Each Tuesday afternoon we have a meeting in the International Affairs division at Dallas Baptist University. The purpose of this meeting is to Encourage, Inspire, Pour Into, and Enable our teams in their leadership and their individual purposes within our division. We call this meeting the Purpose & Leadership meeting. This past Tuesday, I shared with the group my personal convictions and beliefs about Purpose.
Reflecting on this past meeting, I also wanted to share with you “Why I do What I do”. I have always felt that in order to do something meaningful, you need to know the motivations or purpose beforehand. As an example for your leadership, I truly desire to share part of the “purpose” journey God has brought me on. I pray it is helpful for you who may be on this same journey now. There are three major areas (The Gospel, My Doctorate, Leading at the Christian University) that I would like to highlight for you in regards to the purpose and motivations behind “Why I do What I do”.
The Gospel
First and foremost, I have highly personally experienced the grace and love of God though our savior Jesus Christ. As a Christian, we refer to this as “The Gospel.” My life has been transformed as a response to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I have in turn given my life to relentlessly follow Jesus. I see that following Jesus is much more than simply knowing in my mind that He died on the cross for my sins, regular church attendance, or a set of rules to follow. Following Jesus is living his teachings, following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and waiting expectantly for his return. By living Jesus’s teaching, I have been led to an understanding of my purpose in life, as well as given a burden heart to serve others.
I believe that in the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have a purpose in an epic and cosmic plan. I believe this purpose is God revealing and reconciling all things to him, which is the greatest cause known to man. For these purposes, I have greater meaning and more fulfillment than anything I can ever hope to know or achieve on my own. I believe that each of us are called or purposed by God in this same plan, but that we need to follow Jesus before that can be made known to us. In a practical way, I see the purposes of Jesus penetrating all aspects of my life including my job, which I would refer to as a “calling.”
My Doctorate
Second, and through my doctoral program, I have encountered a strong understanding for how “purpose” contributes to organizational leadership. As an example Burns (1978) describes this very well in the transformational leadership theory of inspirational motivation. I consider purpose to be a clear understanding for how one makes meaning out of their life, and how this meaning becomes valuable for a cause, for others, and for oneself. Once known, purpose acts as a guiding light and rocket fuel for one’s life or calling.
I believe that great leadership begins with a strong purpose in life (Craig & Snook, 2014; Joshi, Marzalek, Berkel & Hinshaw, 2013; Christensen, 2010; Pink, 2009; Frankl, 1958) and a strong alignment of that purpose to a timeless cause or vision (Kanter, 2011; Mourkogiannis, 2007; French, 2006). Furthermore, I find that exceptional leaders can enable others to pursue a timeless vision or cause by leading from a strong sense of purpose (Csikszentmihalyi, 2003; Brandt, 2003; Boyatzis, McKee & Goleman, 2002; Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1997; Burns, 1978), and it is the result of a strong purpose, and its alignment to timeless vision (or cause), that enables incredible impact on the organization and for those it serves (Kanter, 2011; Mourkogiannis, 2007; Collins & Porras, 1994).
Leading at the Christian University
Third, to help me remember what my purpose is, I have developed a purpose statement. I believe that my purpose in life is to “Model the example of Jesus Christ in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord for my family and circles of influence. I will consistently serve others by helping them to find their purpose, excel in their callings, and grow in their relationship with God.”
This purpose statement embodies the Christian values that I hold most important, and is the way I make meaning of my life, bring value to others, and serve a greater cause. I believe that my purpose in life is best served at the Christian University. As I continue to study the concepts of Organizational Leadership, behavior and theory, I am learning to a greater extent how to successfully hire the right people, put them in the right place, and develop them to believe in and accomplish the purpose of Jesus at the Christian University.
I most identify with what Zigarelli (2012) called the interrelated missions or aims of the Christian University; which are to Train, Transform, and Transition students. By serving as a senior administrator, I am passionately motivated to lead the Christian University into the accomplish this mission. I believe that apart from Christ, higher education does not hold the transformational affect and powerful impact to the world and to the students it serves. In addition, I believe that the future landscape of higher education will change in the years to come. I desire to equip and lead the Christian University through perhaps what could be challenging days ahead. I am particularly interested in advancing the Christian University’s capabilities for administration, international development, and international student recruitment.
