It’s the time of year in which our seniors are applying to colleges. At New Covenant we’ve always taken the approach that a college is a fit to be made, not a trophy to be won. Parents and students alike suffer from a bit of anxiety as they investigate their options for that next step. Questions about what to major in and what school might provide the best options, not to mention how to pay for it, are on the minds of our students in the class of 2016.
I talk routinely with our students about their next step, I use my senior seminar to emphasize to them another consideration. The college environment represents a potentially scary world where students find themselves away from home, making choices we hope they are mature enough to make. Finding a school where students can continue their routines of faith is an important component of the college selection process.
If statistics are any help, they are grim at best. Did you know that 73% of Christian students in college leave the faith in which they have been raised? That’s a stunning statistic. It tells us that the pressures students face are often greater than the grounding you have worked so hard to build.
To help our current seniors with the transition, I have invited Marc Corbett (Caroline-grade 2) to speak to our seniors during Senior Seminar which meets each Wednesday. Marc is a parent who works with Reformed University Fellowship, a campus ministry active in colleges across the country. Marc works with college students to plug them into Christian fellowship while they are away from home. He has extensive experience with the difficulties students face and he knows how a fellowship of faith provides stability to students who are away from the familiar settings of their communities of faith.
Marc will talk with our seniors to help prepare them for their next step, and to acquaint them with the opportunities provided by important campus ministries such as the RUF. Our hope is that we might help students maintain their connection to faith during this formative time in their lives.
