Students all over the country are leaving home and moving to colleges this month. What kind of education will they receive? Will they be overwhelmed by new freedom and expectations? Is there more to college than just “job preparation?”
At Lincoln Christian University, all of the incoming new students participate in a week-long orientation called Life@LCU. Since the demands of high school and college are often significantly different, students here attend workshops and complete exercises that help them prepare for the rigors of college-level academics. They’re also connected together in small groups with faculty mentors for the week to further assist in their transition. For the past several years, I’ve been a mentor to groups of these incoming students.
Pictured above are the 11 students in my group this week. We’ve been reading from Os Guinness’ The Call and Quentin Schultze’s Here I Am, discussing what God’s call means for each of them. I’ve also been giving them honest feedback on their discussion and writing assignments, helping to ensure that they aren’t shocked by grading expectations once classes begin next week. They’ve attended workshops on time management, note taking, writing, and exam preparation. They’ve learned how to use ANGEL, the campus learning management system (LMS). They’ve attended worship and wellness/fitness activities each day. They’ve done scavenger hunts to better learn the campus and the library.
It’s our greatest desire to see these young people succeed. We want to prepare them to live lives worthy of the callings they’ve received so they can make a difference in God’s world. Life@LCU is one of the components that helps us achieve that goal, and I’m thrilled to be part of it.