It is the gospel resulting from my experience with Jesus, which now gives me a burden heart to serve others. My purpose in life is grounded in the cause of Christ, which fuels my personal leadership philosophy and drives my life and calling. In these ways, I would not consider myself to be just a transformational leader at the Christian University, but a Christian educator who is called to be an “admissionary.” For me at the Christian University, the transformation we are working on does not encompass only efficiencies and effectiveness gained, degrees conferred or jobs attained, but in lives transformed, purposes found, callings excelled, and Jesus Christ made know to others through the work we do!
This is “Why I do What I do”.
– Grey Hoff, Jr.
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References:
Bartlett, C. A., and S. Ghoshal., (1997). Beyond Strategy, Structure, Systems to Purpose, Process, People: Reflections on a Voyage of Discovery. Monash Mt. Eliza Business Review 1, no. 1 (September 1997): 54–61.
Brandt, J. R. (May 01, 2003). Managing For A Higher Purpose. Industry Week/iw, 252,5.)
Boyatzis, R., McKee, A., & Goleman, D. (2002). Reawakening your passion for work. Harvard Business Review, 80(4), 86-94.
Burns JM. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
Christensen, C. M. (2010). How will you measure your life? Harvard Business Review, 88(7), 46-51.
Craig N, S. S. (2014). From purpose to impact: Figure out your passion and put it to work. Harvard Business Review, 92(5), 104-11.
Collins, J.C., & Porras, J.L. (1994). Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2003). Good Business: Leadership, flow, and the making of meaning. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Frankl, V. E. (1958). On logotherapy and existential analysis. Am J Psychoanal the American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 18(1), 28-37.
French, M. L. (2006). The alignment between personal meaning and organizational mission among music executives: A study of happiness, job satisfaction, and responsibility toward employees.
Hirsh, S. K., and Kummerow, J. M. (1998). Introduction to Type Organization: Individual Interpretive Guide (3rd ed.). Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc.
Kanter, R. M. (2011). How great companies think differently. Harvard Business Review, 89, 11.)
Mourkogiannis, N.,. (2007). Purpose: The starting point of great leadership. LTL Leader to Leader, 2007(44), 26-32
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
Zigarelli, M. (2012). Training, Transforming, and Transitioning: A Blueprint for the Christian University. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 21: 32-79, 2012.
This past week I had the opportunity to spend one-week with our Doctor of Education cohort in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. This trip was truly a remarkable experience that encouraged me to grow in both my professional and spiritual understandings of leadership and public policy. Specifically, there were three experiences during this trip that I wanted to share:
American Council for Trustees and Alumni (ACTA)
On Thursday, May 28th I had a wonderful opportunity to visit the American Council for Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). The ACTA is an independent, non-profit organization committed to academic freedom, excellence, and accountability at American’s colleges and universities. Over the past 10 years, there have been a number of papers and research developing on the topic of higher education accreditation reform. It is my view that the ACTA has written two of the most influential papers on this topic: Can College Accreditation Live Up to It’s Promise? (2002) and Why Accreditation Doesn’t Work and What Policymakers Can Do About It (2007). In light of this research, the purpose of my visit to ACTA was to discuss higher education accreditation and to see how they consider accreditation reform will continue to develop in the future.
At the ACTA, I was able to visit with Dr. Michael B. Polikoff, Vice President of Policy. From my conversation with Dr. Polikoff, he outlined a few key points of why ACTA believes higher education accreditation needs to be actively reformed:
- Higher education accreditation gives a facade of quality with its “stamp of approval”. When in fact, there are some accredited schools with abysmal graduation rates, sky-rotting debt for their students, and poor academic programming. Yet, just like Harvard, Pepperdine, or DBU, who all have wonderful programs, there are still poor schools which are accredited.
