Campus Ministry Archives - Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation

Look Around!

myers — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 08:00:06 +0000

Uncovering Vocation Series

Uncovering Vocation is a partnership between��Campus Ministry��and the��Christensen Center for Vocation��at Augsburg University. Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, a member of the Augsburg community is invited to share a component of their vocation story. It has become a way of building community, becoming reacquainted with one another, and celebrating the diversity of people and vocations that make Augsburg University the beautiful place��it is.

Our most recent Uncovering Vocation talk was given on Tuesday April 9, 2024 by Dr. Kristen Chamberlain from our department of Communication Studies, Film, and New Media. Kristen earned her PhD in Communication Studies from North Dakota State University in 2007. She has been teaching a variety of classes as part of the Department of Communication Studies, Film, and New Media since the fall of 2007. Kristen is particularly passionate about environmental communication and has identified as an environmentalist since 9th grade. She is also always ready to talk about the media, favorite books, and cats.

A reading from The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker

“‘Pay attention,’ Susan Sontag once advised a young audience; she was speaking of the creative process, but also of living. ‘It’s all about paying attention. It’s all about taking in as much of what’s out there as you can, and not letting the excuses and the dreariness of some of the obligations you’ll soon be incurring narrow your lives. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.’

To stay eager, to connect, to find interest in the everyday, to notice what everybody else overlooks—these are vital skills and noble goals. They speak to the difference between looking and seeing, between hearing and listening, between accepting what the world presents and noticing what matters to you.”

Is anyone else in here familiar with the movie masterpiece “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”?

In the movie, Ferris famously says:

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Of course, he then skips school, picks up his bestie, and then forces said bestie to commit an act of fraud so that they can get Ferris’ girlfriend out of school. The fraud includes borrowing his bestie’s dad’s Ferrari, which they proceed to take into downtown Chicago for an adventure.

The story of my vocation journey doesn’t include any of those things… sorry to disappoint. But it does include the importance of stopping, looking around, and thinking about the ways that you choose to spend your time.

I always knew that I was interested in communication and media. I have always loved visual media – especially television and movies. I’ve also always enjoyed speaking in front of others. I gave my first public speech when I was in 7th grade. I joined the speech team in 8th grade and even won a state championship when I was in 11th grade. When I started college I thought I was going to be the next Katie Couric. Shortly after starting my first class on media writing I realized that having to interview people for a living was a special kind of nightmare for me. The desire to be a journalist was born from passion, but it was the passion of an analyst, an observer, not the passion of a professional. I already had passion for my profession, but I had not yet noticed it.

In fact, I have only recently realized that my vocation has been a common thread throughout my life. When my kids were old enough to start Sunday School, I volunteered to teach my daughter’s Sunday School class. I did that for several years. Then, right before the pandemic, the person who had been the director of the Sunday School stepped down. No one else volunteered to step into the role, so I said I would do it. For awhile, I told myself that I did it because no one else would. But when I stopped to think about it, I realized that I very happily avoid volunteering for all sorts of things.

I’m really happy to skip out on the Parent-Teacher Association, the church council, helping my friends move, bringing baked goods to events, I categorically refuse to cut ANY dessert, and I have yet to sign up for scorekeeping for my daughter’s lacrosse games. But if someone was needed to step into a teaching role, I was at the front of the line.

So, basically, I was 40 years old when I noticed that I had been living out my vocation my entire life. And the fact that it happened as I was contemplating my choice to teach Sunday School provides a really nice, circular tie back to my first teaching gig.

When I was in high school I volunteered to teach vacation Bible School at my church.

That year, we were setting up each room as a different city from the Bible. We colored huge printed backdrops, and we created specific activities for each of our rooms that were themed around our assigned city. Mine was Damascus. The students would move from city to city, spending one of each of the 5 days in each room. It was a ton of work, but also a ton of fun. AND I didn’t it for NO PAY.

If this sounds like a situation that you might find yourself in – congratulations. You might be called to the profession of teaching.

This was the first of many teaching situations I would find myself in over the next two decades, never noticing that all of these situations were connected by a common thread.

My mom was my high school English teacher. I’m from a really small town in North Dakota. I had 45 students in my graduating class. I grew up a teacher’s kid in a school where EVERYONE associated me with my mom. People used to regularly ask me what we were doing in English class that day. There was even one guy in the grade above me who used to call me “Little Jane.” Hilarious. So, it’s probably understandable that I wasn’t super keen on following her career footsteps.

My mom knew she wanted to be a teacher when she was very young. She used to force all the kids in her neighborhood to play school. She was always the teacher and she always assigned them actual school work. When school started up again in the fall, those kids were probably the most prepared students in that school! She went to college, got her teaching degree, and spent most of her career teaching high school English.

I didn’t start out with that same drive, as previously mentioned, I spent most of my early summers watching cartoons. However, I did continually find myself in teaching and mentoring roles. I taught Sunday School, I taught swimming lessons, I led study groups, I mentored incoming students on the yearbook committee and on the speech team. I spent a week as a summer camp counselor at SPEECH CAMP. I probably got paid for that but I honestly don’t remember. It was so fun, I definitely would do it again for free.

All the while, I rejected the idea that I was going to become a teacher. My mom was a teacher. That was her vocation, and, after spending all my formative years watching her grade stacks of essays over Christmas break, I was adamantly against it being mine.

