Tenure Class

As it stands right now, I have to really screw something up to not have tenure. I'm embarking on my third year, and I've slogged through the most worthless four days of my existence to lay hold of the golden status that grants me eternal job security. Speaking of worthless, let me expound on just how awful these days have been.

Theory. 

When will people realize that that's all it is--a theory. Tuesday began with the Oompa Loompa standing at the font of a multipurpose room in a local elementary school with her tiny hand held as high as it would go. But from the moment we went silent, she began spouting out every piece of educational jargon in the book. Jargon is all ready the scum that grows in the nether regions of any career field, but why do the high-ups feel the need to spout these vomitous bits every chance they get? Is it superiority complexes? Likely. "I've been to school for a thousand years and have lost touch of reality. Let me show you these complicated words I've discovered."

Blah blah blah...

Most of the time, it's not the argon that is in itself horrible--it's the lack of creativity. I hear the words you're saying. Try some new ones now. I heard the words "collegiality," and "repertoire" enough times that if they were pennies, I could have fed all of China for a week. Use a different word. Seriously. It's not that hard to say something different that means the same thing.

Practice what you preach.

There was one poster that listed either facts or suggestions to run a quality classroom. The first thing on the list was "The teacher talks too much." The instructor spent the first 45 minutes talking about her family, especially her son, Nicaragua Nick. The second thing on the list said, "Get to the point." Her 45 minute spiel was for a purpose (according to her). Nobody knows what it was.

On it went for four days. Four. Life hath not sucked so much. I may take some time on Monday to show some of the things we did to stay sane. But my battery is all but dead. So I'll have to post this.

Education: The Conclusion

So, I've hit almost every aspect I can think of when it comes to Adventist education (or all I want to actually get into). What does it all come down to? I would hope that it comes as no surprise that I don't have a solid opinion of the system. Throughout the weeks, the pros and cons balance each other out fairly well, really.

The potential of such schools is incredible, but the support of those schools is so small anymore that I don't see that they will demonstrate that potential very often (at least not in the Midwest). Shame.

I'd love to see the schools thrive again. Unfortunately, the schools are so connected with the Seventh-day Adventist church, that with their falling, the church is aching as well. I've felt for a while now that the schools should be cut off as if they were a rotting limb that would contaminate the body--and I still think they are contaminating. However, the good done at the schools is irrefutable. Whether it's for the student body or an individual student, the schools show and nurture in Christ in a way equal to no other ministry in the church. I may say all sorts of things against them in the long run, but I still love the idea. I'll defend them against many, and abuse with many more because they aren't perfect.

Whether souls have been also lost is something that people will have to answer. But souls have been won in those buildings.

Education: The Parental Perspective

I've heard a lot about private education, and boarding schools in general, from a lot of parents. And from those conversations, I've learned a good chunk about people in general.

On the negative side, I've heard a lot of parents complain about Adventist schools ruining their children. "I sent my child to that school, and they came back with a more foul mouth, and more destructive habits than they had before they went."

That sucks. But it's true as well. While I went to Campion, I began learning all sorts of new words and word combinations. I still remember some friends of mine swearing in the dumbest ways possible. "That girl is shit-fine." Sorry, Jon. Doesn't sound as cool as you would like.

But look at this a bit more logically. Teenagers are teenagers.

On the positive side, some kids need the environment of Christian education. They need a smaller student population, they need teachers who will see and talk with them almost everyday. They need to have the options of spending 24 hours a day with other people to build up some kind of social skills. For many, it is crucial that they interact with people who believe the same things. If a person watches the way kids interact on the campus of a Christian boarding school, he or she will see a difference from any other school.

My mother-in-law and I were in a discussion about the future of Christian education. I was on the offensive, picking apart all the little things that could be picked. But in the end, she said something that totally shut me up.

"I've watched my daughter grow and become wonderful adults with interests in God. They have made great friends, and one of them has found a husband that we couldn't be more proud of. I have never had to worry about so many of the things that other parents have to worry about. So whether it's about money, academics, or whatever...it was worth it, completely."

Education: The Social Perspective Part III

This is mostly a combination of the social and moral perspectives.

