Good Resource for Online Degree

For those of you who may be interested in an online degree program, here is a website I found that has a directory of Christian schools that offer full college degrees over the internet.

Take a look: http://www.bakersguide.com/

Having Purpose in Your Higher Education

So, why are you going to college? Uh, I don't know... because that's what everyone else does, I guess...

Well, what are course are you taking? Um, well, I don't know exactly yet... I think my mom is picking them... I don't really care.

Okay, well, what do you want to do after college? After college? I haven't even thought about that... it's, like, too far into the future. I mean, who knows? I don't really care what I do... as long as I'm making good money.

That's money... but what about like actually doing something worthwhile, for the kingdom of God? Wow, I really have no clue. I mean, I go to church and stuff, but other than that... uh, I don't know.

Yes, that conversation was from my imagination. But doesn't it sound familiar? That is the sort of response you are likely to get if you ask any young person out there today.

I don't know about you, but that is a pathetic excuse of a plan. Where is a life that is started like that going to lead? Nowhere. And fast, too.

As Christians, we must have purpose in these years of preparation for our future lives. We must know what we are learning, why we are learning it, Who we are doing this for, how we are learning, to what end we are learning.

It grieves me greatly to see countless young people going to college for no better reason than that it is the cultural norm. What a shame to see them spending thousands upon thousands of dollars, virtually wasting 2-6 of the most crucial years of their lives... all because that is what is expected of them. If you are going to just drift along aimlessly, why not drift along aimlessly without spending so much money? Or, much better yet, look to the word of God and wise counselors and figure out what you should do with your life.

College can be wonderfully useful. I don't deny that. And God can use even our foolish mistakes for our good and His glory.

But please, please, think long and hard about it before you just jump in because that is what is expected.

Some will be led to go to college to pursue a specific calling. Some will be lead to stay at home, and further their education there. Some will do online courses.

But whatever it is that you do, it is so important that you make that choice consciously, after much prayer and wise counsel, and with a definite purpose.

Preparing During High School

I don’t know about you but one of the most unexpected things that happened to me once I reached high school was the continual amount of people asking me what I wanted to do after high school. This came as a shock to me because I had hardly thought about what I was doing during high school & others already wanted to know what my decision was on my post - high school years!

I often tell people that I’m still deciding what my goals & dreams for my life are. Right now I’m considering each available path & continue to remain open to each one.

However, despite my lack of plans at this time, there are still ways I can be preparing myself for this upcoming stage of life. I’d like to share with you some practical things I’m doing, books I’m reading & tools I’m discovering. Here is a list of some tips & tricks.... :)

• I’m developing experiences that utilize my giftings. People who know me know that I’m gifted in administration, shepherding, encouragement, teaching & creativity. So, I try to find ways to use what God has given me. I lead Bright Lights, run a newsletter for teen girls, write notes of encouragement to my friends, etc.
• I’m also working on developing my interests. Pursuing & studying my interests now will enable me to proficiently use them to serve God & his Kingdom during my single years when I have time to invest in projects & ministries that will use these talents.
• I’m trying to develop a record of leadership & community service. There are opportunities all over the place to gain some experience & serve others. I’ve volunteered at the library assisting with children’s story-times, helped out with my church’s children’s ministry, spent some time helping with odd jobs at the city’s food bank, helped clean up trash off parks & highways & several other things.
• I’m studying for college board tests that may lead to college scholarships like the PSAT, SAT, ACT, etc. If I do decide to attend a college it will be helpful to to have scholarship options & have the test-taking skills mastered. (Helpful books I have found for this include College Prep Genius & any books published by the College Board).
• I’m reading books such as So Much More (by Anna Sophia & Elizabeth Botkin) to help me get a vision for what life would look like staying at home through my single years.
• During my week I keep a balanced emphasis on academic studies & practical homemaking skills. I want to make sure my days are not so academically focused that I have no time for learning sewing, cooking, cleaning, baking, household management & other essentials skills I will need to serve my father & eventually my future husband. I like to work on skills by completing the requirements found in the Keeper’s at Home handbook.
• I put a large emphasis on the study of Christian worldview & apologetics. It will be important for me to be able to defend my faith whether I end up at college or remaining at home. Resources from Answers in Genesis & Biblical Discipleship Ministries top my favorites list. I’ve also attended Worldview Academy once & will be returning for their alumni track this fall.

