How to thrive at a Christian college

I am quickly approaching my senior year at Seattle Pacific University. This is difficult for me to realize, as it seems I like only yesterday I was an awkward, socially unaware freshman. I’m still pretty awkward, and slightly socially inept, but that’s beside the point. What I do have is three years of college experience under my belt. I have taken some great classes, met some incredible people, have been involved in several leadership roles, and have made enough mistakes that I have a pretty good feel for our school and what it takes to thrive here.

My hope is that through my experience I can offer a little advice about how to get the most out your college life. Maybe you’re just starting as a freshman in college and you have no idea what’s going on (trust me I can relate). Maybe you’re a current student at a Christian college and these tips will be some good reminders of what you have already learned. Or maybe your college days are long past and this list will bring back some fond memories. Enjoy!

8 tips to help you thrive at a Christian college

1. Socialize!

Your dorm, your cafeteria and your classes will be full of amazing people. Get to know them! Unless you’re going to a tiny school you will always be able to find people with similar interests, no matter what they are. If you’re a gamer, find other people to game with. If you like sports, play intramurals or throw together a basketball game. If you like to read talk with other people about what you’re reading. In a scary new place with unknown people it can be easy to withdraw. But even shy people need friends, and the college experience is much more fulfilling with them. And if you’re more outgoing, maybe you can make an effort to reach out to those that are more quiet and draw them in.

2. Get off campus

This is huge, especially as a freshman. At SPU the “bubble” is infamous. Our campus is it’s own world, and it’s easy stay in it and never venture out into the real world. All your classes, friends, meals, and social activity can easily exist within a half mile radius. While this is convenient it makes staying in touch with the outside world more difficult. Make an effort to get out and explore the city or town you’re in. It will broaden your experience plus it’s a lot of fun.

3. Volunteer

One great way to get out into the world is to volunteer. Your school probably has some club or department that will help you get involved. During my time in college I have volunteered at a school for kids that recently moved to the US, tutored at youth program in a rough neighborhood and am currently helping at a non-profit medical clinic. All of these have been great experiences. I have learned about poverty, community development, health care, immigration and the importance of service just to mention a few. Don’t miss this opportunity to help other people and gain valuable life experience!

4. Don’t fret about your major

Ahh, your major. You’ve probably already thought about it quite a bit. You may already feel stress about it. In fact, maybe just the fact that I brought it up freaks you out a little. Calm down. Now is not the time to stress about it. Take classes you are interested in, figure out which one’s you like most, and your major will take care of itself. Ok, that’s a little oversimplification, but stressing yourself out over your major is not very useful. When the time comes to make decisions talk with people you trust about it. Your major is important, but it is far from a lifelong contract to a certain profession. Many people end up working in fields completely unrelated to their major, and that is just fine.

5. Spend time with professors

I’ve had the privilege of having some great professors during college. I’ve had some not so great one’s as well. With the professors that I really enjoy, I’ve made a point to spend some time with them. Most professors have office hours that you can meet with them. If you have a meal plan out our school you can get free meals for your professors if you want to meet with them over breakfast or lunch. The purpose of getting to know your professors is not to suck up, or at least it shouldn’t be. I meet with professors because they are not only experts in their field, but are often just great people to talk with. Don’t miss an opportunity to gain a little wisdom.

6. Challenge your faith

This is less an action, and more of a statement of what will happen. Your faith will be challenged while at school. This is a good thing. Professors will challenge long-held beliefs. You may not have a church to attend. You’ll meet people that believe crazy things. You may have more freedom to make choices that may be detrimental to your faith. This is another opportunity to withdraw. The alternative is to engage and ask those tough questions about your faith. Examine your beliefs. Take advantage of your school’s chapel program to grow. It’s important to remember that this is not something that you have to do alone. Discuss your questions with other people, and you’ll probably find that they going through the same thing. If you stick with it and stay engaged your faith will only grow deeper.

7. Study

I’ve known a couple people who forgot this and ended up on academic probation. You will have to do some work. You’ll need a little discipline. However, I’ve found that even when taking difficult courses I found plenty of time to study and to follow the next tip.

8. Have fun!!!

You’re in college! Carpe diem! Don’t make stupid decisions, but don’t be afraid to take risks either. Make that slurpee run at 2 in the morning. Play that game of bucketball with reckless abandon. Take that road trip that your friends have had planned for 15 minutes . This is your time, make the most of it.

It’s impossible to cover everything, but I hope this was helpful. I’ve had a great time in college and you can too. If you want to add something please leave a comment.

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A relationship with God?

(Note- this post was written in June)

A wise man told me today that learning how to be in relationship with people teaches you how to be in relationship with God. When you learn how to trust people, or have faith in people, you can better practice those with God.
When I think about relationships I think about interactions. I think conversations, greetings, goodbyes. How do I look at that person? When I speak with them, am I concerned about what is going on in their lives, or do I want to talk about myself?
As I think more about it, this whole “relationship with God” thing is very confusing. How do I ask God how he’s doing? What can I offer God? How can I help God? You see, I show care by being concerned, by offering help. I can worship God, and I am assured that he takes pleasure in it. But, would God be worse off if I hadn’t worshipped him?
I thought about starting off this blog with a controversial rant about something like science and religion, but I started reading Blue Like Jazz and Don Miller inspired me to write down these thoughts. Or questions really.