Then, during my third year of college, I had an epiphany. I realized, first, that the thought of getting a “real job” sounded horrible and scary and I wanted avoid it as long as possible and, second, I loved college and wanted to keep going on to Graduate School. This was the first time I considered teaching as something that I could spend my life doing. So I applied to grad school in communication studies.

It was not smooth sailing. I cried a lot during those first two years. Then, when I finally got things figured out and was feeling more confident, I was thrown off my game again. I vividly remember sitting with a visiting professor one evening. He asked everyone what we wanted to do once we finished our PhDs. Like many of us around the table, I said I wanted to teach college. After we had all answered, he expressed his surprise that so many of us wanted to teach. “A PhD is a research degree” he said. The clear but unspoken message was that I was pursuing my degree for the wrong reason. I struggled with this. And I struggled with the idea that I might not be doing something meaningful.

But I loved studying communication, and I loved studying (and watching) media. And I LOVED teaching about communication and media. I was constantly volunteering to TA a course or to teach an extra class. Eventually, I realized that getting the PhD was meaningful because it brought together things that I had loved for most of my life – and it made it possible to earn money doing the things I loved!

I didn’t teach swimming lessons because I loved swimming, and I didn’t teach vacation Bible study because I wanted to be a youth pastor. I didn’t want to be a camp counselor, either. I wanted to be a teacher.

So, in that spirit, let’s practice what I preach and bring this speech to a close by referencing the introduction.

Life does move fast. If you don’t stop to look around, you will probably miss something. Pay attention to how and where you decide to spend your time. You might be trying to tell yourself something. And if you can figure it out before you’re 40, all the better.

The post Look Around! appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

Surprised by Vocation by Joanne Reeck

myers — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 08:00:52 +0000

Uncovering Vocation Series

Uncovering Vocation is a partnership between Campus Ministry and the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg University. Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month, a member of the Augsburg community is invited to share a component of their vocation story. It has become a way of building community, becoming reacquainted with one another, and celebrating the diversity of people and vocations that make Augsburg University the beautiful place it is.

The post Surprised by Vocation by Joanne Reeck appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

Give Your Gifts Freely by Dr. Jennifer Diaz (Education)

myers — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 08:00:10 +0000

Uncovering Vocation Series

One morning about a month ago, as I was running around the house, getting everyone ready for school, when my 3.5 year old son drew an almost perfect circle on a leather stool with a bright red, permanent marker. When I came in the room he pointed to it with the marker and said, “I did not do this.” I frantically told him: We only draw on paper. And asked him repeatedly, “why did you do that?” He responded with tears, apologies, and a smirky 3 year old smile that told me he was both sorry and not sorry. I don’t think I will ever know “why” he did it but I imagine he got the idea and he couldn’t NOT draw the bright red circle while no one was looking. It was a little bit brave and I think he knew it. He definitely took a risk with his selection of media. But he went for it.��

After scrubbing the chair with nail polish remover, I crouched down next to him and said, “That was a very beautiful circle. Next time, please draw it on paper”.��

I tell this story because I believe in the idea that everyone and everything is a teacher. The story of the red circle is funny and playful (in hindsight of course) and it is also a statement about how I try to understand what each moment is teaching me. And what I am teaching others through my life and work.��

I have been called to be a professional educator, to study the arts and sciences of teaching and learning. In this life’s work, I have been a first and second grade teacher in multilingual and multi age classrooms. I have also been a teacher educator for almost 15 years. As my vocation, I do this work on purpose and with intention.

My vocation story doesn’t start with, “I always knew I wanted to be a teacher.” Actually, I have a story that involves dropping all of my classes the night before the deadline, self-advising with a giant undergraduate catalog in hand, and changing my major to Elementary Education with equal parts excitement and anxiety. On the day I graduated three years later, a former teacher of mine gave me a card that reads, “Give your gifts freely to the world, expecting nothing in return. Someday the world will surprise you.” My vocation story is about how I came to hear my calling by listening to what my gifts are, finding a way to freely give them to the world, and being surprised.

I have memories of a time in 3rd grade when my parents were encouraged to move me ahead a grade. But what I had in school smarts I lacked in social skills. So my parents were cautious of setting me up to fail in learning how to be a friend. I remember my first real friends stood out from the crowd in some way; Maria was adopted, Richelle was one of few students of color in our school, Noah’s gold stars on a class behavior chart didn’t quite line up with everyone else’s; and Jessie spoke Japanese at home and English at school. These friends were among my first teachers and I know they taught me to see one of my gifts: Acceptance. When I am with others, I try to see people for who they are. When people are with me, I want them to know that they can be their whole, true self, without judgment.��

In my first year of teaching second grade, the world brought me Aaron. He had quite a few adventures in my classroom, including one in which he stood in front of me during a spelling test, publicly and loudly declaring his hate for me. Instead of trying to fight against him, tell him to stop, or make him into something he couldn’t be right then, I gave Aaron acceptance. Perhaps that gift, which likely appeared as a lack of response, surprised Aaron because he did eventually stop yelling in my face while I gave a spelling test over him.��

When giving acceptance, I have found it can be difficult to establish and express boundaries. Am I ok with someone yelling in my face that they hate me? As a general rule, no. Aaron and I talked about that later and I advocated for myself and for him. Throughout that first year of second grade for both of us, my students and I learned each other’s boundaries, what is acceptable, and what needed to shift as we learned and grew together. That year, Aaron was the student that gave the most hugs, likely because he needed them and saw that I did too.