These are just a couple things I’m doing right now while I’m still in high school. I’m sure I’ll think of more to share but this is a good list for now. I can’t wait to see what direction God will take me in the years to come.

Wisdom from my Mother

Well, it's been a while since I've posted on this blog. Some of that may be the fact that I'm still so young & don't feel like I have much advice to offer. :)

This past week my mom & I were able to sit down & do some planning for the rest of my high school years. Always seek the counsel of your parents, they know you best & will be able to help guide you through this sometimes confusing time in your life. During our meeting my mom shared some advice with me about finding out what it is that God has called you to do with your life. Here are a couple things I thought I'd share.

1. Pursue Experiences - Look for opportunities to experience real life jobs, ministries, etc. You may discover an interest or passion you would have never known you had unless you tried.

2. Seek God - Continually ask God for guidance and direction for your life. Ask Him what He wants you to become.

3. Have Direction - While it is important to seek God in everything you should also have a general direction of where you want to head. You can't just sit in a boat without a rudder & hope that the sails will billow bringing you to where you need to go. You have to set the rudder in the right direction & then let God billow your sail.

4. Don't Feel Obligation - Just because someone tells you that you should become a rocket scientist or that they want you to undertake a certain ministry doesn't mean you have to. My mom was asked to teach for a new church school & she did simply because they wanted her to do it. Now that she looks back, she realizes that it probably wasn't the best use of that time in her life. Because she felt she had to fill this need she ended up wasting a couple years she could have used for something more fruitful.

What is some advice you've received from your parents about navigating the future?

Coming Soon: I'm working on writing a post about what I'm doing now to prepare myself for whatever path I take after high school.

Progress!

I was looking over my list of things that I said I'd be doing here at home... and was happy to see that I am making progress on many of them! :)

1. Learn Japanese--I bought a book and have been doing it nearly daily
2. "Take over" the kitchen for a month or more :) -- I have been doing more shopping and I made supper yesterday
3. Continue to develop my photography, maybe take a course at the community college--I have continued to develop my skills in this area, mainly by just practicing
4. Continue Bright Lights --We are planning some of this year's meetings ahead of time. Yeah!
5. Lead a study about "Before You Meet Prince Charming" --We are in the middle of this study. It's going pretty well, except that everyone in the study (all 5 of us :) got sick recently, so we're behind
6. Help out families in our church with taking care of their children and cleaning etc... --I am sceduled to go help a mom today!
7. Continue taking care of our little vegetable garden --Well, I took care of it until it died. :) We have some major soil problems. Microscopic things that kill plants. :( We're hoping to do another one in the fall (The joys of FL gardening!)
8. Continue paying bills, etc... for my Dad's business --Still paying bills!
9. Continue writing, but do more --I have been working on my writing, mainly blogging, but I may be writing for the newspaper soon
10. One on One discipleship's with girls in BL would be great... Don't know if it will work... --So far no progress on that...
11.Teach William and Matthew how to read --They are learning!!
12. Help teach at our Home School coops --I haven't really done much of that... yet
13. Teach a writing class here at home -- We haven't started school yet. 14. Possibly a knitting class--My first attempt didn't work-no one came. :) But I found out that some people actually were interested, so I'll have to try again.
15. Continue blogging --Doing some now! :P
16. Studying math (not that I like, but that I need it. :) --I need to do more math!!
17. Maybe a course on graphic design at the community college --I don't know if I'll do that...
18. Cleaning, etc... here at home --Working on that
19. I would like to do an internship with the Mallys (founders of Bright Lights), not sure if that will happen, though.
20. A missions trip-- Maybe next year
21. Continue supporting the missionaries in India that we know --They started a Bright Lights group!!
22. Continue developing my skills in knitting, embroidery, sewing, etc... and learning new ones-- I have been learning new knitting stiches lately! Very fun.

