Personal Narrative: My Christian Liberal Arts Education

I grew up in the Christian faith, where at a young age I probably accepted Christ, but it wasn’t until my twelfth birthday when I decided to rededicate my life to Him after a friend wrote in a birthday card, “Remember what Jesus was doing when He was twelve?”

There are several things I hope to gain from my experience as a student at California Baptist University. Such things include, a community of God loving, supporting and encoring friends, a Christian based education and opportunities to grow into the person God created me to be.

A faith-based education can help me expand my worldview. Working towards an advanced education at Loma Linda University will further expand both my personal and professional worldview. For example, if I am admitted to the MSOT program, I will be placed in the occupational therapy cohort that may be composed of people from different parts of the world. Together, we will work towards achieving a common goal. As a result, both my personal and professional perspective will cultivate through experience and learning from staff, faculty, and peers. Nevertheless, I am confident, I will understand how occupational therapy functions through a spiritual view.

Through integrative scholarship, a Christian liberal arts education provides a well rounded and holistic education. Such education equips Christians for a life of service to Jesus Christ and the society. It provides a broad understanding of the world, cultivated within the context of the Christian faith and best enables students develop into successful and effective men and

One of the key core values of the Christian Liberal Arts Curriculum is faith. It is incorporated into every aspect of the experience, yet it is not forced upon me. I am allowed to believe and explore the different religious denominations without getting the cold shoulder. I am

I affirm Sterling College’s Statement of Faith. I find comfort in Christ during my daily life, knowing he died for my salvation. In times of struggle, I turn to Him for peace and in times of peace, I praise him joyfully for His goodness. During the loss of those I love, I find relief in knowing they rest in Heaven, and I will one day be joined with them again.

Walking through the forest, a lone owl hoots at my presence. There are thousands of creatures accompanying me in this dense wood, yet my eyes catch only this owl. The leaves crunch under my feet; the predators and the prey of the forest watch in curiosity as this strange intruder stamps across their land. I know they’re there, somewhere, yet they stay shrouded in their leafy homes. It was in that moment that I found what fascinates me the most: why am I here among these creatures? It wasn’t a feeling of alienation, rather, a lack of understanding for the purpose of our existence.

My most impactful service experience happened this last summer. I have been lucky to have been a part of various youth groups throughout my adolescence. With Memorial Baptist Church, I was happy to attend PASSPORT Camps. Like other camps I have participated in, PASSPORT is a camp where youth spend a week in the summer to enthusiastically worship and serve the community surrounding their site. PASSPORT sent us to Danville, Virginia, and despite being on Averett University’s cozy campus, we were surrounded by a dying, deprived community. Social exposure is exponentially increased when your mission groups are melting pot assignments from various churches. PASSPORT did not hold back in showing us the poorest of the community, and the sheer lack

Why Christian liberal arts education? This question is something that has been asked for many years now. For me the answer to this question is because I am able to become educated on all aspects of life whether public or personal and become closer to God at the same time. Liberal arts education promotes students to have a solid ground on all liberal arts subjects regardless of their major as they are able to become critical thinkers and adopt to change. The purpose of a liberal arts college is not to only educate us but make us into well rounded people. Liberal arts college majors are interdisciplinary and can provide students with different ways of looking at things by introducing different subjects.

Why would I spend some of the most important years of my life at a Christian liberal arts school? Because if I went anywhere else, I know that I would lose my faith. It is not that I do not trust that God would stay with me if I went to a state school, it is that I don’t trust myself to stay with Him. The world is a corrupting place, led by the devil and his schemes to take down the Kingdom of God, and I am very susceptible to that corruption. I do not know who I am just yet, I’m still learning, still growing as a follower of Christ and I always will be. However, as a baby Christ follower, I fear that if I went to a state school I would get lost in the world. But here I don’t have that fear, because I can feel God here.

Christian colleges not only support students to become professionals, but they also drive them to grow in their faith. Professors teach us to honor God in all we do, just

“The other important skill is empowering people by way of letting the biblical narratives ask their own questions of our social context…the discussion was wonderful, and people started to get this idea of dwelling in scripture before plunging into a meeting, in order to hear God.”. (A. Roxburgh/F. Romanuk,176)

My faith in my college years will be inspired by many different aspects of my life. I plan to grow as a Christian at Campbell University and throughout my entire life. The video Prodigals Nomads, and Exiles the researcher displayed that youth correlate their extracurricular activities, education, and vocation to their faith.

I chose to come to Colorado Christian University because I realized my life was slowly being filled with other priorities and concerns. I still went to church, remained part of the worship team, and worked with the children’s department. But I lost my passion, my fire, for Christ. David Dockery writes that we are called to “think deeply about how the Christian faith influences life and

Every year, millions of high school seniors make a decision on where they want to attend college. One of the ideas these students have to consider is if they want to attend a vocational college or a liberal arts college. While some students feel very strongly one way or another, many students don’t even know what a liberal arts education is. For a Christian liberal arts college, their answer should be simple. Jeffry C. Davis once said in his book Liberal Arts for the Christian Life that “Rightly understood, the pursuit of Christ is the supreme liberal art—the fundamental discipline that sets us free.” (Davis 23) I believe that Davis is right on target with this quote, that anyone who is seeking true and complete freedom should be seeking Jesus Christ.