- Higher education accreditors are considered to be the “gatekeeper” of federal financial aid funds for universities. Schools who are not accredited are not able to receive these funds for their students. This gives accreditors tremendous power to dictate what goes in terms of performance, programs, and requirements at these schools.
- Higher education accreditors have a monopoly on their regions and their schools. This monopoly makes it very difficult or near impossible for universities to change to another (potentially better) accreditation agency. Schools are forced to follow the accreditation process for their accreditations with little or no question.
- Higher education accreditors is stifling education innovation, prohibiting all together, or making it extremely difficult for universities to experiment with other education models such as competency based education.
Dr. Polikoff further discussed two primary recommendations that ACTA is advocating for in higher education accreditation reform:
- Break the “gatekeeper” role that accreditors have for federal financial aid funds. The availability of Title IV funds should not be determined by accreditors, but by better measurable outcomes from the schools such as graduation rates, job placement rates, financial health measures, etc.
- Create competition for higher education accreditors. Allow schools to shop for and select a higher education accreditor, regardless of their region. This will allow schools to create competition for accreditors, and voluntary select their accreditation agency.
In summary, Dr. Polikoff expressed that by severing the financial aid “gatekeeper” role, and creating competition for accreditors, only the agencies which stood for quality, real evidence for student learning, and required strong measures of financial health in schools, would be able to thrive. Furthermore, if institutions voluntary wanted to seek accreditation from agencies that are well respected for their standards, they could do that. However, Dr. Polikoff and ACTA believe that this should not be a requirement for schools to do in order to measure quality and receive financial aid funds.
Senate Chaplain Reverend Dr. Barry Black
On Friday morning, May 29th I visited the Office of the Reverend Dr. Barry Black. Dr. Black as the Chaplain of the United States Senate. As Chaplain, Dr. Black serves as a spiritual advisor and counselor to the members of the United States Senate and their families. This visit with Dr. Black was undoubtedly the most inspirational and encouraging meeting during our visit to Washington, D.C.
During our time, Dr. Black challenged us from the book of Daniel in the bible. In this book, Daniel underwent three years of traning from the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the training program, Daniel and three other Israelites were brought before the king to be tested. Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed with Daniel and these men, that he found them to be ten times more capable than any others who were trained in his kingdom. As a result, Daniel and these men received high positions serving in the royal court.
Dr. Black continued in saying that if we believe the bible to be the truth of God, and that the Holy Spirit has power over us and the world around us, then without the Holy Spirit we may be limiting ourselves in professional, emotional, and spiritual growth as leaders. Here in Daniel, with the help of the Holy Spirit, men were able to grow to become ten times greater than others around them. It is this challenge that Dr. Black brought before us, to grow ten times greater through our doctoral journey, in our careers, and in our serve to others! We have an untapped reserve in us to grow ten times greater!
Personal Time at the Library of Congress
On Friday afternoon, May 29th, after my time with Dr. Black, I was able to spend time reading and reflecting in the reading room of the Library of Congress (pictures below):
I spent about two hours with my computer, my journal, and the book For This I Was Born: Aligning Your Vision to God’s Cause by Pastor Brian Houston. There was specifically one section of this book that came alive to me in the Library of Congress reading room, and after hearing the encouraging words from Dr. Black to become ten times greater.
“Your life will unfold according to a certain pattern that is determined by your convictions (what you believe), your desires (what you want), and your affections (what you love). Those whose priorities are centered on Christ’s cause will see the rewards of their commitment emerging in their lives. When Jesus is your priority, he holds your life together” (Houston, 2008). He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. – Colossians 1:17
This private time I had the Library of Congress brought the Washington, D.C. trip to its apex. This time was a reminder to me of my purpose for this doctorial program and the work that I do in higher education. This trip, the visits with ACTA, and Dr. Black, as well as my personal time in the Library of Congress had a profoundly encouraging and inspirational affect on myself. I am truly blessed by The Lord for having to have seen and visited Washington, D.C. this past week.