In any learning experience, there are growing pains. I learned a lot about growing up as the fourth child wedged between 3 older and 2 younger brothers and sisters. In the midst of the chaos we called family, I learned to see another one of my gifts: Calm. My family still jokes that we didn’t need pets because we had so many kids. We tried to have a pet once. Her name was KC, a new cocker spaniel puppy that ran away; probably on the hunt for some peace and quiet! Like KC, I often found myself looking for a calm escape – making art, reading, packing a bag and ‘running away’ up the street to sit under a tree.��

Over time, as I sought out calm I also realized I could bring it back into spaces with me to provide a different kind of energy. Whether in classrooms full of students or in my own home now with 3 children, a husband, a dog, and a cat, I try to give calm as part of my presence. As a young teacher, I remember giving calm to Alex. For Alex, it seemed as though everything was too difficult, too loud, and too bright. Except when he was writing poetry. As an 8 year old, he was the best poet I have ever known. I think he liked the spaces we created in our classroom with quiet music and dimmed lights where he could write and become sure of himself without the pressure of rules.��

One of the dangers of giving calmness is that it can be read as apathy or not caring. Whereas some people give care by worrying, giving calm is the way I care about others and myself. In this, I acknowledge the tensions, stress, and contradictions that are a part of any life.�� Rather than trying to fight them, with the gift of calm I manage my expectations that I am not always in control. I can plan and must be flexible. I can be excited and patient. I can be passionate and steady. I can be quiet and lead. I find and bring calm to the spaces in between extremes.��

Not all of my teachers have been people. I grew up in a place where I didn’t have a choice about the form of religion that I grew up around. As a young child, I went along with the teachings, rituals, and unspoken rules. Yet, over time I understood less and questioned more. I argued with the logic and pushed back on the hypocrisy and injustices that I read in the teachings and ways of living that I was born into. My religious upbringing revealed for me another gift: curiosity.��

I have always loved school and learning. That is one of the ways I get to give and express my curiosity. And yet, I know that I am the kind of person that school was made for. I was set up to be successful in learning. As a teacher in my first few years, I met Sydney, Emmanuel, Jibril, and Jared. These four were among my hardest and my most favorite. They were difficult not because of who they were. They were difficult because school was not set up for them to be successful. As their teacher, I got to give them my curiosity and try to create new spaces where they could be seen as something other than kids who didn’t care, couldn’t get it, or would always be in trouble.��

Giving curiosity can often be read as being contrary. I am ok with being a contrarian. In fact, my parents always thought I would be a lawyer because of my ability to argue. When I ask, “Why does it have to be that way?” I won’t accept, “Because that’s how it has always been done,” as an answer. I know that curiosity is a privilege. That’s why I consider it one of the most important gifts I have received and can give. And I know I must give it carefully so the consequences of my wonderings are not destructive or harmful.��

As a teacher and teacher educator, I get to give acceptance, calm, and curiosity every day. And I have been surprised on the paths that I have taken. I have been able to take risks, make mistakes, and trust that everything that happens in life is teaching me something. Even a red circle in permanent marker, not on paper.��

The post Give Your Gifts Freely by Dr. Jennifer Diaz (Education) appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

Together in Harmony by Jad Habib

myers — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 14:31:42 +0000

Uncovering Vocation Series

I’m going to start by reading a few quotes that I find fit well in the story I’m about to share.��

American Author Jacqueline Woodson shares that “Diversity is about all of us, and about us having to figure out how to walk through this world together.”
Another American Author Audre Lorde explained once that “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
Howard Schultz, a business figure was quoted saying: “I’ve traveled around the world, and what’s so revealing is that, despite the differences in culture, politics, language, how people dress, there is a universal feeling that we all want the same thing. We deeply want to be respected and appreciated for our differences.”
American minister and activist Martin Luther King, Jr. once said “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

The last quote by MLK really resonates with me because as a teenager, I came to the United States on a foreign student visa albeit not on a ship but I am indeed in the same boat now.

On that note, let me introduce myself, my story and why I chose to speak about harmony through Unity.�� I hope to show through some of my stories why I feel my calling is that of a unifying person.

I was born in the “République de Côte d’Ivoire” in West Africa known in English as the Ivory Coast, to Lebanese parents in a mostly French speaking household.�� I grew up exposed to Ivorian, Lebanese and French cultures and foods.

Fortunate to experience travel often and from an early age across Africa, Europe and America contributed to my desire to learn other languages and experience other cultures.

This, I believe, shaped the adult I became and person I am today.�� Experiences and friendships gained throughout my life have been varied and colorful in the most wonderful ways and have definitely been learning opportunities and growth triggers.

From an early age, I felt that desire to connect and bring people together.�� As I talk through some of my experiences, this will hopefully become apparent.

After arriving to the United States, I was immediately drawn to connect with other students learning English at the Pacific English Language Institute (PELI) in San Luis Obispo, California.�� Although my English was satisfactory at the time, I was required to take the TOEFL or Test of English as a Foreign Language in order to join the local 2-year Community College.�� It was a rewarding feeling to get a group of PELI students to break barriers by creating opportunities for all to connect through meaningful conversations, activities and games.�� I learned a lot about Japanese culture for example among many other things.�� There were students from a handful of countries from Asia, Europe and South America.

