Make College Count , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Derek Melleby

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58 pages

English

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There's more to college than classes, credits, and a nonstop social life. It's more than getting a degree to improve one's job prospects. College is a time where students develop into the adults they will be for the rest of their lives, a time to explore the big questions about life and human destiny, a time when they form their character and faith.The perfect gift for high school graduation, Make College Count helps students make the most of their time in college. It encourages young people to ask important questions of themselves, such asWhy are you going to college?What kind of person do you want to be?How do you want your life to influence others?With whom will you surround yourself?What do you believe?and more

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 mars 2011
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441214577
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0374€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Title Page
Copyright Page

© 2011 by Derek Melleby
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2010
Ebook corrections 04.03.2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-1457-7
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.tm Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture marked Message is taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Dedication

For my sons
Jacob Henry, Nathan John, and Simon Van
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Foreword by David Kinnaman
Getting Started
1: What Kind of Person Do You Want to Become?
Following Jesus During the Critical Years
2: Why Are You Going to College?
Finding Your Place in God’s Story
3: What Do You Believe?
Taking Ownership of Your Faith
4: Who Are You?
Securing Your Identity in Christ
5: With Whom Will You Surround Yourself?
Connecting with Christian Community
6: How Will You Choose a Major?
Putting Your Faith into Action
7: How Do You Want Your Life to Influence Others?
Leaving a Legacy
Resources for the Road Ahead
Acknowledgments
Notes
The OneLife Institute Gap Year Program
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Foreword
I am a huge fan of young leaders. Much of my time is spent studying, writing on, and speaking about the spirituality, college lives, and career pursuits of sixteen- to twenty-nine-year-olds. I think this book is a fantastic resource for young people. Let me explain why.
For one thing, it will help you sort through an important transition—from high school to college. Everyone has choices. But as a college applicant and university student you’ll have more options than most. Not only do you get to choose where to attend and what to study, but these alternatives and hundreds of other decisions literally affect the rest of your lives. In Make College Count , my friend Derek Melleby will help you see that the most important choices you have to make are not merely where to attend or what major to select. He shows how the bigger questions—who you are, why you are going to college, and what kind of person you want to become—are the most important. And they are the hardest to answer.
Second, I like this book because it assumes young people are intelligent, gifted, and want to grow. Derek asks big questions, but he does not give you easy answers, even though the book is easy to read. He believes you will wrestle with the questions he is raising. If you are holding this book, you are probably a young leader called by God to be faithful in whatever school, class, relationship, or career you choose. Take that seriously!
Finally, I recommend this book because I know Derek Melleby personally. I admire Derek’s commitment to young people. He is a committed Christ follower who devotes tons of effort to help students make great decisions—about the big things and the small things. It all matters to Derek, because it all matters to God.
I wish I’d had this book during my college years. Having the right perspective about college changes everything. It would have helped me in dozens of ways.
Make College Count can help you make the most of your college years by preparing you in ways that go far beyond test preparation and social life. No pressure, right? After all, you are making choices that affect the rest of your life.
David Kinnaman author of unChristian and You Lost Me president of Barna Group
Getting Started
Y ou deserve a round of applause. The people around you ought to be clapping and hoisting you up on their shoulders. After all, you’re reading a graduation gift book. I graduated years ago and still haven’t even opened the book I received on graduation day. So, how did you get yours? Was it from a well-intentioned relative—you know, the one who means well but just won’t give in to the much more appreciated gift card? Or was it from your youth leader or pastor? Now, I don’t know your youth leader, but I do know this: a wise gift decision was made! There are a lot of gift books out there, but this one is the best. Just ask my mom. If you knew my mom, you would know that she is not the kind of woman who would lead you astray. Trust me. She’s an avid reader and has nothing to gain by telling other people how great this book is. She means it.
Perhaps you picked up this book because you are already in college and really want to make this time in your life count. Maybe you are early in your college experience or are looking for a fresh start. This book will be helpful to you too.
Why did I write this book? Good question. A few summers ago I was roasting a marshmallow at a family picnic. Seated next to me was my wife’s younger cousin, David. David was about to head off to college, and at one point in our conversation he said, “All the advice I was given at graduation only told me what not to do: don’t get drunk, don’t have sex ! I need to know what to do.” I took a bite of my s’more and thought, He’s right . The message most college-bound students hear is negative. It goes something like this: College is a dangerous place. Students spend their time binge drinking, doing drugs, and hooking up, and many Christians lose their faith. Christian students need to keep and defend their faith if they are going to be able to survive the attacks from professors and peers. The picture is grim.
There is some truth to this scenario, to be sure. College campuses can be dangerous places. There will be pressure to engage in social and intellectual activity that could be detrimental to your health and faith. No question. But if there is one message that I hope gets through in this book, it is this: Christian students should not fear college . The Christian faith offers a foundation and framework for you to make your time in college the best four (or five or even six!) years of your life. The Christian life is defined more by what we do rather than what we don’t do . My prayer is that this book equips you with a vision to make the most of your college experience by growing in your faith, developing lasting friendships, and thinking more deeply about your place in God’s world. But please don’t take this book as another lecture trying to tell you what to do. Rather, consider it an invitation to envision college differently, to ask good questions before going to college, and to be pointed in the direction of helpful resources.
One more thing before we get started. The following chapters pose the seven most important questions that all college students need to ask before and during college. I’ve learned that if you don’t take time to ask and wrestle with these questions now, you run the risk of others answering them for you when you get to campus. Cultivating an inquisitive mind is one of the most important skills you can learn in life. Learning to ask good questions and not settle for easy answers are habits and disciplines that need to be developed. I hope that this book helps you to think critically about college, about what is going on there, and about what is happening to you while you’re there. What you learn by asking these big questions will be more valuable to you than any particular detail that you’ll learn in the classroom once you arrive on campus.
As you are probably aware (and frustrated with to some degree!), much of your thinking has been done for you by others up until this point in life. Parents, pastors, coaches, and teachers, out of concern for your well-being, have poured their lives into you, providing just about all of the opinions and advice that you can handle. Now, I have nothing against guidance. Had my mom not taught me how to do laundry, I probably wouldn’t have had many friends in college. We all need to give more credit and thanks to those who have invested in our lives, even when we’re convinced that we could do things on our own. While this book is a guide of sorts, I don’t want it to be taken simply as advice. Instead, I want you to take these questions seriously, wrestle with them deeply, and begin the journey of becoming a lifelong learner. There is so much to explore, and college provides a unique context for this kind of mental wrestling match. Students who enter their college years knowing the right questions are far more prepared for college than those who think they have all the answers.
Each chapter concludes with interviews with real college students, followed by questions for individual reflection and group discussion (your friends may want to join in on the fun!). The last chapter is a collection of resources that will help you make the most of your time in college. If all goes as planned, this little book will get you to ask even more questions, and the additional resources should come in handy. Oh, and before I forget: some of those don’ts are pretty good advice too. I’ll assume that you already understand the pitfalls of too much partying. So don’t get drunk or have sex. And please keep reading. You’ll make my mother proud!
What Kind of Person Do You Want to Become?
1
Following Jesus During the Critical Years
T here was snow on the ground, the sun was shining, and I was on my way back to my dorm room after class. Someone was screaming and running around a tree. As I approached, I noticed that this per