Today I went to the University Career Services’ Junior Jumpstart conference. We boarded the busses at 9:20 this morning and got back around 6:20. I’m COMPLETELY exhausted. Within the first hour of being there, we were in a session on interviewing techniques. I was in a small group with only one other student and then a business-sector interviewing specialist who was giving us pointers. I didn’t realize we were going to be doing mock-interview types of questions while we were there. Even though I was caught off-guard, I think I presented myself well. I know I have some interviewing sections to improve, but at least I know which ones those are now.

The second session was on Networking. No, not computer networking (even though I’m good at that too). It was funny what stuff they emphasized. They taught us how to balance a cup and plate of food while also smoothly shaking hands and exchanging business cards at the same time. I guess this is probably a good skill to have; however, probably not for ministry. My philosophy on networking is that if someone has a conversation with me, there’s a good chance I’ll remember his or her name for a long time. If they want to make sure they remember mine, they can ask for a card (which I usually have). I’m not, however, going to practice these exchange techniques for networking-on-the-fly. My problem with this style of networking is that it is so ‘professional’ that a relationship is not formed and it does not feel genuine. I saw a person try a similar networking style this summer in Boston. He made sure to go around and get the cell phone numbers of most of the people he saw. Once he asked for their number, he’d then ask their name and introduce himself. Let’s just say I wasn’t that impressed.

The ‘career’ intuition tells us that this type of networking is what gets people hired. I’m not counting on it. The lunch session of the conference was good. I sat at a table with an Advertising/Public Relations person who worked for the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation. She offered us some fun stories of how she got into the job and how it was third in a line of them that just always fell into place for her.

After the luncheon, I sat on a session that guided students in how to look and prepare for graduate schools. It had such an emphasis on Law, Medical, and Business schools that several things didn’t apply. My applications aren’t due 10 months before I start the semester. In fact, most seminaries deadlines aren’t until March preceding fall admissions. To their credit, there was some helpful advice for asking for letters of recommendation and making it as easy on professors/others as possible.

Once I finished the graduate school info session I went to one on how to dress for success. A professor who teaches for TCU’s Fashion, Design and Textiles (or something like that) department led the workshop. It was somewhat strange since I was the only student in there and the other three participants were all women over the age of 40, two of whom worked for University Career Services. It was funny hearing about what items would make most employers immediately judge as lacking moral character. Body piercing, tattoos, and visible undergarment lines could be such taboos that show a lack of moral judgment. There was some helpful advice for me on how to carry multiple electronic accessories without doing the geek thing of wearing them all on the belt.

The final event of the day, the keynote, was the redeeming part of the conference. Throughout the event, everyone was propagating a strictly teleological message. We were to know what we wanted to do at all times and where we were going. If we did not have a destination, then we would fall to the side and not rise up to our full potential. The interviewing and networking sessions especially emphasized knowing everything you wanted before even talking with others since if you probably would not make a good impression. The keynote speaker, a TV and radio personality from the DFW market for almost 24 years, told us that if we are always willing to say yes and explore our passions, then things would work out and we could worry and fear less about the future and instead just work on making the present better. Her message was so refreshing since it was such a contrast to what we were hearing earlier. While it’s good to present ourselves well, there’s of benefit in not knowing what lies ahead and where specifically we’re going. Sometimes surprises can happen along the way that make it all worth it.

Overall, the keynote session redeemed the conference. I learned bits and pieces throughout the day, but overall it wasn’t as applicable to my situation as I’d hoped it might be. The entire ethos of ministerial employment and hiring practices isn’t congruent in many ways with that of the corporate world. Ministers who readily hand out business cards are too aggressive. One can have a phenomenal resume and still be a lousy pastor. One can say all of the right things to a congregation and the situation may still not be as good as possible. Do seminaries offer these types of events specifically aimed at students going into ministry? That may play a factor in where I decide to go. We’ll see!

I kept asking myself during the day if I would recommend that other Religion students go to these types of events. While I didn’t get as much out of it as I’d hoped, looking back on most Religion students they’re not like me. I’m specifically thinking of many of the graduates in 2004 that really could have used some of the interviewing and self-promotional skills that the conference offered. While I get sick of those so self-centered that one can barely relate to them, I also get sick of TCU Religion majors graduating and blaming the department because they haven’t found jobs or are just wandering around directionless. There are so many benefits in having self-initiative and grounding compassion and connections.

How does one measure progress? For college students it has to be one class at a time. Today was so draining, yet also so fulfilling. I had 8.5 hours of class as well as a meeting afterwards. In those hours were also two tests. Let’s start at the beginning.

