A Call to the Small: Barbara Brown Taylor

The latest episode of NetVUE’s podcast Callings features Barbara Brown Taylor, a renowned author and public theologian. She discusses the importance of recognizing personal and external callings, emphasizing the value of small, local actions. Taylor encourages prioritizing life-affirming pursuits and remaining attentive to personal vocations amidst life’s demands.

Barbara Brown Taylor

NetVUE’s podcast Callings has released its first episode of the new year, featuring New York Times best-selling author Barbara Brown Taylor. In addition to the many award-winning books that she has written—including Holy Envy, Learning to Walk in the Dark, and An Altar in the World—Barbara has served as an Episcopal priest, a teacher, and a public theologian. For many years, she held an endowed chair in religion and philosophy at Piedmont University, a NetVUE member institution, and she has served on several seminary faculties as well as the theological studies certificate program at Arrendale State Prison for women. Barbara has been recognized as one of the most effective preachers in the English-speaking world by Baylor University, and in 2014, Time magazine included her on its list of “The 100 Most Influential People.” She has been named the Georgia Woman of the Year and recently elected to the Georgia Writer’s Hall of Fame. And beyond all these accolades, she continues to write and speak and serve as the caretaker of a farm in rural Georgia.

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The Power of Sticky Notes in Teaching Vocation

Teaching can be challenging, especially regarding discussions about vocation. The use of sticky notes emerges as an effective tool for fostering engagement and connection among students. They encourage manageable tasks, promote interaction, and help individuals share their values and fears, facilitating deeper conversations about purpose and community in a supportive environment.

Teaching is hard. Teaching vocation may be even harder.

It can be tricky to bring a new audience of students, educators, or really anyone into conversations about vocation. It requires true vulnerability—both among participants and from their facilitator—to get folks to think and talk about their past, present, and future; their values and desires; and especially their doubts and fears. We need tools that can help us speak and listen to each other, lowering the stakes of group activities while at the same time increasing engagement in them.

What if I told you I knew of such a tool? In fact, a wonderous tool—one that is inexpensive, widely available and almost infinitely adaptable?

person writing on pink sticky notes
Photo by Bruno Bueno on Pexels.com

May I present to you: the humble sticky note.

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Article of Note: Employers’ Confidence in Higher Education Reflects Value of Vocational Exploration and Preparation

In December, the American Association of Colleges and Universities released a report highlighting employer support for higher education’s role in preparing students for uncertain futures. The findings emphasize the importance of vocational exploration, informed citizenship, and community engagement, showcasing how colleges equip graduates with essential skills valued by employers.

In December, just as many of us were wrapping up courses and preparing for a much needed break, the American Association of Colleges and Universities released a report—“The Agility Imperative: How Employers View Preparation for an Uncertain Future”—that should give many readers of this blog reason to feel confident about the vocational work we do to prepare students for their lives after college. In conversation with Inside Higher Ed, Ashley Finley, AAC&U’s vice president and report author, said that in contrast to the skepticism colleges and universities face from many Americans, “employers are higher education’s biggest fans. They value the ways in which colleges are preparing students to be nimble and agile for an uncertain future.”

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The Myth of the Linear Career

The post highlights the importance of guiding students in their career paths, emphasizing ongoing reflection and exploration instead of adhering to common, linear trajectories. It illustrates various career stages and encourages openness to non-linear paths, underscoring the fluidity of modern careers. Future posts will discuss the concept of “coddiwompling” as a purposeful journey.

When I ask former students who have recently graduated how they embarked on their current career path, the answers are often strikingly similar: “I’m not sure,” they often say, “it just happened.” They choose jobs because they are available and seem acceptable at the time. They sometimes also admit, “My parents told me this was a good field to work in.” As a result, these students have begun their professional lives in careers that lack purpose and fulfillment, yet they still expect upward mobility and ever-increasing success.

In my last post, I made a case for encouraging students to engage in deep vocational discernment and reflection as they embark on their careers, rather than succumbing to the most common paths students often take in this moment: accident or happenstance, apathy, and social pressure. To support this process, we need to encourage students to view vocational and career discernment as an ongoing, regular reflection and reassessment activity.

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Finding Your One Thing: Discernment in a World of Career Noise

Students often struggle to balance passion with practicality in career decisions, influenced by financial obligations and societal expectations. Many enter careers accidentally, through apathy, or via social pressure, leading to dissatisfaction. Encouraging thoughtful reflection on values and proactive choices can guide students toward fulfilling career paths aligned with their true vocations.

a woman with rope tied around her body
Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

One of the challenges for our students in making vocational and career decisions is finding the appropriate balance between passion and practicality. While the pursuit of one’s passion is often considered the ideal, the realities of modern life—with its multitude of well-meaning voices, financial obligations, and family concerns—frequently necessitate more pragmatic choices. This tension creates a dynamic in which vocational aspirations and career decisions are continuously evolving and being reconciled.

Vocation often has spiritual and philosophical connotations. And even though we often use career interchangeably with vocation and calling, there are important distinctions between these words. Careers are frequently regarded as more pragmatic and of lesser importance, with the implication that vocation, and especially calling, hold greater depth. I would contend that one’s career also merits deep reflection and discernment. Today, a career is understood as the journey or path one takes in their professional life. While vocation speaks to the inner call, career offers a different context that includes steps taken to build one’s life’s work. Our careers, although distinct from our vocations, can be the means through which we express our vocations or callings. In this context, our careers should also be the result of deep thought and discernment.

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Mentoring for Vocation: Maria LaMonaca Wisdom

In a recent NetVUE podcast, Maria LaMonaca Wisdom discusses her role as assistant vice provost for faculty advancement at Duke University. She emphasizes the importance of mentoring in fostering growth and personal relationships, while highlighting the need for revision and change in vocational paths. Mentors illuminate potential and inspire hope in students.

