The first semester of the High Scholars program at Belhaven University has become one of the most beneficial and establishing weeks for me thus far. Never uncovered more about myself, my beliefs and worldview, and the history of the world in relevance to the Christian worldview in any other course as this. High Scholars has challenged and pushed me further than I thought I was ever capable of stretching. The personal and emotion demands were great, but I the satisfaction and outcomes of each assignment is extensive.
High Scholars is a truly beneficial program that has brought excellence in my personal performance, educated me in new and creative ways, and developed my Christian Worldview with confidence. Satisfaction best indicates the pleasure in my performance in High Scholars and Freshman English. The amount of dedication this course requires was great, but reflecting on the outcome on the first semester, I wonder how I will ever make it the next semesters, but I am also deeply gratified and satisfied with my professors and my personal achievements.
The writing assignments have furthered my past understanding of writing and I feel I have developed a better understanding of conveying a message to a reader. For instance, in our first essay on the epics of Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh, and the Bible’s Genesis, I received a satisfactory grade of 90%, but the comments were unsatisfactory, on my part, in my mind. The comments were legitimate and they made perfect sense in my mind, so as the next writing assignments came, I worked with the comments I received and applied them in a way that I believe brought my points into action more adequately.
Although, my grade was a little lower with the second essay, I can truly say that in regards to my word choice, train of thought, and execution I proved that I had taken one small step to excellent writing. The reading and analytical process of the literature through the course of this semester have been more towards the mediocre spectrum of things. As we have been handed the task of reading ancient pieces of classic literature, I have gone and waited until the last minute to read the chosen sections. For instance, I read the compilation of Confessions in two evenings.
While this venture isn’t necessarily a hard one, the business of the week hit hard those two nights and I was not able to fully think about the concepts examined in St. Augustine’s stories. I did understand his message, but I am convinced that if I had taken more time to dive into his words and read them more thoughtfully, I would have received much more. As this next semester comes, and we read more pieces of ancient literature, I hope to take the time to thoughtfully read each piece and dig deep into the significance in my own life.
Our own satisfaction will never be satisfied completely, but it can be a goal that we can strive for. High Scholars has enlightened me in further topics than literature and writing. Not only have I learned the specifics of MLA formatting, analyzing pieces of ancient writing, but I have also learned that through these writings, I can uncover my own personal worldview. For example, in St. Augustine’s Confessions, we see that he was not satisfied with the earthly writings of man because he thought they were evil. But, as you dig deep into this thought, you see that you can personally gain insight from non-Christian literature.
We, as Christians, are not merely limited to the Word of God, because it is important to be exposed and understand other cultures worldview. This understanding helps us to develop our own worldview based on their faults or gain. Augustine did not strive to deeply understand the works of his teachers and their assignments, but he set them apart from his worldview and chose not to understand them; his fault has taught me to analyze literature carefully. Freshman English has taught me about the fundamentals of great college writing, but it has also taught me to develop a worldview that has God at the heart.
Studying ancient literature as a modern Christian student allows me to see the struggles of a culture, and bring revelation to the glory of God. The majority of the pieces read this semester had some sort of tragic downfall where a character experiences realization and then comes to the point of living with the truth. God uses our trails and the evil within our hearts to bring good. Our errors, flaws, and those of characters such as Augustine, Oedipus, and Aeneas bring light to the beauty that comes from falling. God always works for His own good.
This is the relevant to a modern Christian student. Though we have difficult assignments, late hours studying, and the fear of a horrific grade, we still have the love of Christ to fall back on a give us that extra boost we need to get going again; we are never working alone. Studying ancient literature allows the modern Christian student to learn from the mistakes of man and turn from them. High Scholars is an incredibly instructed course that has influenced my progression in personal performance, opened my mind to new ideas, and developed my worldview.
With each reading or writing assignment has come the anxious feelings of not doing well, but also the pleasure of finishing and finishing to the best of my ability. I not only have performed well in my mind, but new ideas about the culture around me and those past have arose, and this engages me to develop my own beliefs about ultimate reality, humanity, the world, morality, and society. High Scholars has challenged and pushed me further than I thought I was ever capable of stretching, but reflecting now, the personal gain is truly worth the push.