Guest Post by Daniel Osborne

I asked Daniel if he would share his college experiences with us, so we can all learn from them. Enjoy! -Carissa

I would have to say that my college experience was different from almost anyone else, but I think you may benefit from what God has taught me over the last several years through my college experiences. I was home schooled and had the opportunity to start attending the community college while I was in high school. I guess you could say that my decision to go to college was before high school even started. I avoided classes such as English, Psychology, Biology, History, Sociology, etc... and focused on classes like math, chemistry, computer, etc. This decision was based on the fact that I had heard reports from other trusted Christians about the inappropriate content within many of the classes first mentioned. I did not want a secular view of these subjects. Subjects like math, chemistry, and computers don't tend to have too much opening for a secular worldview.

God lead me to California Baptist University (which is the only school I applied for), so when I graduated high school, I transferred to California Baptist University. I decided to live at home because dorm life at almost any school (Christian or non-Christian) is generally not healthy. I spent one night in the dorms. Loud music until like 1 am... video games and movies (many not appropriate) everywhere... etc. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15). While most don't consider college aged people as "kids"... it was clear that they were indeed "kids". I'm not trying to down talk anyone, but I want you to have an accurate description of dorm life.

I decided to be a computer science major. It was interesting how God worked that out. My older sister needed to take a computer programming class in order to graduate with her AA degree and asked if I would take it with her. I went ahead and took it with her... I loved it... she didn't at all. God works in unique ways. Anyway, I had a couple personal dreams... I really wanted to play baseball, and I really wanted to lead worship. I tried out for the baseball team at CBU and found that there were like 120 guys trying out for like not even 5 spots. I definitely didn't make it. I was disappointed. I had auditioned (playing piano) for a small group from CBU that had come to my church and so I auditioned again for the choir director. I play by ear, so this obviously didn't go well either. He asked me to sing for him a little bit and on the spot, offered me a $2,000 scholarship to sing in the choir. This was totally unexpected. I didn't have an amazing voice or anything, but God allowed the choir director to see some potential in me. I ended up having to take voice lessons... yet another huge blessing. This really gave me the preparation I needed to be more capable of leading worship. After a year, CBU dropped their computer science major and wanted me to become a business major. I tried taking one class and within a week of starting that class, I called mom after class one day and told her that I had to transfer to a new school. I was greatly blessed by the Biblical teaching at CBU as well as the hours without end of worship during choir practice and concerts. I loved the school. The people were very nice... food was very good... chapels were usually good... etc. God moved us to a different church during this time and we met a family with a daughter about to start going to CBU. Her parents started a Bible study which gave me an opportunity to lead worship. This was (and is) a great blessing! On a side note, God provided in incredible ways and I ended up paying only $400 per semester for tuition. Not only did He bless me with this, but He also blessed me with a job working for one of my instructors as a software developer.

Within a couple days of mom calling around, she found La Sierra University. They offered me virtually the same scholarship amounts at CBU. I was quite surprised! God really blessed! I transferred there as a computer science major. La Sierra is a much more liberal [Christian] school. We had chapels such as: Women's Rights, Black Appreciation Month, Safe Sex, etc. There is nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves, but we were not having women's rights issues in our school... we weren't having a segregation of black and white people... and we are a bunch of singles! Abstinence anyone? What we really need is to hear the Word of God preached... not these side secular-based topics. Again, I lived at home... heard many horror stories about dorm life. I really have no desire to live in that kind of environment 24/7. The Bible classes were quite challenging for me... probably something that would have been extremely unhealthy for me in my first year of school, but God used the unbiblical teaching to challenge me to know and apply His Word more than ever before. I often ended up in debates with teachers. I had a teacher even say that he disagreed with God on a part of scripture. It was not easy, but God used it for my good. They built a baseball field, and God blessed me with the opportunity to play baseball... thus fulfilling my other dream. Most of our games were on Sunday (since it is a Seventh Day Adventist school). This was obviously a challenge for me since I went to church on Sunday. My initial thought was that I'd go to a different church that has a super early service on those days, but changed my mind when I really started thinking about it. God is to be number one in my life and if baseball doesn't fit that... so be it. God gave me favor in the eyes of the coach and he let me miss whenever I needed to. This is not at all normal for coaches of college teams. This opened up several opportunities to talk with these guys about the Lord and why I do what I do... why I don't use profane language... why I don't listen to secular music... etc. It was a challenge in that there was that constant negative influence, but God used it to help strengthen me. I learned dependence on His Word to purify and cleanse my mind.