Maria LaMonaca Wisdom

In the most recent episode of NetVUE’s podcast Callings, hosts Erin VanLaningham and John Barton interview Maria LaMonaca Wisdom, a leading voice on mentoring and coaching in higher education. Maria is the assistant vice provost for faculty advancement at Duke University, where she focuses on helping faculty flourish as researchers, educators, mentors, and leaders. In this role, she offers group coaching programs along with 1:1 coaching to faculty at critical transition points of their careers. She is also the author of How to Mentor Anyone in Academia, published recently by Princeton University Press, which offers methods and approaches to understand the mentor role. No stranger to undergraduate education, Maria is a former Lilly Fellow and holds a PhD in English; she taught literature for a decade at a small liberal arts college before pivoting to her work as an administrator.

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The Power of Unexpected Mentorship

Mentorship can profoundly influence personal growth, as illustrated by Ben Gambuzza’s experience with a music professor, referred to as Professor J. Their connection encouraged Ben to explore deeper questions about himself and his future. Through unconventional guidance, Professor J taught Ben valuable lessons that transcended traditional classroom learning, emphasizing self-discovery over direct career advice.

Scott Carlson, senior writer at The Chronicle.

Mentorship can take many forms, and sometimes we cross paths with people with whom we unexpectedly form significant relationships that prompt us to see our lives in new and different ways. Last week, in his newsletter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Scott Carlson included an essay by Ben Gambuzza, an undergraduate student he met in 2019 when he gave a talk at Trinity College about “writing, college, and the future of work.” After the talk, Scott took on Ben as a mentee, and when Ben proposed writing a piece on mentorship for Scott’s newsletter, Scott supported his efforts and published Ben’s essay last week. In it, Ben tells the story of his serendipitous encounter with a music professor who became one of his most important mentors. This professor didn’t always provide Ben with concrete answers to his questions, but he helped him refine the kinds of questions he was asking about himself and his future. Readers of Vocation Matters interested in the role of mentoring and vocational exploration will find much to appreciate in Ben’s essay, which is included in its entirety below.

This piece by Ben Gambuzza was originally featured in Scott Carlson’s newsletter The Edge, which is published by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Vocation Matters is grateful for the permission to repost it for our readers. If you wish to access the original essay, you can go to last week’s issue of the newsletter published on December 4, 2025, but you will need a subscription to view it.

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Understanding the Student-Athlete Transition: Opportunities for Vocational Conversation

This post discusses the challenges student-athletes face during the transition from sports to life after college, highlighting issues of identity loss, depression, and social disconnection. It advocates for supportive conversations about vocational paths and emphasizes the importance of understanding these unique challenges to help student-athletes navigate their new realities effectively.

The first post in series on vocation and student-athletes.

woman in blue and white basketball jersey holding brown basketball
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

In the third semester of my graduate studies, I realized it was not for me, and I needed to call home to discuss dropping out. It was the first time ever that I had not wanted to attend school; in fact, I had been looking forward to the focused coursework. I had always planned to go to graduate school, but what I couldn’t account for were my feelings of being lost and disconnected. I finished my bachelor’s in May and started graduate school in July, so there was little time to process my undergraduate experience. There was even less time to process the loss of my athletic career, something that had been a driving force in my life for a solid decade. I played three sports a year from the seventh grade until I graduated from college. My identity as an athlete was deeply ingrained in my mind—it was how I identified with the outside world and how the world acknowledged me. When I graduated, that part of me seemingly stopped, but I had no way to understand what was happening.

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Creating a New Narrative for Theatre: Theatre as Vocation

This post discusses the importance of theatre as a vocation that fosters community, self-discovery, and resilience among students. It challenges common myths about theatre being a frivolous or unviable career by highlighting its diverse career possibilities and the life skills gained through theatrical training. The author advocates for recognizing theatre’s true value.

A series on the role of theatre in vocation, with a focus on how it supports community-building, the uncommon good, and vocational exploration and discernment for all our students.

Lights up on theatre professor’s office. STUDENT sits across from PROFESSOR, tears running down their cheeks. PROFESSOR is used to this, has multiple tissue boxes around.

STUDENT

All I’ve ever wanted to do is theatre. But my parents said they’ll disown me if I major in it.

PROFESSOR

Why are they against it?

STUDENT

They say I won’t get a job, I’ll be poor. They think it’s not a real career, it’s just a hobby. They don’t take it seriously.

PROFESSOR offers tissue box as scene fades to black.

woman in white long sleeve shirt holding papers
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com
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Engaging NetVUE’s Big Read with Students in the Classroom

In “Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies About Calling,” Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore discusses the complexity of vocations, highlighting their potential for both meaning and pain. A recent webinar featuring faculty from NetVUE institutions explored themes of the book, emphasizing engagement in undergraduates’ understanding of callings amid modern challenges.

In Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies About Calling, Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore explores the “double-edged” quality of our callings, grappling honestly with how we live out our vocations in all their complexities. As affirming and generative as they can be, “deeply meaningful callings,” she writes, “are also often painful!” On November 13, four faculty members from NetVUE institutions explored this issue (and many more) as they discussed Miller-McLemore’s recent contribution to vocation studies, which also serves as NetVUE’s Big Read this year. In their discussion, they reflected on ways to engage this book with undergraduate students in the classroom and how its major themes can help them understand and contextualize the challenges that come with callings to work and live in a fast-paced, modern society.  

Webinar presenters included (left to right) Brian Bowman, Deirdre Egan-Ryan, Jason Mahn, and Brad Pardue.
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