Shortly after joining Cuesta Community college three months later, I quickly realized that there was no organization on campus that connected the diverse groups of people represented there.�� So along with a couple of like-minded friends, I decided to create a club that would just do that. Empowered by the multitude of resources available at the time, I was able to draw up some bylaws and create the MCC or the Multi-Cultural Club, which was the first of its kind in that campus’s history.�� The MCC quickly grew to include over fifty members.�� Through activities that included folklore dancing, singing and reading events, ethnic food fairs, fundraisers and more, the club’s intent was in full display by exposing people to different experiences and cultures.�� The college paper also ran an article at the time to promote the organization and to encourage membership.

After graduating with an AA in linguistics, I transferred to a four-year university in Fresno, California.�� I stayed involved by working for the International Students Office, where I would welcome and assist International Students through their journey at the school.�� In that capacity, I was able to be part of many events that brought people together from all areas of the world.�� Again, I felt fulfilled by connecting with a lot of people from many different walks of life.�� The beauty of working for the International Students Office is that it was in no way limited to foreign students so that others could join the events and students from abroad could learn first-hand about American culture.�� American families would host events for all to join.�� It was a great feeling all around.

As a student majoring in Business Administration, I also got involved with organizations like the International Business Association and I was voted president of the Financial Management Association. Although I was not a Finance major, I took it as an opportunity to influence further the cause of promoted diversity I had started at Cuesta College.�� This allowed me to further promote inclusivity in a different setting and through these organizations.

While attending Fresno State University and probably because of my active involvement on Campus, I was invited to join a select group of students to a diversity retreat at a lake resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains above Fresno.�� There, students shared their stories and background and got to cook together and mingle during an extended weekend.�� This was a great experience I will never forget.

Another experience I would share where I wanted to embrace diversity was my enrollment in Chinese Mandarin classes.�� I had lived with a family from Taiwan in San Luis Obispo for a short time and picked up a few words.�� It was only logical that I should pursue another language I felt connected to through them.

As a French Citizen and before my last year at Fresno State University, I was required to attend a summer military bootcamp in France in order to push back my draft by 1 year so that I could graduate without delay (the French military was compulsory then).�� I ended up joining the paratrooper’s unit.�� There, I again met a lot of diverse people and worked to promote camaraderie and togetherness.�� As the pattern now shows, I encouraged my new friends to connect and share their experiences.�� Although it was just a summer, I stayed in touch with most for many years.

Once I joined the workforce in the late nineties, I tried to apply the same principles to my work.�� I often would create opportunities for people to come together and connect as I’m sure some of my colleagues here at Augsburg can attest, I do that every late spring by inviting all to a gathering at my house.�� I’m still in touch with some of my old colleagues like a team I managed at HealthPartners.�� One of my colleagues there once wrote a recommendation and I’d like to read a passage from it that I think really captures well what I’m trying to convey: “Jad brought us together and took a personal interest in us as individuals and a team. He brought cohesiveness and camaraderie and helped us become aware of our different strengths so we were able to utilize the knowledge of our team members to gain perspective on the issues we solve daily. Our team is better and stronger due to Jad’s leadership!”.

In summary, looking in and analyzing what I feel really is my vocation and from the few examples I’ve shared out of the many more I did not or wouldn’t have time to share, I would say that connecting, uniting and bringing people together as they are is truly what has driven me.�� I think that what I’ve learned most from these experiences is that regardless of your background, religion, creed, race, ethnicity, culture or orientation, you should always interact with people based on the way they treat you and others, based on their personal traits and character rather than their affiliations because although we are all different in our own ways, at the end of the day, as Schultz puts it, “we deeply want to be respected and appreciated for our differences.”

It is only fitting that I ended up at Augsburg where I feel we live these values every day.

The post Together in Harmony by Jad Habib appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

I shouldn’t be here, and yet, here I am tracking a calling By Dr. Sergio Madrid, Education

myers — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 18:02:12 +0000

Uncovering Vocation Series

Abstract

In this heartfelt conversation, we will explore the path of discovering and pursuing a calling inspired by a desire to serve and a belief in the goodness of humanity. We will discuss the ups and downs of this journey with empathy and honesty. Moreover, we will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each step and guide individuals toward resources within the community that can facilitate profound realizations.

Mi familia

The first human I ever loved and respected was a teacher. The first human who ever broke my heart was also a teacher. Consequently, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, and I never wanted to be a teacher. Although I understand this idea is contradictory, for me, it was as natural as breathing.

While growing up in rural and forgotten Mexico, I always looked up to my father. He was a respected man and a cherished leader in his community. The farmers, artisans, and elder leaders of this rural landscape always asked for his opinions. They trusted him with their children’s education. Yet, at the same time, this caring social leader, excellent teacher, and public intellectual would open a bottle and become distant and careless to his family.

I always needed clarification on this contradiction. How could such a remarkable man be one person in his classroom and another at home? Moreover, how can he always go above and beyond his line of work and demonstrate what Cariño is all about to his pupils? Cariño is this unique word we use as an endearment for any beloved person (e.g., a child, a partner, a student). However, at home, cariño went out the window.

