Going to grad school this fall?
For most students in the U.S., school is finally out, and summer is in full swing. If you’re a college student who just graduated, it’s time to settle down somewhere, find a good job, and join the ranks of productive society… unless, that is, you’ve got grad school in your future. In that case, you’re already starting to gear up to head back into the halls of academia in a few months.
Grad school is a different beast than college, as you probably know—and especially if you attended a Christian college and are accustomed to regular chapel services and other religious services to help you keep the faith. Some of those resources are still available to you at grad school, but the pressures of a typical graduate program are uniquely challenging, spiritually and emotionally. You’ll need all the spiritual help you can get—and fortunately InterVarsity’s Graduate and Faculty Ministries is there to lend a hand.
They’ve got some great resources to help you get ready for grad school, and to survive it once it begins. Here are a few:
- Intellectual Formation’s Impact on Spiritual Formation — the process of graduate education has a profound impact on your spiritual life. Here’s how to make that impact a positive one.
- Seven Habits of the Highly Effective Christian Graduate Student — you’re a Christian, you’re a grad student. What do you need to know to live well?
- Starting a Fellowship for Christian Graduate Students — are you interested in starting a fellowship group for Christian graduate students on your campus? Don’t know where to begin? Try taking these initial steps.
I’d especially encourage you to check out that last resource; I can attest from my own time in grad school that a good graduate Christian fellowship can be extremely helpful in keeping your spiritual life on track amidst all the papers, lectures, and late nights studying. Now’s a good time to start thinking about these things, since you’ll have a lot on your mind when the semester starts. There much more to InterVarsity’s academic ministries, but those are good places to start as you count down the days to grad school!
(Photo taken by Flickr user Plutor)
