For the time being, we are both ministered to and ministering our classmates, faculty and staff at United. That doesn’t mean the atmosphere is one of a big “hug-fest” – it does mean that there’s a level of accountability to one’s self and the United community to grow and challenge individually … and as a community.
If I’ve got to be swimming in a sea of chaos at this point in my life, at least I’m bobbing along in good company.
-Jayne Helgevold, MDiv student
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