I am lastly reminded of one my favorite quotes from our sixth President John Quincy Adams; “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” It is my sincerest desire to help others find their purpose, in order to “become more”, and positively affect their circles of influence. This is the lens that I look through as I personally aspire to grow as a leader. To me, leadership is about serving others, and I want to continually do exactly that.
God Bless,
Grey
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Works Cited
American Council for Trustees and Alumni (2002). Can College Accreditation Live Up to It’s Promise? Council for Higher Education Accreditation Website. Retrieved from: http://www.chea.org/pdf/CanAccreditationFulfillPromise.pdf
American Council for Trustees and Alumni (2007). Why Accreditation Doesn’t Work. ACTA Website. Retrieved from: https://www.goacta.org/images/download/why_accreditation_doesnt_work.pdf
Houston, B., 2008. For This I was Born: Aligning Your Vision to God’s Cause. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Many view change as a scary undertaking. For some, venturing into new, unknown, undiscovered territory could be a horrific concept. Frankly speaking, many people in business, higher education, and professional circles are perfectly comfortable with the “same-ole-same-ole”. They hate the idea of change. Yikes!!!
Embodying effective change is a necessity that all leaders need to grasp. Today, our global world changes at an incredibly rapid pace. Organizations can quickly go from competitive to obsolete, almost immediately. Change is one consistent behavior as a leader that we all need to adopt if our organizations are to grow.
Reluctance to change can especially be the case within higher education. It is true, sometimes we in higher education move at a glacier pace. Imagine that!
When I first started serving as a higher education administrator, I was given some excellent words of wisdom regarding change that have served me well these past 10 years.
“Inch-by-Inch and it’s a Sinch”.
This simple saying communicates a wonderful and powerful concept of how to move small change into large charge. Slowly, surely, and consistently over time small change can lead to large charge.
If you want an effective way to drive large charge, it needs to start with a cluster of small ideas, which over time come together to shape large, impactful change. I have found that this is an approach that has worked well when encouraging change for higher education.
There are a few reasons why I believe this to be the case:
- Small charge is less scary than massive, large change. Therefore, it is easier for people within your organization to adopt.
- Small change allows for you to “test case” to be sure you are driving “effective change” in the right direction.
- Small, incremental change allows you line up an army of champions, influencers, and key decision makers to support large change. As a leader, if you are driving big change, you are cannot do it alone. You are going to need an army to advocate and support the change you are driving.
- Large change is much harder to plan for and execute. Accomplishing small change victories over a consistent period of time will add up to long-term, big change. Plus, it is much easier for you to do. (Remember, how do you eat a whale? One small bite at a time).
Remember, change is a good thing when it improves your organization and makes a better impact for those you serve!
“Inch-by-Inch and it’s a Sinch”.
I love how we get the opportunity to change, and to change often! If you embody this type of thinking, then the best is truly yet to come!
Leadership is in a sense a pattern of thinking that is shown through a leader’s behavior. This past weekend I read a very interesting study about effective leadership behavior within higher education. I would like to share with you the important points from that study.
This quantitative study asserted that if certain leadership patterns or behaviors were present, this would lead to improvements in the subsequent processes, and in turn the quality of services provided by the higher education institution.
These desirable leadership patterns are known as Bryman’s proposal of desirable higher education leadership behaviors.
Desirable Leadership Behavior for Higher Education
- A proactive approach to pursuing the university’s missions
- An emphasis on a visionary approach that guides and provides focus for what the leader seeks to achieve for the institution
- Being internally focused, and well connected in the institution, being seen and drawing inspiration from its participants
- Being externally focused, having a good understanding for higher education, and networking with a variety of constituents and reinforcing within those constituencies the direction the university is taking
- Having personal integrity
- Introducing changes in a way that entails consultation with others
- Importance of not sealing leaders off from the university at large
- Importance of not undermining pre-existing organizational culture
- Being flexible in approach to leadership
- Entrepreneurial and risk-taking
- Influencing the organizational culture and values to support change
- Designing structures to support change
In addition, this study identified another set of undesirable leadership behaviors to avoid within higher education:
Undesirable Leadership Behavior for Higher Education
- Failing to consult
- Not respecting existing values
- Actions that undermine collegiality
- Not promoting the interests of those for whom the leader is responsible
- Being uninvolved in the life of the department or institution
- Undermining autonomy
- Allowing the department or institution to drift
I pray this is a good encouragement for you higher education leaders out there. I will leave you with this excellent quote and bible verse;
“The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve.” – John Scott
But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant. – Matthew 20:26
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Works Cited
Flumerfelt, S., & Banachowski, M. (July 12, 2011). Understanding leadership paradigms for improvement in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education, 19, 3, 224-247.