I always thought that people who were not Seventh-day Adventists were people that were not worth my time. They clearly did not have everything figured out and they were so wrong about so many theological truths that they were certainly not to be associated with.

This is the mentality that clouded my head until late in my college career.

At its core, Christianity is about love. If you disagree, take it up with God. Therefore, I should have been taught that people that had different beliefs were still people, and if they appeared to have no regard for Christ or other human beings, I should love them anyway. I never got this impression. With the addiction perspective, maybe my parents and other like them never wanted me to love outside my denomination for fear of losing me. Either way, it's a shame that I was in my twenties before I made any effort to care about somebody's soul. It's a bigger shame that people go their whole lives without reaching that point.

I talk with my wife about the tragedy of having so few friends outside of our Adventist circle, and it really bothers us both that so many people we know and go to church with have no friends beyond denominational lines. Somewhere along the line, the church has taught me and others that it is better to stay within our own pool and never spend time in others'.

The biggest problem? Relation. As a member of the church board and a deacon and elder, I hear a lot of talk about witnessing and evangelism, but so few know how to relate to the people in our community because we've never been plugged in. It's a religious prejudice that keeps us alone and shrinking.

Seeing how Christ spent so much time with known sinners and low-lifes, it seems so plain to do the same--to love as much as we can and as best as we know.

Education: The Social Perspective Part II

I really have been writing this week, but there was something about this entry that never satisfied. So I'm going to throw out the thoughts I've got and stop caring so much.

Culturally, there is something wrong with dating. It's broken, I think. I came to this realization after talking with some good friends that had their dating heyday before I was born (they don't like it when I bring that up). They talk about dating as being a series of dates and that's it. I don't see that happen much anymore, but I wish I did.

Going to a boarding high school, I saw that dating can be even more broken. In my years since attending, I see that the whole social atmosphere is unhealthy for dating and what that entails. The biggest problem: no dates.

When I started going out with my first girlfriend, we were a couple for months before we had our first date. The problem here is that I found myself latched to the person without really getting to know her. I think it's better to have to option of being with a person without faculty watching, without friends influencing conversations, without the gym as a primary hangout spot.

Not having the option of a date morphs the whole idea into something that is formal, special, personal, and private. The result: once on a date with one person, an established relationship of sorts is solidified. My mother tells me of a time when it was common to go out with three different people within a weekend. That was normal. If people tried that within an Adventist realm, the reputation of a person's honor would be at stake. A date used to be casual, a getting to know you type of thing. It has changed to something that carries the weight of commitment on its shoulders, often crushing at least one of the two involved.

I have watched dozens of relationships crumble after a couple that has been joined at the hip for years throughout high school because one of the two people never discovered how to relate to people. In college, they discover that the social rules change and there are more people that don't expect you to take vows before holding your hand.

Now that I'm not in the middle of it, I would advise high schoolers to not date at all if they are at a boarding school. The list can get lengthy, but for the sole reason of being confined to a serious relationship instead of a casual one is enough to be extremely cautious. But something about the Adventist boarding school culture enforces a serious relationship or no relationship at all.

Education: The Social Perspective Part I

I remember when spending the night at a friend's house was the ultimate activity a kid could partake in. Something about a sleepover forged friendships like nothing else. With many schools in the Adventist Educational system, rooming in a dormitory is most common for students. The best part was that it was like having a sleepover any night you wanted.

In high school especially, friends are your life. I can't imagine going through high school and having to go home at 3:00 and not see your friends until the next day. Therefore, boarding school was the coolest thing ever. With not needing to go home after classes, friends could really hang out with each other, building social networks all day, every day.

When the time would come to go home for a week, my friend Josh and I had rituals that would last the whole night. The highlights were making a homemade bean dip. The ingredients and flavor are now legendary. We would try to watch a movie at 3 am and not fall asleep. We would climb out the window and pee somewhere on campus. It's weird, but those nights have fueled more conversations and good memories than I can count.

During senior class trips, I spent a lot of time with a friend known as Billy Goat.We had known each other for a while, but never really hung out that much. During the week we spent in California, when some of your favorite might not be around, I found that it is less stressful to just hang out with somebody else. Billy Goat and I were not great friends, but we had a blast.