So here I was, a five-year-old admiring a teacher and detesting one at the same time. I often time wished for a teacher instead of a father. Why couldn’t I be one more in my dad’s classroom?

Time went by, and I began schooling, but I was quiet. Beyond quiet, I would say, I was not using my words. I limited myself to observing and trying to make sense of everything. No one really cared if I learned or not; my first teacher was impatient. She wanted to get me out of her classroom. She took me in only after my mother and grandmother advocated for me. Still, she sat me in the most distant corner where I wouldn’t bother her or any of my peers. It was a frustrating and isolating experience. I even wish I didn’t have to go to school anymore: I hated it!

It wasn’t until my second school year that Magaly came into my life. She was young, energetic, and inexperienced, but most importantly, she wouldn’t take no for an answer and was not ready to give up on me. Thus, with little to no resources, she spent extra time after class teaching me phonics and language. Her lack of skills she patched up with carino. To this day, I am not sure what she did, but she left a profound mark on me. There I was again, admiring another teacher and wanting to be one.

Later, we moved to a big city on the US-Mexico border. I grew up a fairly successful student (Maths aside), wanting to be a teacher until I hit high school. Different factors added up and debunked this teaching nonsense: I was kind of a sports celebrity too good for teaching, the paycheck wasn’t the best, and it was a demanding, stressful career. At least, it was for my high school teachers, who had to bear with guys like me every day. Let me put it this way: I was not a model student.

Consequently, I signed up for Business school. Somehow, this made sense—business-big paychecks. Nevertheless, no one told me that there would be a massive amount of maths involved in the process, and no one talked to me about Accounting courses, Finance, Economics, and so on and so forth. As you might guess, I dropped out. I was miserable. I did not belong there, not my place.

I spent the following years living my life and flying as far as possible from teaching. I buzzed tables, cooked meals, did dishes, and even joined the corporate world as a Walmart associate; I had too many jobs. Remember, I was poor, brown, young, and restless back then.�� But you know I was constantly experiencing this discomfort. Something was missing, ‘besides the big bucks.” Something was off.

Since I was still brown and poor but not too young and restless anymore, I decided to return to school and better my life. So, I figured it out: I always liked teaching but wanted to be something other than a teacher. And I was good at sports (used to), so why not become a PE? I could train students but not be their teacher necessarily. Yes, I was still running away from teaching.

Years passed, and here I am, beginning my field experience. It was my first time in an elementary classroom in decades. And there he was, this quiet and gentle student with the most gorgeous smile ever. I noticed he did not interact much. He was limited to smiling, even when the teacher or his peers said something awful. Three or two classes later, I asked the host teacher: what about that student? He simply answered, “Never mind him, he is R-word. He is not really here with us.” I was thunderstruck.

It took me a long time to process that. I kept thinking that years have passed, and things have not changed much for us. We are still sitting in the darkest corner of the classroom, trying to get by, being good boys, and not interrupting our peers’ learning. So, I told myself, “I need to stand up, and I need to be on the right side of history.”

From that moment over, I never stopped. I finished my bachelor’s with an emphasis on Adapted Physical Education. Then, I went after my license as a Speech Pathologist, so I completed my master’s. Finally, I got my PhD in Special Bilingual Education with a certificate in Autism.

In conclusion, I shouldn’t be here today sharing with you all, and yet, here I am. After all the defies and adverse lived experiences, I had with the educational system and in my personal life. I ended up caring a little about education, and that was reflected in my whole college experience. I struggled all the way through. I skipped too many classes, and I failed too many courses. It was all a challenge for me because nothing motivated me to put in the effort to be successful and to do more than just get by. Even when I returned for my PE license, I still did not care much about education until I heard that calling from the last row and the most distant corner of a forgotten classroom. Only when I was ready to listen, to listen carefully. That is when I found my purpose.

After that, I started developing all of this work ethic and grit that I never had my whole life. Now I was enjoying it not because it was easier, no it was way more complicated, but because there was something bigger than me driving me. Let me tell you this: there’s something about having a purpose that makes us work harder, that makes the battle worth it, that makes those hours and the energy and the sweat and blood and tears worth it when we have a reason to actually work.

Someone once said, “Don’t follow your passion, but always bring it with you.” We’ve been told that we’re supposed to be passionate about everything we do. That passion is what we should always follow, but you know, the truth is there are a lot of parts of life that we’re not necessarily passionate about. You know passion is a feeling and passion is a great feeling. We should feel it as much as we can, but we’re not constantly feeling it. So, when you follow your passion, it can be difficult because there are those times when it runs out or you’re not feeling it. Then you’re starting to question why am I doing this work, but instead, when you figure out what your purpose is, what actually lights your fire, what’s meaningful to you, what’s worth the effort, what’s worth the energy, what’s worth the blood sweat and tears when we have purpose driving us that makes us overcome anything that gets in our way.

When I think of my calling, I think of an intense why that allows me to withstand any crisis. There was a lot of sheltered becoming a teacher they were all worth figuring out because that why was burning bright, and that why is still burning bright for me. So my question for you today is: What is your why? What is your purpose? What is the thing that drives you most that when you’re not feeling the passion, you still know that there is something meaningful worth chasing after? Then, I would also ask: how can you instill that sense of purpose in the people you work with? How can you foster that in your educators if you’re an administrator? Whether you’re a teacher, how can you foster that in your students, and if you’re a student, how can you foster that in your neighbors? There is so much power in knowing purpose and knowing that the work we are doing is meaningful. That’s why I started caring about special education, and that’s why I became an educator myself, and that is why I continue to be one, because there’s something about purpose and knowing that we have this ability to help, bring dignity, skills, and belief to our communities, to our students that could keep me up at night if I wasn’t chasing after it.

