Okay, I should be very happy that I am finally returning to seminary. After taking a much longer than I would have cared break, I am returning to Fuller's Menlo Park Campus. I met this morning with my advisor who sweetly broke the news to me that I have actually 8 units less than what I thought, and if I take only the desired amount of courses minus summer I will barely scoot out of Fuller before I "time" out at 10 years.
Can I tell you how frustrated I am? Yes, I know I have something that many seminarians don't have - a good, well respected ministry job that supports my return to seminary and provides me with an incredible learning experience at the same time. But 10 years? At the rate I'm going, my AARP card will come before my diploma in the mail!
Thus endeth the whining. On the way back to the house I did have to remember that there was a time gap in the mix so it isn't like I've been going to school for ten consecutive years. So in reality I will be taking about a year's extra time than the six years it takes to do the M.Div part time. Hey, I'm thankful there's a part time program! If there wasn't I'd never be able to return to school. I think the challenge for me is that I so want to just move foward with the desire for ordained ministry, and the knowledge that I do have a support base that is encouraging me to move towards this goal. The blessing of being in a secure employment (as much as anyone can say that in these challenging times) is that I won't have to take another loan out for school; and I will have some positive ministry experience to put down towards my CV when it comes time for my first call.
I guess in the long run I'm doing better than I see things on paper. Relationships, Experience and Education. All happening at the same time. Okay, I can live with that.
The Fall's schedule will be auditing Greek it's been way too long since I've had a nervous break out over parsing the Greek for proxeuxesthe and please don't email to correct the transliteration - that just goes to show you why my tukus needs to be in a seat beginning in October. Turns out you can audit a language as long as you're enrolled in class and have already taken the language and need a brush up. I'm also signing up for Gospels. Then from there if I'm reading the schedule I'll be filling up the year with homiletics, Reformed Church history, NT Exegesis, Preaching and a designated course to be named at a later date for the summer. And.. I'm toying with the idea that somewhere in this I'll do my final internship. I must have misunderstood the number of hours - I took the long 300 hours internship and thought there was only a 100 hour one left that can be done in one quarter, but apparantly it's not so - and I have yet another 300 hour internship left - if anyone is reading this from Pasadena am I totally nuts or was there at one time a 100 and 300 hour practicum?
So all in all - good news: back in school. Less than awesome news: may need a walker to get across the platform for my diploma. But still will have over 30 years to be an ordained minister. Guess it's all how you look at it.
Monday, July 14, 2008
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2 comments:
Internships...it's all in the perspective. There have always been the two internships and they've always been the same number of hours. The difference is in the length of time to complete them. 10 hours a week over 9 months or 40 hours a week over 10 weeks. Fun, huh?
You'll make it, I have no doubt! How well I can relate to your situation, as I'm the one who was THREE credits short to graduate w/ my class in spring and had to wait till winter.
Don't loose heart my friend, you are where God wants you, doing what He wants you to do! Never doubt that.
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