Over the years I have served in variety managerial roles for over ten different departments at Dallas Baptist University. I believe that hiring is one of the most important things that I do for my institution. I have supervised and hired part-time student workers, adjunct professors, and also seasoned full-time staff. During this time, I have participated in hundreds of interviews and reviewed countless resumes for would be job seekers within higher education.
Hiring can be pretty scary business at times. In the end, the leader’s hire decisions will either make or break your team — when you hire great, you get great results. Just the same, when you don’t hire great, the work environment can be a pretty gloomy place.
As a leader, the ability for me to locate, attract, place, and develop exceptional employees is and will always be a critical part of my responsibility. I endeavor to grow and in my ability to hire exceptional people and I have a strong commitment to my team to only hire the best.
Based on my time as a hiring manager, I would like to impart a few practical pieces of advice on resume building. The resume is an important tool that you will need to communicate who you are, what you have done, and what value or impact you can potentially make for an employer or organization.
These concepts are not meant to be the end all, be all, of resume tips, just an overview for what I consider when developing a resume:
Start with the End in Mind
First and foremost, get a very clear idea in mind of your objective, the job you are applying for, or your career goals. This is sometimes a very challenging part of resume building — but picture for you what the end looks like.
If it’s a job, then start by researching that particular job. Research and identify the skills, knowledge, experience, and values that are needed for that particular job. If it’s a college or other career goal, then the same goes for that too, what does the end look like and what is valued once you are there. Think about the job skills that are needed for that particular job.
As a reminder on job skills, check out the blog titled: The Top Job Skills Needed for Future Graduates
Put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes for a while and think about what they will be looking for in an ideal candidate. This will also help you later when you focus your resume on the target audience — IE: the people you convince that you are the ideal candidate for the job.
Build a Resume with Purpose
After you have a clear idea of the goal, and what is needed, then it’s time to work backwards from there.
First, before sitting down to write-out a resume, it is wise to get out a note pad and start jotting down your skills, knowledge, and experience. I think you can best do this by taking the time to reflect on who you are, where you will be going, and what you will be doing in your job or career. I call this taking the time to build a resume with purpose.
The bible tells us in Psalm 139:13-16 that God “created my inmost being; He knit us together in our mother’s womb … we are fearfully and wonderfully made; His works are wonderful … All the days ordained for us were written in His book before one of them came to be.” Also, Ephesians 2:10 says “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
I have mentioned before, they we each have been made with purpose and have a reason for living; the fact that we are breathing and living on this planet is because the Lord has prepared us in advance to do good works.
That being said, you have a purpose, and you are special. The resume is simply another medium that you can use to communicate who God made you to be, how you can serve others, and impact His kingdom!
Second, after you get yourself in this mindset, start listing out (1) your skills and talents, (2) your work experience or internships, (3) your education, training, or professional development (4) extracurricular activities, volunteering, and awards or special recognition received. This will be the core content, and it really helps to have a list of these items when you actually start to create sentences and build your resume.
Communicate Value
Now that you have your clear objective in mind, and a good list of skills in hand, it’s time to connect these dots together. This is probably one of the most important parts of resume building. It’s about developing the content and action statements that will communicate to the employer the value you will bring to their organization.