Thank you all.

The post I shouldn’t be here, and yet, here I am tracking a calling By Dr. Sergio Madrid, Education appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

Uncovering Vocation – Vocation Favors the Prepared Mind (or “How I Got to Augsburg”) Dr. Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright

myers — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 14:10:51 +0000

On September 12, 2023 Dr. Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright from Augsburg’s biology department shared her story, “Vocation Favors the Prepared Mind (or ‘How I Got to Augsburg’)”. Enjoy a video of her talk and the transcript below.

Vocation Favors the Prepared Mind (or “How I Got to Augsburg”)

by Dr. Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright, Biology

If you ask any scientist how they became a scientist or any university professor how they became a university professor, the vast majority will say they don’t remember ever wanting to do anything else. That is not my origin story. �� When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was little, I gave them a whole list: singer, dancer, actress, mother, (and when my mom told me I could check boy careers too) fireman, doctor, police man – I checked all the boxes Except scientist. Or teacher.��

And this continued, though not with much thought, throughout my childhood until …at the end of 9th grade, I knew exactly what my ultimate goal was – my vocation.�� It was time to register for HS classes, and my future was spelled out in all the electives that were now available to me, a high schooler!! Finally!! The next 3 years were going to be amazing, because I was going to register for every elective that would prepare me for my chosen career: THEATER!

I giddily gave my 10th grade registration form to my parents to sign, and family lore recreates this moment like this:��

Me: “Here’s what I’m taking in high school next year! Isn’t it great?!”

Parents:�� “Hahaha! No.”

Apparently,. I would be taking math and science all 3 years of high school to ensure “I don’t close any doors” with regards to where I went to college and what I wanted to do with my life.�� My parents said “You need to be prepared for any choice you ultimately want to make”�� There were tears, there was pouting, and there was acceptance…because I was 14.

The next year, in the 10th grade biology class that my parents made me take, my teacher Mr. Mitsch changed my life. He told my class a story about genetic diseases and genetic counseling and ethical conundrums and caring for people and I was transformed. I still love the theater, but my dream now was GENETIC COUNSELOR. I would help people understand the biology behind their genetic disease and help them with perhaps the most difficult decisions in their lives. 10th grade; life figured out.

From that moment on, I’ve been fascinated with biology — especially biology related to human health. Long story short: I went to college to get a biology degree on my way to being a genetic counselor. I chose a liberal arts school (College Saint Benedict – I’m not completely giving up theater!) and, during my time there, I did a summer internship — what we would call an Augsburg Experience — and discovered I loved doing research. I switched my long-term focus from counseling patients to eradicating disease via biomedical research and switched my focus from genetics to immunology, largely because of the HIV pandemic that was in full swing at that time.

To be a researcher, I needed a Ph.D.�� I ended up having to decide between: the University of Chicago and Mayo Graduate School at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. They were both great programs, and I loved Chicago, but Chicago required me to teach undergraduates to earn some of my stipend/payment.�� Mayo did not.�� I had no, absolutely no, positively no interest in teaching in any form. I chose Mayo.

Parents: Are you sure? What if you find out you like it? Like biology in 10th grade? Maybe you’ll find you really enjoy it.

Me: Hahahahahahaha. No.

Narrator: This decision, at 21 years old, marks the beginning of Jennifer’s avoidance of discovering her vocation Yet, as you’ll soon hear, it kept finding her.

During graduate school, I got to be a mentor for the first time – to an immunology professor from St. Olaf, Ted Johnson (spoiler alert – he graduated from Augsburg). This man was beloved by his students – he was living his vocation as a professor. As we worked together and I trained him on the new techniques my lab was doing, he asked whether I had ever considered teaching, because I seemed to have a real knack for it – he thought I would be great in the classroom.��

My response: Hahahahahahaha. No.

I got my Ph.D. and moved to a different lab to do research on asthma and allergies. My new boss, Jerry Gleich, M.D. saw me present scientific articles and results several times and often complimented me on my “gift” for being able to explain complicated ideas very clearly – he asked if I had ever considered teaching since I seemed to have a gift for it.

My response: Hahahahahaha. No.

I began working with SURF students (undergraduates doing summer research) and LOVED it.�� They told me they would love to have a professor like me – did I ever think I would work at a University and mentor students in research there?

My response: Hahahahahahahah. No.

During this time, I also began volunteering with local elementary schools, the Rochester and MN State science fairs for middle and high school students, I was asked to lead a course in the Immunology graduate school program and be part of the teaching group in the immunology course taken by first year medical and grad students. I gave research talks at MN colleges (CSB, St. Olaf) and always connected with students and faculty.�� I was promoted to an Assistant Professor of Medicine because of my work at Mayo, and�� I seemed to really be drawn to (and good at) this whole education thingy-ma-bob. But I still saw that as “giving back” — I was a research scientist who could communicate, hooray!�� People continued to ask me if I’d ever considered teaching, and my response slowly turned from laughter and denial to…maybe? For somebody who said they would never teach I do seem to do a lot of it don’t I? .��

So I started looking at all my “volunteer” activities differently — had I been seeking out TEACHING activities? Why did I love working with my summer research college students so much? Why did I get more “warm fuzzies” from my volunteer activities than my research, which I also loved doing?? Had I been moving toward teaching all along, despite my best efforts to avoid it??!!