Of course, not every friendship works out perfect. Some of my best friends before I went to boarding school slipped away and we never reconnected. But being surrounded by so many all the time, I feel that my social skills were boosted and I learned to work through levels of friendship and turmoil that would not likely happen elsewhere.

Education: The Morality Perspective

For my education series, I plan on alternating between positive and negative days. So, here's a more bask-like perspective.

Whereas my education experience kept me from a lot of harmful and potentially life-altering situations, the message to a lot of students was one that was more dangerous than it could have been. The reason to not drink, have sex, do drugs, or pee on people is that it is not moral. And even if the logic is sound, there is no way to prove morality or fully show the consequences.

In connection to yesterday's post, I know many people who, once they were free of the clutches of church-mandated service, do all they can to show their churches how wrong they were. I had a lengthy debate with a friend last summer whose point of view focused on how the church and school condemned so many people for silly reasons. And with his discovery and absolute love of beer, he was doing his part to show that he needed no religion to tell him what was right and wrong.

He was right, of course. There is no church that can determine what is moral and what is not. Churches are, after all, groups of people who follow what they believe is the word of God in a common way that seems correct. I don't think I'll find much argument in saying that morality comes from a connection with God, not attendance in church. This friend, however, saw God and church as practically the same thing, and in throwing out one, he seems to have thrown out the other.

I wish that Adventist education would require more balance. It seems trivial to say, "This is what we believe, but really, morality is not established by us." But people need to know that it's not the drugs that keep you from the kingdom, it's the addiction that leaves you craving another hit instead of Christ. It isn't drinking that separates us from God, it's relying on the liquid courage to get through life instead of the strength of the Almighty. It isn't the sex that locks the the pearly gates, leaving us stranded, it's knowing that it can damage our relationships and not caring.

It is truly sad that people have dug into their ruts from spite. It's pathetic that people shift focus from a huge Creator to a steeple and think that He is responsible for their actions. I wish that people would re-evaluate why they have such contempt for legislated morality and move on to forgiveness.

Education: My Addiction Perspective

Throughout the years, I have been stuck, against my will, in many discussion with people as they debate the merits of private education--specifically, Adventist education. In these debates I often defend the cause of what is often referred to as "Christ-Centered Education." So, today I want to take the time to talk specifically about why I loved my experience at Campion Academy.

With time, I have recognized myself as a person with great cravings. Whether for foods or entertainment, my desires come fast and strong, leaving me to find the quickest way to satisfy my hunger. More recently, I can talk myself out of satisfying some of these (Ben and Jerry's is not worth that much money. or Log off now. Live an actual life). And what this all breaks down to is the fact, that I was kept away from many things that could have sparked a number of other cravings.

When I went to school, the idea of drugs and alcohol were so far from my perceived reality that I was certain that nobody ever really indulged in such revelry. Later, I found that one of my best friends frequently frolicked about in a stupor of some kind, but I had no clue. As far as I was concerned, drugs and drinking were not just for losers, but you had to be a weird, junkie-type of individual to even get the stuff.

This all plays a huge role for me. Since I figured any such thing was impossible to come by, I never thought of using or abusing any of it. The joy came when I got old enough to realize that coming in contact with any of the aforementioned substances might have created in me a craving that I may still face.

This is not the view of many. I have a handful of good friends that love their substances and they curse the church and the school system for treating these substances as pure evil (this while revealing anecdotes of how they were so wasted...then something happened...and it was so funny...but it's not funny now...because we aren't in a stupor). For me, it's not about the rights and wrongs of drugs and drunking--it's about keeping myself away from something that can become an addiction. From what I know of me, I could be swept away to a magical world of incoherence and fumbling about from which I would have to fight the rest of my life.

On this topic alone, I could go nearly forever as I recall conversations, circumstances, and friends gone stupid. But I will close it off here. Adventist education kept me away from things that could have hooked me for life. In doing so, I can honestly say that I have never had a drink or a puff of anything. As a brilliant friend of mine has said before at a get together, "What's great is that we have this much fun, and it doesn't require us to be wasted." For this mentality, I am thankful for Adventist education.