There were several mess-ups as time went on... my advisor made a mistake and I took the wrong class... the man that granted the scholarships retired and so I lost those... etc. It was quite a challenge... not knowing how I was going to pay for school or if I would graduate on time. God used this to help grow me in dependence on Him for my financial needs. He always provided enough to make it through. He is so good! God worked in the teacher's hearts as well as the administrators of the school so that they would allow me to take 24.5 credits at once... and have directed studies in 3 classes which were not being offered that quarter (one-on-one with the teacher). This is not at all normal for college professors! Without this, I would not have been able to afford the next quarter of school. My bank was emptied, but God got me through.

I guess you could say that my college years were full of challenges, but God used them for my good. I have seen people grow in the Lord during their college years... I have also seen many fall away from Him. If we become self-dependent rather than dependent on Him, we will fall quickly. God has given me a passion for those that have fallen away from Him. I have seen it both with those going to college and those not attending college. The biggest thing is putting yourself with people that build you up in the Lord. Let your parents get to know your friends... let your parents give you advice. If they see negative influences popping out in you, take it seriously! Don't hide from any problem or negative influence you might have... face it and deal with it immediately. Let godly people into your life... whether it be a pastor (for guys) or his wife (for the ladies), get to know them... pray with them... let them see your heart... be accountable to them. Get involved in serving Him. When you are serving Him, you don't have time to fall away from Him. If God moves you out of one position of service, move to another. We can never serve Him enough. These things will act as a safeguard against you falling away from Him.

About Comments...

Thank you to all those who have commented on our humble little blog... for those of you who have your own blogs, you know what an encouragement it is to get a comment. (Agreed?)

Many thanks also to those who have commented to me personally about this blog or other blogs... I really do appreciate it. But I think I'd appreciate in more if ya'll would comment on the blogs, too. :D Plus, it would be kind to the others on this blog. If you just comment to me... they'll probably never hear what you said. And that would be just too bad.

And to those who haven't yet commented, but have been reading: we are not opposed to comments, and if you have any, we would be quite glad to have them. :) Thanks!

Summer so far!

Hello ladies,

Hoping everyone is doing well. I feel as if I have fallen off of the blogging map (and I did for a bit!) unfortunately, however I am back and am going to make a personal goal to update this site at least once a month.

All right, so I emailed the Clark soccer coach about the potential job. I'm no longer sure if I will be running the intermural referee program (and to be honest I didn't want to do that right off the bat anyway) I at least will be doing my workstudy as a referee. Either way it works out I'm just happy to have a job this coming fall, especially a job where I already know what is going on.

What is going on in my life right now. I just finished refereeing all the major MA tournaments for soccer that I could do and now am in the middle of a two week time off from soccer and then next Monday I leave to go to a referee training camp which will last for about two weeks. I went last year and had bunches of fun so I'm pretty excited.

After that, I'm hoping that I join my family for a weekend of vacation in NH and then venture on to see Soulfest in NH! Soulfest is apparently one of the biggest Christian music festivals/concert series ever. I've never had a chance to go to it before so I'm super excited that I might be able to make it this year.

After that I will have some time off where I hope to complete drivers ed and work toward getting my drivers license. And then I will be a leader on a three day instate missions trip in Watertown.

All in all I feel I have a very busy and exciting summer going on. However, ladies I would love some prayer. Recently I've felt very disconnected from God. This has effected my personal devotional time (I haven't felt done my own devos in forever) and has dropped my prayer life to an almost nonexistent place. Now that I have realized what is going down I'm making a point to get reconnected with God and I am still struggling. Prayers that I would feel inspired to go to our Lord in a personal devotional time and prayer time would be appreciated.