As discussed in the first section, you have a your objective in mind and have a good understanding for what is valued in the type of job you are applying, start crafting sentences based on your experience and skills that nicely fit in line with your target job or career path. These are to be action statements — simple, tight, clear, and powerful action sentences that emphasize the results benefited to your employer or organization.
VERY IMPORTANT – Don’t just tell me what you did, tell me how you contributed and brought value to your previous employer. What did you do, and how was it helpful?
Here are examples of a bad and a good action statement:
BAD – Oversaw operations for study abroad office.
GOOD – Supervised and trained a staff of four work-study students to courteously and efficiently respond to inquiries regarding the university’s study aboard program.
By developing clear, powerful action statements you communicate that you added value to your job and understand the results of your work. Additionally, you demonstrate the contribution you made to your previous organization, and also outline the potential value that you can add to your potential new employer.
Make it Special
You have a clear objective, a purpose in mind with listed out content, excellent action statements, now is about catching the eye of the hiring manager. Let’s make your resume special. This means having a resume that is (1) relevant, (2) unique, and (3) the best thing you have ever written in your life?
First, your resume is not a “one-resume-fits-all” document and needs to be made relevant and targeted to the unique audience, target job or college you are applying. As we discussed earlier, you need to start with the end in mind and communicate value with your resume. With each job you apply for, and at each company, the target audience and values change a bit.
I’m not saying that you should create a resume for each job that you apply, but I am saying there are tweaks that you will need to make for each resume you complete. It needs to most relevant for your target audience.
Second, make sure your resume is “eye catching” for the employer. The average hiring manager spends two minutes or less reading your resume. In fact, there will be many times that the manager will simply glance over your content or skim read. So, what makes them want to put your resume in the “to call pile” and not the “throw away pile”?
This is where I think formatting and resume design plays a big part. Choose a resume format that is professional and clean, but also do not make it boring like everyone else’s. I suggest using bullet points, artfully bolded text, underlining, or italics to highlight specific areas or action words. Also, consider using other formatting techniques like blocking off specific sections with a text box, or even using a gold paperclip instead of a silver one to catch attention.
Remember, you have less than two minutes to catch the eye of the manager. What is unique or special about your resume?
Lastly, if your resume is not the best thing you’ve ever written, then do not turn it in. It needs to be crafted, with absolutely no grammar or spelling errors in it. You need to be proud, confident, and excited about turning in your resume.
For the employee, the resume is one of the most important communication tools you use to assure the hiring manager that you are the right hire. The resume helps take the uncertainty out of the hire decision. This is why having an exceptional resume is absolutely necessary!
Before I traveled to India I did not know what the word Namaste meant. If you were like me, then the definition for this word may also escape you. Namaste is an Indian (Hindi) word which means to “welcome someone from your heart”. If someone greets you with Namaste in India, it will also include a slight downward head nod, and usually a gesture from their hands in the shape of a triangle, with palms pressed together and brought close to the chest. This is all a sign of respect, warmth and friendly hospitality “welcoming you from the heart.”
From my trip to India, I have warm feelings about the people and places I visited. Over the course of two-weeks I traveled to 8 different cities throughout India; including Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Agra, and Delhi. India will have a special place in my heart for the rest of my life.
I share all of this with you, because five years ago I would never have pictured myself traveling the world, much less to India. The opportunity for traveling internationally has been one of the most important and transformational experiences I have had in my life. God has used these experiences to reveal a great deal to me about His purpose for my life, His love for this world, and a great deal more about people, perspective, places and culture.
I mentioned in a previous post about perspective, or looking at something from a different angle or point of view. For the young person, the college student, or really the lifelong learner, this is an important truth. We must constantly look with fresh eyes and perspective at life. International Travel is one of those perspective changing experiences!
A few years ago, one of my very good friends Josiah Hart (who coincidently is from Mumbai, India), shared with me the following excerpt from Henry Rollins:
“I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown, eat interesting food, dig some interesting people, have an adventure, be careful. Come back and you’re going to see your President differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You’re going to get a sense of what globalization looks like. You’re going to see that global climate change is very real. And that for some people, their day consists of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can’t get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight. A lot of people – Americans and Europeans – come back and go, “ohhhhh.” And the lightbulb goes on.”
