The first post in a collaborative series on vocation in the first-year experience.
Looking back on our own first-year experiences as undergraduate students, all three of us recognize how easily our memories have been shaped by what came afterward. As Cynthia reflects on her first year (admittedly through rose-colored glasses), she recalls the lifelong friendships she formed, her growth as a writer, finding a home in a faith community, and—viewed now through the lens of a career in higher education—the first seeds of her vocation. What is easier to forget are the uncertainties that accompanied those experiences: wondering if friendships would come and questioning whether admission to a “stretch” school reflected genuine ability or simply legacy status. She also lacked a clear sense of academic direction, even spending a season as a political science major, a choice that now seems baffling in terms of vocational fit.
Those of us who engage students in vocation can be guilty of wearing similarly colored glasses. As James Lang wryly notes in “The Myth of First-Year Enlightenment,” the faculty members most eager to build transformative first-year programming are often the very ones for whom early college was transformative, mistaking their own exceptional case for the norm. The first year often feels promising for robust vocational programming—a fresh start, an eager audience, and tangible touchpoints for engagement. Yet we sometimes overlook that first-year students are overwhelmed with big and difficult questions: whether they will make friends, whether they have what it takes to succeed, and whether they have chosen the right area of study. And we discount that these concerns are formidable distractions from the deep work required for vocational discernment.
Continue reading “Vocational Formation in the First Year: Realizing the Promise, Avoiding the Pitfalls”