I was also given the book "The Reason for God" by Timothy Keller. I'd never heard of it before my youth pastor gave it to me as a graduation gift. I had vaguely heard of the author before other than that, nothing. I plan on reading through it this summer. I guess I'll let you all know if I enjoy it and find it helpful.

Don't Waste Your Life

"Only one life,
'Twill soon be past;
Only what's done
For Christ will last."

That basically sums up the book "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. We, on the Rebelution forums, are studying this book. I am privileged (really, quite surprised) to be one of the discussion leaders and moderators.

It has just started, so if you are reading this and want to join, click Here to get instructions for how to join on the rebelution blog. I highly recommend this book, especially for our age group!

I will most likely be posting thoughts about this book in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned!

Why I'm not going to college

No, this isn't to make you girls feel bad about going to college! :) I'm just hoping to lay out my reasons for myself, and anyone else who wonders.

1. I know several people who have gone to college and then did not use their degree. So in that way it can be a real waste of money and time.


2. At this point, we don't have the finances for college and I don't want to start out my life with such a large debt.
   
3. I have heard too many stories of Christians whose faith was not the same after college. Some even leave the Christian faith. So I feel that at this time in life, when I am still forming my beliefs, it is better to keep the input positive.


4. I am planning on being a stay at home mother, and I don't think college will be the best way to prepare for that.


5. Also, as I have stated before, there are so many ways to continue education at home. I am looking into college plus! and CLEP right now.

Plans, Respect, and Polls

As you all know, I am staying home rather than going to college. When people ask me what I'm doing now, it's kind of hard to explain. I don't want to come off sounding like I really don't have a clue what I'm going to do with my life, and that I'm just going to sit lazily at home. But I'm afraid that's how it comes out sometimes, especially if someone like a cashier asks me and I don't have the time to explain everything. :) Anyway, I was talking to my dad about this, and wanting to have a more clear plan for my year. He suggested that I write a book!

So, I am in the planning stages of that. I'm sure it will be very interesting. :P

The topic I am thinking of writing about right now is how young ladies can show respect and honor to the men in their lives. I think it is a topic that needs to be written about and that currently (at least from what I've seen) doesn't have any book devoted to it.

I would like to include topics such as: What does it mean to respect someone? What does it look and sound like in real life? Why is this so important? What makes a guy feel respected? Disrespected? Who exactly should I be showing respect to?

Here are some questions that I'm wondering about that you all may be able to help me out with:

1. Would you be interested in such a book? (i.e. Would you purchase it?)
2. Do you agree that this is an important, but unaddressed topic?
3. Are these some of the questions you have asked?
4. Are there any other questions related to respect that you would be interested in having addressed?

I would appreciate any input that you all have!

About the poll-- I thought the results were quite interesting! I did not expect to have 50% of the people saying that they were planning on staying at home. Okay, so it was only 6 people... But still! Also, I was wondering what the "other" people are planning on. If you are reading this, and you voted for "other", I would be really interested in knowing what you are planning on! Does anyone else want to add to my thoughts on the results so far?

Refereeing and jobs?

This blog has been sorely neglected over the past few weeks. Our apologizes!

Work has started up for me in full force and I'm continuing to fill out paperwork for Clark University. I just finished and sent in my "Writing Placement Exam" I must admit the story was a bit confusing but my lovely mum helped me revise the essay and I think it turned out quite nicely.

I also recently got my varsity crew workout that I was supposed to start this week. I did not pay attention to the dates so I didn't realize it, so my week has been spent recovering from this weekends work and me being sick, as well as finding a gym so I can actually work out. However, today I ventured out and found a gym for a reasonable rate for the summer. It is also close to home and across the street from a Starbucks that is currently hiring so I'm going to apply there as well. If all goes well not only will I have a gym but a second job so I can save some money for this coming school year.