My response: Huh….am I supposed to be a…teacher???

Soon after this, I “snuck” into an education workshop for college professors of immunology (I was at the same meeting presenting my research). You know that feeling when you find “your people”? This was that. It was during the flight home from that meeting, when I happened to be sitting next to one of the professors that was in that education group, that – at 35,000 feet, I discovered my true vocation: teaching.

It took me another 5 years to figure out who and where I wanted to teach (undergraduates, at a liberal arts college in a city) and to develop my college teaching skills (and it requires a LOT of skills!). I taught a course at Carleton College, I left Mayo and taught full time at RCTC the community college, and I continued to grow in my abilities and become more and more convinced this is what I was meant to do.�� When permanent positions opened up for a biology professor at a liberal arts college with a commitment to student research in (or very near) a city, I applied. But it wasn’t until I interviewed at Augsburg that things really clicked for me. And it wasn’t the campus or even the city that drew me in: it was the students I met.

They were different from the students I’d talked with during interviews at other campuses. They knew what they needed or wanted from their professors, they challenged me and asked how I would provide that if I were hired. They talked about challenges they faced and what were my thoughts on issues that directly impacted them. I was in love. These were also my people. I left Augsburg that day knowing this was my teaching home and hoping they knew it too. Thankfully they did — and I started teaching biology here in Fall 2008, 13 years after I earned my Ph.D. I was using my Ph.D. for the one thing I was sure I would never use it for: teaching.��

So what’s my advice to help you find your vocation? I’ve stolen it from one of my graduate school professors, Dr. Vanda Lennon. One day she casually asked me what my plans were after I graduated. I said I wasn’t really sure and asked her if she had any advice on choosing. I expected a list of things to do, maybe a reprimand that I didn’t know what to do already, but she didn’t say any of that. She said “Don’t worry. You don’t have to know exactly what you want to do. Just keep moving toward what you love to do, and eventually you’ll find your path.” And�� she was exactly right — I kept moving toward what I loved for those 13 years…and I found my vocation here at Augsburg, waiting for me.

The post Uncovering Vocation – Vocation Favors the Prepared Mind (or “How I Got to Augsburg”) Dr. Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

Uncovering Vocation –�� “Spanked: The Sanctioned Violence”

weber3 — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 17:04:58 +0000

Dr. Christina Erickson, Social Work on January 24th, 2023

Reading:�� By Anne LaMott

My coming to this vocation did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers from what seemed like one safe place to another.�� Like lily pads, round and green, these places summoned and then held me up while I grew. Each prepared me for the next leaf on which I would land, and in this way I moved. �� I can see how flimsy and indirect a path they made.�� Yet each step brought me closer to the verdant pad on which I stay afloat today.��

Good morning –�� I have been a social worker for 30 years and I felt like that gave me an easy out on this vocation stuff�� –easy, it was my work – which I described as making the world a better place. Becoming a social work professor was a natural evolution of that original vocational path.�� I was set. No more discoveries to be made. What I never expected, was a mid-life vocation that would grip me for more than 10 years.�� Like Ann Lamott describes, I can look back and see how I leapt from lily pad to lily pad through the course of my life, never knowing that those experiences would become so important to a mid-life vocation I couldn’t have imagined.��

Lily pad 1…..My mother’s spanking – so futile, so “not into it”, her swings and misses.�� My own wriggling away.�� My father’s spanking – so scary, so shaming, having to stop himself because he was big and strong. My 3 older brothers spankings,�� – so harsh, so much anger in both directions.��

My family of origin, the family I grew up in, was happy, I felt loved, we were loud, we laughed, 5 children and 2 parents who were high school sweethearts, pregnant before they were married despite strict Catholic upbringings, we were fine and good and my parents spanked us.�� My parents hit us.�� They never hit each other, they never hit the dog, but spanking a child on the butt….that was acceptable, anytime, parental decision alone, no child input needed.�� In spanking, the perpetrator is always right and the victim is always wrong.

Lily pad 2….my high school boyfriend. We met in the tennis module of gym class.�� We were separated by gender (this was 1984) through the whole unit until the end when the ranked boys played the ranked girls.�� He was ranked first in his gender and I in mine.�� We had to battle it out, and while I lost handily, it was love, love.�� We started dating.�� 2 years into our high school romance I punched him in the stomach in my parent’s basement family room.�� I have no memory of why, but I remember the event vividly.�� My anger, my punching, the look on his face.��

Lily pad 3 – I go to graduate school in social work and begin my field experience at The Initial Intervention Unit in child and family services.�� We were the first social workers to visit a home or school with a child abuse investigation. I see the effects of hitting on little bodies. I see the pain and shame of parents who have to talk to us. I feel their struggle, I see their love for their children.��

Lily pad 4 – I’ll read a section from my book –��I suddenly saw that if I hit my kids, it was the same as hitting my high school boyfriend, back in 1986 (the other parent of my children by the way).�� If I hit them too, I would be the face of modern domestic violence.��

