A Seminary Student's Perspective on Starting a New Semester

Last Friday you heard from Drew Smith, a college student at C@SE.  Today we have Jessica Stroup, a SEBTS Seminary student share her perspective on starting a new semester.  Jessica has lots of great wisdom to share as this is her last semester at SEBTS. Go ahead, soak it all in. :)

The beginning of a new semester can bring about a lot of emotion: fear, excitement, anticipation, you name it.  Everyone may have a different perspective, but there are some things a seasoned student at SEBTS cannot go without!

1. Get organized!  The best way to get the semester off to running start is to organize your planner.  Not everyone lives by her planner, but figure out how you can organize your schedule and prioritize.  Your planner may be your iPhone, Chick-fil-a coupon calendar, color-coded moleskin, or sticky notes scattered everywhere.  Figure out what works for you and take an hour or two to think through what your semester will look like.  You won’t regret it!

2. Prioritize!  It’s easy to let the semester slip away and realize you haven’t made the best use of your time.  Make sure you know when your big papers and exams are and start planning for how you will conquer those before you are up until 2 AM the night before crying!  Most importantly, prioritize your walk with the Lord and schedule how that will practically look like a priority in your daily life.  Additionally, make sure your involvement in your local church follows that because everything you are learning at SEBTS should be in the process of real life application through your local church.  Finally, don’t forget to have regular coffee dates with your girl friends and open Friday nights for spontaneous adventures.

3. Don’t stress!  A new semester can be an easy time to get freaked out about the future.  Don’t miss the present for fear of the future.  Get organized, prioritize, and most importantly surrender your semester to the Lord with an attitude of willing submission and gracious obedience.  Life is about Him, not you, so surrender that stress and look forward to see how you can participate in advancing the work of the kingdom through the gospel this semester at SEBTS and in the greater Raleigh area.

 

Jessica Stroup is in her third year at SEBTS and will graduate in May with a M.A. in Christian Studies.  She is a covenant member at Imago Dei Church in North Raleigh (the best church ever in her personal and humble opinion).  When she is not up to her ears in books for school or raving about how awesome IDC is, she loves to listen and hear people’s stories, preferably over coffee, Mexican, or dessert.