Also, while at refereeing this weekend I met the Clark University varsity soccer coach. Since I had a few minutes off I took the opportunity to introduce myself and upon hearing that I was a referee and also going to be attending Clark University next year and that I wasn't interested in playing at the school he asked if I was given a Work study job grant. After hearing that I had a work study he proceeded to offer me the job of running the intermural referee program for Clark University... Despite being a bit stunned I managed to say yes and now ladies I have a job for this fall. God is good!

I'm off to do more paperwork and exams. Many blessings for the end of your school year!

Success!

I have successfully made the first step of launching my devotional blog. It is called Devotional Dose and can be found at www.devotional-dose.blogspot.com I'm hoping to "officially" launch it at the Junior High youth group this Friday night with its first devotional post.

Who is Allison?

Hello! My name is Allison & I just wanted to let you know who I am & what I hope to contribute to this blog. I am 15 years old & will be starting my sophomore year of high school in the fall. I am younger than most of the authors of this blog however I hope I can present an interesting perspective.

To give you some background for my future posts. I am apart of a homeschool, military family. My father is a dentist in the US Air Force which causes our family to move every 2-4 years. I am the eldest of a 13 year old sister & 10 year old brother.

I would love to be able to share with you my journey of how I choose the path I will take post high school. Currently I have not yet decided what I will be doing post graduation & I would love to use this as an outlet to share with others how I approach this journey & make that decision.

I guess that's all for now! Blessings!

My newest ambition

As I get to know my Junior High ladies better and as our time together is fast approaching a close, I don't know about ya'lls youth groups but ours ends with the school year. I've decided to try and make a devotional blog for them to get ideas for their Bible reading. From talking with them, they often times claim lack of inspiration for doing their devotionals but when I asked if I were to give them materials would they do them they said that they would. So this, ladies and gentlemen, is my next project.

My thought for the format would be to take some verse from both the Old and New Testaments and to talk about God revealed to me about them in my time in studying them. Then after that give them verses for that day and the next day for them to look up and study on their own that also relate to what I was talking about or what I will be talking about in the future. I'm hoping to do that three days a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I originally tried to encourage them to do reading on their own but for most of them their idea of a devotional is opening the Bible randomly and selecting a chapter on a whim. Yes, God can definitely work through that method. However, I think that a bit a structure would do them good.

So this, ladies and gentlemen, is currently what is next for me. My goal is to get in to the habiting of posting three days a week before I start Clark University next year. I think this will not only benefit my Junior High girls but it will also encourage me to study God's word more as I help these beautiful young ladies navigate the teen years.

How to Stay Joyful at Home

I have been reading Jasmine Baucham's blog for awhile now, and yesterday, she started a series about ways to stay joyful at home. So far, it is really helpful, so I asked if I could link to the posts and she graciously allowed me to. :) She is also staying at home. Even though some of you are not planning on staying home, I still think there is much to learn from these posts... Go ahead and read 'em! :)

So here are the links:

Ways to stay joyful at home 1

This post gives an overview of the series, and then talks about the first way, which is to build a strong relationship with your mother.

Way to stay joyful at home 2

Way number 2 is to find your sufficiency in the King of Kings. Very good post! You should read it!

-------------------------------

Rose and Tabitha, maybe you could share why you feel that you should go to college? What prompted you to make that decision?

What I plan on doing here at home

1. Learn Japanese
2. "Take over" the kitchen for a month or more :)
3. Continue to develop my photography, maybe take a course at the community college
4. Continue Bright Lights
5. Lead a study about "Before You Meet Prince Charming"
6. Help out families in our church with taking care of their children and cleaning etc...
7. Continue taking care of our little vegetable garden
8. Continue paying bills, etc... for my Dad's business
9. Continue writing, but do more
10. One on One discipleship's with girls in BL would be great... Don't know if it will work...
11. Teach William and Matthew how to read
12. Help teach at our Home School coops
13. Teach a writing class here at home
14. Possibly a knitting class
15. Continue blogging
16. Helping build our Mona Vie business and building my own
17. Studying math (not that I like, but that I need it. :)
18. Maybe a course on graphic design at the community college
19. Cleaning, etc... here at home
20. I would like to do an internship with the Mallys (founders of Bright Lights), not sure if that will happen, though.
21. A missions trip
22. Continue supporting the missionaries in India that we know
23. Continue developing my skills in knitting, embroidery, sewing, etc... and learning new ones

And more. I don't know where the original list is... So I might have missed something on there.