Lily pad 5 – I am captivated by spanking.�� I cannot stop thinking about it.�� Its nearly obsessive.�� It is like a veil has been removed, and I begin to see spanking everywhere.�� I am at the park, and see a child spanked for hitting his brother when it was really his little brother that hit him first, my friend tells me why she spanked her child and I am supposed to be supportive, on the news a child dies from injuries from their parent’s discipline, my perspectives on my children are clearer and I begin to see my own fears and frustrations shadowing my perspective of their childhood.�� Were they really naughty or am I scared or ashamed or perplexed for them.�� I start writing my thoughts down.��

Lily pad 6 – This place.�� Augsburg.�� URGO – Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity program. I decided I need to learn about spanking by using frameworks I understand – that’s research.�� Through URGO, (Check URGO out, this is a blatant commercial) I mentor a paid student researcher and together we study the history of school corporal punishment. From the 1600’s leading up to its current use today (19 states allow paddling kids in schools – yes, with a stick).�� I was really obsessed now. The student and I get an additional URGO funded research project – a policy analysis of school corporal punishment laws in all of those 19 states.��

Lily pad 7 – I keep writing what I see and hear and learn, I start gathering literature, and before I know it I’ve got sections and chapters and I think I have crafted a book proposal.�� I submit it.�� It’s accepted for publication.��

Lily pad 8 – My sabbatical – I go all out now.�� Lit review, ten 30 page papers I cannot wait to write. I smile while I write.�� My mid-life vocation makes me happy. My mid life vocation even saves me when hard times show up in my life…. It was my anchor, my prayer, my sanity in an insane world and an insane time of my life. Remember I thought my vocation was to make the world a better place,�� my vocation turned out to make me a better person.��

I spent 10 years shaping my thinking about spanking, revisiting what I thought was a benign event in the lives of children.�� I moved from “maybe we shouldn’t do that” to a full on belief that the legal assault of children is happening every day, in homes all around us.�� It has happened to most of us, and many of us have perpetrated spanking. I feel empathy for kids and their parents, and realize that whether we are being hit or hitting – it is harmful to both of us. It’s time to leave spanking where it belongs – (pun intended)�� behind us.

The post Uncovering Vocation –�� “Spanked: The Sanctioned Violence” appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers Reflection

weber3 — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 11:30:08 +0000

Saturday, December 17th

by��Kristina Frugé

Isaiah 7:13-15

Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

Isaiah’s words are to King Ahaz in Jerusalem. Ahaz is a ruler who neglects God and makes idolatrous choices that gravely endanger his people. Isaiah utters these words to him from within the context of an unstable time – the powerful take as they desire, the poor become pawns of the wealthy, threats of violence persist from outside nations, there is a loss of faith in God and distrust of one another, injustice rules the day. Sound familiar?

Despite the dire circumstances…the seed of God’s promise is given. In our Christian story this seed is fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. Immanuel. God With Us. It is a bold promise to speak into corrupt and oppressive realities. Jesus’ time, like Isaiah’s, and like ours, was deeply troubled. Yet none of this deters the promise of God from entering the world. Not in Isaiah’s time, not in Jesus’ time, and not in ours either.

The promise is for Immanuel. God with us. All of us.

May this seed take root in our bodies, our neighborhoods and all of creation.

May we embrace and participate in the new life this promise offers.

The post The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers Reflection appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers

weber3 — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:21:32 +0000

Thursday, December 15

Reflection by��Sarah Runck ’24

Romans 15:3-6 [MSG]

Jesus didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

This translation of Romans comes from the Message bible. I love how it dives into a deeper explanation of this text. It prompted me to reflect on things in my life that correspond with this verse.

First – the therapeutic nature of music. I am a third year music therapy major which means that I am building my life around the virtue of placing myself near the troubles of others. My profession is built around caring for others more than myself, in a healthy manner. With that being said I will “take on the troubles of the troubled.”

Second – the calling and the waiting. We never know what God is going to do next, but all we can do is have hope. Hope has always had a very special meaning to me. Whenever I hear that word, it reminds me of something I once read: “H.O.P.E. Hold On, Pain Ends.” No matter how long we wait, everything will be okay in the end.

Regardless of what God calls us to do, we will sing in harmony with not only our voices but our lives as well. Our song can be one of hope because God promises to be with us in our professions, our joys and our troubles.

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The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers Reflection

weber3 — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:18:10 +0000

Wednesday, December 14

Reflection by��Adrienne Eldridge

Isaiah 35:5-7

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

In God there is hope.

Isaiah 35:5-7 My favorite season is spring. Why? Because so much has happened in the wintertime; under the ground life is hibernating, transitioning, and getting ready to spring forward. Even before signs of spring are all around, there is a sense of excitement, possibility, hope. Soon there will be little signs of life popping up through the dark and wet ground, reaching for the sky and new life.

The book of Isaiah is full of both caution and promise. In Isaiah 35:5-7 the prophet foretells the possibility of what happens when the promises of God are revealed. As humans, we forget and do not always believe it, we are caught up in the hurt and pain that keeps our eyes covered and our ears closed. Yet – there is a breakthrough from winter to spring, a possibility that brings hope to the dry deserts and sight to those who have lost their way. We are reminded of the miracles of God, and there are so many metaphors for our lives in the present day. In God there is hope.

Adrienne Eldridge

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