At the feet of Jesus

I’ll end with this. Earlier in the quarter I was in a night class. I was tired and stressed, and the professor sensed that much of the class was in the same state. So she started class with prayer, and she said, “Picture yourself at the feet of Jesus, and take comfort in that.” I imagined myself with Jesus, first at his feet. But then, we were sitting outside chatting over coffee. I smiled to myself. And I felt an incredible amount of peace. I got this overwhelming feeling that chatting with Jesus would be the coolest thing ever, and some day I will have that experience. Can you imagine it? I look forward to sharing a meal with a favorite professor, but Jesus? That’s just amazing, incredible…
And to an extent, I can experience that now. I’m just trying to figure out how.

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Death

A cheery title, eh?

Wednesday I had the exhilarating experience of shadowing an ER doctor at a local hospital. It was quite incredible and I hope to do it again sometime. I was only there for four hours, but so much happened in that time. It’s difficult to describe, but really it’s similar to what’s on TV, except more real. Yeah, I know that’s probably not very helpful. TV has the main elements correct (the chaos, the variety of personalities, the competency of the doctors) but it misses the minor details (like the fumbling of tools and people being unattractive). That’s the best I can describe it.

Seeing Death Up Close

The most significant encounter at the ER for me was when an elderly woman was brought in with a ruptured aorta. We had actually known that she was coming for about an hour, and when her condition was described many doctors expressed doubt at the possibility of her survival. She was flown to the hospital by helicopter, and actually I’m not even sure how her aorta was ruptured (it was difficult to ask questions, and seriously they speak a completely different language). At least 8 doctors were around when they brought her in and several nurses. After a flurry of activity, I heard someone say that they felt no pulse. One of the doctors performed CPR, and for a short time it seemed to work. However, shortly after they had no reading on her pulse again. A doctor said, “Someone should call it.” Most of the doctors then looked at the doctor I was shadowing (who was the attending ER doctor) and he put up his hands as if to say “alright”. I was expecting the dramatic, “Time of death, 5:15″, but instead a doctor said, “My clock says 5:15.” And then I left the room following the attending as he went to see other patients.

Crazy.

I’d never seen anyone die before. While I wouldn’t describe it as disturbing, it definitely affected me. The whole experience surrounding it was overwhelming, so much was going on that it was difficult to process it all at once. All that to say, it’s got me thinking about death.

What is death?

I have never lost someone that was incredibly close to me. I’ve been close to people who have lost close relatives and friends, but I haven’t had that experience firsthand.
I’ve heard death described as a natural part of life. That seems reasonable, but I doubt it would be much comfort to someone who has lost someone close. I’ve discussed the “non-existence of death”, which is the idea that death itself is not an entity, but rather just the absence of life. Like how darkness is not a thing itself, but just the absence of light. But light never disappears completely. It always goes somewhere. Is life the same way? Does our “life” leave our bodies and go somewhere else?

The whole concept is still very difficult for me to grasp. I’ve been taught about death (and eternal life) growing up in the Christian faith, but the idea is not easy to understand. Maybe the whole “non-existent” thing is why it’s difficult?

I feel like many people live in fear of death. I do not want to die, but I don’t have a feeling of fear when I think about my death. I have my faith which assures me that I will continue to exist after my physical death. What I do fear is losing other people. The idea of someone close not existing on this earth anymore is foreign. I can’t wrap my head around it. I hope I don’t have to experience it any time soon.

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Faith and Doubt

Welcome to faithdoubt.com!
For my first post, I want to take the time to describe my vision for the site. If you like my ideas, I hope you’ll choose to return and join in the conversation.

Miguel de Unamuno said, “La fe sin duda es nada mas que muerte” which basically means, “Faith without doubt is dead.” I sincerely believe this to be true. Faith which does not question is stagnant, it does not grow. We must always be asking questions and seeking answers to stretch ourselves.

I am at a point in my life where I desire deeply to grow. I want this site to help people with that same desire. I don’t have all the answers, you don’t have all the answers, so why don’t we try and find some together?

Here is a sampling of the topics I’m interested in exploring-
Science and religion (Christianity in particular)
Hate towards religion and faith
Hate because of religion and faith
Scripture reflections
Medicine, Suffering and Christianity
Issues in Christianity
Poverty
Education
Church: what should it look like?
Aid and development
Charity
Politics
Books (quotes)
Relationships
Universalism
Theology

Those are just some ideas. I have many more.
So that’s it, I hope you decide to engage in the conversation. I hope to blog about once a day. Please leave comments on posts, and feel free to send me an email at krager21@spu.edu

Also, I don’t want this to be serious all the time, I want to have some fun too. On that note, I leave you with a quote from the great Michael Scott-
“People I respect… heroes of mine would be, Bob Hope. Umm, Abraham Lincoln definitely. Bono… and probably God would be the fourth one. And I just think, all those people helped, the world in so many ways that it’s umm really beyond words. It’s incalcucable.”

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