People Find What They are Looking For

Wednesday, February 23, In the year of our Lord 2011
Distance Learning Office, Caronport Saskatchewan
Copy / Pasting pre-written post, 1:23 PM
Weather = Cold, Windy, and Sunny


Over the last few days I have been chipping away at this post in my spare time. It is finished, so now I am posting it.

I have spent the last six years of my education at Briercrest College and Seminary. I found it to be an extremely nourishing place full of every opportunity for personal, academic, and spiritual growth. I was rather disappointed when a friend of mine said that people should not go to Briercrest High School because there are too many students who are only there as a last ditch effort to ‘fix them’ because they got kicked out of public school. I have also heard several college students say that prospective students should not go to the college because it is too much of a ‘Christian Bubble.’

I thought these negative critiques were a bit odd because there are so many positive opportunities for learning growth in both the High School and the College, more than in any normal public education system for sure! My theory to put these critiques into perspective is that people find what they are looking for.

If you are looking to be challenged academically, to learn a subject, and you put out the effort to do so then you will succeed. All the opportunities are there, all the teachers and professors are fully qualified, experienced, and authentically care for each of their students. If you want to do something that isn’t really covered in a class you have the freedom to talk to the instructor and chances are they can point you in a good direction and to someone else who is doing what you would like to do. Academically we are a very solid school (better than or at least on par with the UofR or UofS imho). Spiritually students are given every opportunity for growth as they are confronted by The Bible and sound teaching every day. There are also professional counselors, college and seminary students, and pastors that are more than happy to take time to listen and walk with any student who has questions or is going through some real serious sh** in their life. As for life experience every student has the opportunity to build into a community in Caronport, Moose Jaw, Regina, or anywhere they can get to. We work at summer camps, Sunday schools, soup kitchens, youth centers, rehab centers, old folks homes, many of our students work at Joe’s Place in Moose Jaw where you encounter ‘real life’ real fast. There is also a required internship for many degrees where you are required to work in a job that puts what you’ve been learning to practical use. TESOL students have gone all over the world for their internship (and were specifically invited to teach English by the government of North Korea) The opportunities are vast, and I can say without any doubt that this school is indeed a VERY good place for those seeking a higher education from a Christian institution.

Why then are there also negative views on this place? I think the answer to this is because people find what they want to find. If you want to find ways of complaining or blaming someone for something you don’t like, then there is plenty of opportunity for that everywhere you go in life, and Caronport is no different in that respect.
In the four years I’ve spent in the college I’ve noted that you can always find the group of complainers somewhere around the back of the room all huddled together encouraging each other to be miserable. They complain about the food, they complain about chapel, they complain about assignments and deadlines, they complain about Youth Quake, theology, philosophy, who’s dating who, RA’s, RD’s, School Leadership, and on and on it goes. They refuse to find good information and actually talking to the people they grumble against, but they are well versed in all the hate stories of other uninformed haters who refuse to talk to the people they grumble against. One of the strangest things that I have yet to understand is how someone who claims to have come here to ‘grow spiritually’ (or at least that’s what they put on their application form) can complain about chapel. As if a daily time of meditating on God’s Word, worshipping God with the community of believers, and soaking in some very sound pastoral teaching four mornings out of the week was a real drag. Especially since you have wake up so early, like 10:30 in the morning early. My only thought is that they must really not want to grow spiritually at all, because if they did then they would accept the fact that this is how things are, actually ask God to change their heart on the matter, and stop acting like spoiled five year old twits. These people may actually want to know God, but they want to know him on their own terms and refuse to submit to him. I’ve also noticed that these are often times (not always) the same people who end up not finishing a degree, falling away from God, and end up in unhealthy lifestyles characterized by guilt, pain, and foolish decisions.

Whew, now I’m a bit off track. Sorry about that.

So yes, people find what they are looking for. If you are looking for how to become a Wiccan at Caronport Highschool / Briercrest College and Seminary, then by golly you can find out how. There’s bound to be at least a handful of Wiccans or at least former Wiccans in the ‘I’m looking to be subversive’ flavor of the student body that are flying under the radar who would be more than happy to have a constructive conversation on the matter. If you can’t find any of those then there’s got to be a few ‘good students’ who share your curiosities and would be willing to compare notes. If you can’t find any then we allow you to purchase your own internet / read books to learn how you too can have spiritual power apart from Christ. Although these activities are heavily frowned upon and you signed a document saying that you would not do them, if you are looking for how to do it then you can find out how. Why? Because we are not a cult that blocks off communication from the rest of the world, we are a credible academic institution that believes in the Academic Freedom.

If you’re looking to just coast by and not be challenged then you can do that, although you’ve probably come to the wrong place to do it. School is expensive and the daily classes / interactions with students / professors and dorm leaders taking a personal interest in you greatly threaten the continued existence of a shallow Christian bubble. For those who are determined to not learn about the wider world and want to keep your life experience as closed as possible then you can still do that. And to be fair, it is easy to fall into routine and not get out much, especially if you are a person who (like myself) enjoys routine. If you’re looking for people who think like you do then you will find them. If you never aspire to look beyond that then you’ve created a bubble for yourself and it is only yourself (not the institution) that is at fault.

If you’re looking for drugs, sex, and alcohol then (once again) you’ve probably come to the wrong place. However, if you are smart, crafty, and subtle you will find all these things in Caronport. If you’re looking to be a belligerent fool who wants to argue about everything all the time then chances are you’ll find another belligerent fool to cut your teeth against, or at least a large volume of freshmen to pwn in order to make yourself feel superior. If you are looking to make money (once again) you’ve probably come to the wrong place, but with some good solid effort you can make money in Caronport. (maybe)

People find what they are looking for.

If you are looking to overcome lies, anger, fear, trauma, then Briercrest gives you every support necessary to do it. If you are looking to learn more about God and to know him, then you will find the school to be an extremely fertile place to grow in. If you are looking for God, then you will find him no matter where you are. If you are looking to be obedient to God and he sends you to Caronport, then keep a spirit of humility and an eagerness to learn, because God will use this place and the people in it to change you forever.

A friend of mine noted that when he comes to Caronport it really does feel like a bubble. The people are very friendly, there is little fear of any crime, there is no partying, and students walk around barefoot playing guitars on the grass in the summer time. Indeed, it is a bubble, a bubble of security kinda like a greenhouse where there is lots of things growing and being prepared for life outside. I told him that it’s also the damn scariest bubble you’ll ever be in. You deal with things in this bubble. Deep personal hurts and pains you didn’t realize existed. God grabs a hold of you and begins shaping you. If you are willing to work with God then this place is an extremely good place to grow in knowledge and wisdom. If you are not willing to work with God then this place is very frustrating and restrictive.

So there you have it. People find what they are looking for in Caronport, and I suspect this is true not just in Bible Schools but in the world as a whole.

Greg Out.