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you all know that I have plans for my time here at home, and what some of those are. :)

(I do like to teach, as you may have noticed. :) My parents say that is my spiritual gift...)

Rose Ellen

Isn't interesting how God can bring together three people who have never met and give them fellowship through Him?


I'm sure all who are reading this have different views on women going to college: some along the lines of they should stay at home and work from there and learn how to be a homemaker and prepare for their future husbands. Others think that Christian colleges are the way to go and that's where they have been called to attend. And others like myself and my parents are all for any university, christian or not, that at the very least has a strong christian support group.

God calls young women to all different paths after highschool. Here you have the view of the three mentioned above. I have no doubt that there are many more out there and I wish we could have all of their stories posted here for you to read however as it is you the readers will have to be contented with ours. =P

To begin, my name is Rose Ellen. I am an exiting homeschooling senior in highschool. I live in Massachusetts and have been here my whole life. I row and I referee soccer. I also am a volunteer at the Junior High youth group, which I love dearly. As an exiting senior college is the next step for me. A very small liberal arts school, liberal in both senses of the word, called Clark University.

I applied to eight secular universities was accepted to four and ended up making my decision to go to Clark University based on the financial aid offered and the atmosphere of the school. I also applied to Syracuse University, University of MA Amherst, University of Rhode Island, University of Vermont, Rochester Institute of Technology, Boston University, and Fairfield University. I was accepted to URI, RIT, Fairfield, and Clark. I never got a decision from Syracuse (New York has very strict homeschooling laws so be careful when applying to schools there they want extra paperwork which is a pain and if they aren't clear about what they want it tends to muck up the decision making process for everyone involved.)

I'm going to be very honest with you all and tell you right off the bat that I really didn't even consider applying to any Christian universities (besides Gordan College but they didn't have any of the majors that I wanted). Where I am from, and perhaps this is true or not true else where, Christian universities are very little known and if they are known the academics are not highly esteemed. Even though I am not a straight-A student I knew I wanted to be challenged academically as well as spiritually (Please note that I am not intending to bash any Christian schools with the above statements it is just the general opinion around here. I have the highest respect for Christian universities academics and spirituality.)

Why Clark? Besides giving me the best financial aid offer Clark University seemed to be the best fit for me on many levels.
1. It is a very small school, the smallest I applied to, with combined total of 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students. Small school means smaller more intimate classes, being homeschooled the largest class I have been in on a regular basis was a co-op class of about 12 people. I am an intuative learner and for the most part learn things slightly differently from the majority of people. Smaller classes means for me that I will be able to get more individualized attention from professors and TA's which will be great and will hopefully help the transition from highschool to college for me.

2. It is close to home, I've been homeschooled my whole life and even though I am a very social, independent person I love my home and family. And to be honest have been known to get very homesick when away for extended periods of time. Where I am in Worcester will make me about an hour and a half train ride away from home and fourty-five minute drive which I think is the perfect median.

3. It has the sport that I adore. Lets face it, everyone has something that they really enjoy doing and want to keep doing for as long as possible. Crew is one of those things for me. Infact it actually helped me get into Clark. I contacted the coach and told him that I was a rower and wanted to continue in college and thought that Clark would be a good fit for me academically and rowing-wise.

4. Since it is in MA I will be able to continue working as a soccer referee very easily. Also, two people that i have refereed with before go to neighboring schools in Worcester so I should be able to get rides to work until I can get my own car. God is good.

5. It has a small but seemingly might Christian group which includes a women's ministry. I have already contacted them and they have wonderful plans and activities planned for the coming school year that I can not wait to be involved in.

6. When I went to a homeschooling conference I actually met two different people who are both at different, but wonderful sounding churches in Worcester and near where I will be attending college. I got both of their information and will be contacting them for locations/times when I get to Worcester. Again, God is good!