So, if you have not traveled internationally (especially to a developing country), it’s time to make it happen. As a college student, this is even more important! You need to get overseas to serve, see what God has for you, and experience life on the other side of the world. You need to have your mind blown!
Over this past month I have had the opportunity to visit the countries of China and India to talk about education. Specifically, higher education. In fact, I am actually writing this blog while I am flying from Hyderabad to Mumbai, India.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I believe that we each have a purpose in this life. Purpose is a deep rooted belief that what you are doing has meaning and value not only for yourself but also for those around you. Purpose can be associated with finding meaning in your vocation, within your family, your church, or through the personal activities you participate in. Purpose is timeless.
Over the last 3-years, I have traveled to over twelve countries in the developing world. During my travels, I have learned that we all long for purpose and meaning in this world. This is where I believe education has its role. I believe that the university is a mechanism that God uses to unlock purpose for the individual.
Education is valuable everywhere. In China, families save their entire lives to send their one and only child to study at a university in the United States. In Indonesia, church pastors desire for their entire congregations to know how their children can prepare for university study. In Colombia, students travel to an entirely different continent, culture, and city in order to learn English so that they have a hope to provide a better life for their families. There is not one country that I have traveled to which is not longing for education, and ultimately purpose and meaning in their lives.
Within education, the university is such an excellent place for students begin the self-discovery journey in front of God to find their purpose. The university is a melting pot of sorts. It is the place where you take students and create an intentional environment of learning. Here students interact with information and theory, as well as develop socially, emotional and spiritually, through experience. The hopeful result is to see a transformation in their lives, a “lightbulb experience”, where through these experiences students discover how their skills & abilities, personality & behavior, passions & desires come together and can be used to transition them into a life of purpose and meaning.
The result of higher education should be a person who can independently think and choose for themselves, can tell the difference between a groundless idea or one based on logic, and can positively use their energies in a way to impact their world and their communities.
The sociological, economical and humanitarian benefits to education are many. Right now, 95%+ of this world does not have a college education. This is an unlimited market for transformation to occur. This is an almost never ending supply of people who could be guided to find their purpose and understand how they a have reason for living! I believe God has a plan to use education as this mechanism to point people to Him and help them to unlock their purpose.
I am excited for the potential that education has for this world! I am excited to see how education can change the world!
I have spent the last few years pondering the purpose for Higher Education, specifically the reason for the University. I have considered this reason and can find no better definition than by citing Colombia Professor Andrew Delbanco’s purpose for the university; a place where students are shown how to think and how to choose.
I believe the setting for the American university must be a place where challenging discussions are encouraged, where critical ideas presented and new experiences relating to knowledge are passed onto students. An important component to encourage this kind of environment should be academic freedom — the freedom for discussion, the freedom in teaching and also in research, all in the pursuit of truth.
We must encourage our young students to engage in critical discussion, self-exploration and other measures in order for them to independently learn how to think and how to choose. What better place for this discussion to take place than at the University.
I have come to believe that all pursuits for truth will ultimately lead to one final destination, the understanding that all wisdom is inherently derived from the one true God, who by the grace of Jesus Christ, can we fully have a relationship and understand our purpose in life. I strongly believe that the encouragement for academic freedom also encourages faith in God, rather than refute His existence. Therefore, I consider academic freedom, guided with a belief in the one true, living God and of Jesus Christ, to be of critical importance to that of the university.
I believe that higher education will loose a powerful transformative component if it is not linked to that of Christian perspective. Furthermore, students who are discouraged away from the ideas of faith and the search for purpose, which can only be found through Christ, are lacking a massive piece of their education.
I am reminded of the quote, “Wisdom in knowledge, rightly applied”. You may attain a tremendous amount of knowledge at the University, but what sense does that knowledge have if it is not rightly applied through an understanding that all knowledge ultimately comes from and is used in service of God.