7. This is an interesting one and my last for now. I may come back and edit this, who knows. Clark is very liberal in thinking, it attracts liberals from all walks of life. There are people from all belief systems and nationalities there. I believe God can use me in peoples lives and also God can use all these people in my life to constantly keep me striving after God as He teaches me how to minister to these people.

All right, its my bed time now. Nighty-night. I hope what I said still makes sense in the morning. If not its back to the editing process.

In God's love.
~Rose Ellen

Hello

Hello everybody! I hope you're all having a good Monday (if that's possible) :)

I'm 17 and am in the last quarter of my junior year (woohoo!) and looking forward to graduating next year. By the way, congrats on graduation, Carissa and Rose! I know you guys are excited to see the reward of all your hard work!

I've been going to small, private Christian school since first grade. I'm taking all the basic classes, like Brit Lit and Precalculus, and Biblical Greek. I took Latin ever since first grade until this year, so I'm still thinking in Latin a little bit. :) I've also been involved with the school senate for the last three years, and a Girl Scout since... second grade I think. And I'm going to be working to get my Gold Award over the summer, which should be tons of fun.

Senior year is approaching pretty quickly, and I'm planning to go to college after graduation. I'm not sure which college yet, but my first choice so far is Covenant College in Georgia. I started looking at both secular and Christian colleges, but I was so impressed with Covenant that I'm thinking of narrowing it down to just Christian colleges. I feel called to go to a Christian college because...

• After going to a Christian school since elementary school, going to a Christian college won't be such a culture shock. Plus I won't be criticized for my Christian beliefs, which is really important for me, personally.
• At least at Covenant, there are under 1000 students- pretty small, but since there are only 80 kids in my high school and 300 kids in the entire school, it seems plenty big to me.
• I'll be able to take classes that I never had the chance to take in high school (like Spanish or Italian- modern languages aren't available at my school).
• I feel called to be a novelist, so I'm looking forward to all the English classes I'll be able to take. Plus, I can hopefully study abroad in England, where some of my favorite authors lived (C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, J.R.R. Tolkien...)
• I also want to take several businees/accounting classes, since I don't know what my "day job" will be. It'll help if I have a "regular job", own my own business, or become a stay-at-home mom.
• That's all I can think of so far, but I'll add more later!

I hope y'all have a good week!

It's Carissa!

Well, here I am, diving in and getting this started!

I am 18, soon to be 19, and graduating in a few days. We are going to do a graduation "Thing" at a church with some friends. My cap and gown are forest green and my tassel is forest green and silver. The plates, etc... will also be green. Guess what my favorite color is? :)

Our family has done tons of reading, several homeschool coops (science and history, mostly), workbooks (different curriculum's), some self-directed study (for example, I learned some Japanese, and also did many keepers at home topics on my own), field trips, Presidential physical fitness program, and more. So there's an overview of our type of homeschooling--pretty much some of everything. :)

I am planning on staying at home, helping out and learning more here.

Yes, it's not a normal route-- but then, neither has been the rest of my life. :)

I feel this is the best option for me at this point for several reasons:

1. I belive God has called me to be a wife and mother, and I feel that I can best prepare myself here at, well, a home.
2. I feel that I will be better protected from the world's negative influences.
3. I know that my family (especially one of my little sisters) would be very sad if I left right now
4. I know also that they need my help here at home, and that I want to have that character building from helping out
5. I know that with the internet, library, amazing friends, extremly intelligent father :), tons of books, a communtity college nearby, and more will make it very easy to continue my learning.
6. I will also be able to continue leading Bright Lights
7. And more. I shall add more as I think of more. I have to go right now-- I will look forward to more entries soon!

Welcome to "What's Next??"

Here, we hope you will learn about the different options you have after high school, and the reasons why you might choose one or another. We hope that this site is a blessing and encouragement to you, and one that helps you think about why you are doing what you are doing. We hope that you will have purpose in your after high school years, and that you will use them to the upmost for the glory of God. These years are so valuable-- let's use them wisely!