Last night I’d been planning on relaxing and just hanging out since I didn’t have anything to do for Valentine’s. I did this and got so many things done. I remembered right after dinner that my application for studying abroad in Florence was due. I filled that out and wrote my essay for it in under an hour. I then finished outlining some of the key points for our reading by James Cone for Senior Seminar in Religion. After I finished that, I wrote up my weekly journal post and did some other reading. Well, I knew that I had my exam in Major British Writers this morning and I figured that I would lie down and read my notes and then go to sleep. I’d completely forgotten that Dr. Frye had given out a study guide for it. This wasn’t a normal study guide of concepts to know; it was the full-blown essay questions! He said that he wanted us to bring in an outline of our essay and be ready for the identifications he was going to ask us. There went my plans for just reading in bed. I started this at 11:30 and finished with it all around 2am; at least I felt adequately prepared!

The test went very well. I enjoyed writing some humorous responses to some of the questions and I was also able to tie in Greek and German stuff that I knew. Yeah, it’s Major British Writers, although it still ties in! After that, I normally wouldn’t have class; however, because of my project in my Directed Study in Greek, I sat in on Dr. Schmidt’s class on Paul and the Early Church. Between that and Buddhism I handed in my application for the Florence program and prepared myself for the rest of the day. Buddhism was especially mentally taxing today since we did a lot of philosophy stuff!

In my Photography lab, I developed a couple of the pictures I took of Mason (one of my roommates) skateboarding this weekend. I went from the Lab to a test in Sports Nutrition, then met Jessica (one of my friends from Catholic Community) for dinner and then we both went on to meetings. What a day! I’m almost completely drained, and have SO much to do before tomorrow morning, but I’m loving almost every bit of it. Now to go work out at the Rec. Center and prep for the Trail.

Do you ever hit one of those stages where you wonder what the point is to everything? I hit one of those stages this past week. Starting on Friday night and going through until Wednesday my sleep schedule was insane. I’d hit bursts of energy at 2am and keep going. I’d set my alarm, wake up, fall back to sleep; or, worse yet, I’d sleep through two alarms that I set. My days seemed full of work and were incredibly tedious. I wasn’t enjoying much that I was doing and it seemed like I should have had a passion, or at least been enthused, for what I was doing.

I did face an issue when I let my attitude infect my reading of the Senior Seminar text for this week. I really didn’t appreciate the author or his style. W.C. Smith’s What is Scripture? is a very long and boring reading. Too often I kept asking myself, “What’s his point?!?” Not only could I not figure out at first what he was trying to say, but I also couldn’t figure out who he was trying to say it to. It didn’t seem like he had an audience in mind. Dr. Camp did a great job of explaining his argument to us in class and different ways that the argument could address many of the extremes in Religion. She explained the trilateral relationship he defined scripture as: a connection between people, texts (material) and transcendence. The way I let my attitude cloud my judgment was that I still challenged WHY he wrote it. I guess I implicitly asked why we had to read it too. I think it’s possible to be able to study Religion and to understand scripture without having to be able to articulate the tri-partite relationship that Smith explored. One can understand the meaning of the scripture, the value that the community, which regards it as scripture, gives it, and the way it affects the community without having to articulate this relationship. This may be my downfall. I’ve let my attitude rule my judgment and I’ve decided that I think Smith was going the motions and getting it printed. I don’t see a purpose for this work. Who’s he trying to change or convince or even impact? Is he trying to affect historians? Possibly, but probably not. Is he trying to affect ministers? If so, he would have to have done it in SUCH a different way. Is he trying to affect religious zealots? They’re probably not going to read it. Some of my peers tried to convince me that this will have the trickle-down effect with the educational system and will greatly affect the people Smith was trying to reach. I’m not convinced. If a class of 18 people, who read it once, didn’t understand his meaning without the professor explaining it step-by-step, then we probably aren’t going to read it again and we probably won’t be suggesting this as good reading to others. I don’t think it’ll trickle down. Given the meaning that Dr. Camp explained to us, I kind of hope it does. The message seems to be valid and needed. I don’t think Smith’s writing will do it.

Besides just feeling like Smith is going through the motions, I feel like I am too. In Buddhism this week, I had to write a paper. I did it at the last minute, and wrote a good one. I’d been thinking on it for a week, but it still wasn’t something that I invested in as much as I should have. I was just going through an academic exercise and not worrying that much about the implications or even the process. I was kind of on auto-pilot. While I guess it’s good that I can succeed while going through life with little personal commitment, shouldn’t there be more? Shouldn’t I be living for something else? Obviously, the answer of God comes up, and my dry retort is that this entire process is helping me grow to serve God better. But still, am I getting as much out of this as I should be? Am I reaching my full potential? Why do I keep asking with myself as the focus? That may be the key. The nice thing is that when I get into these static periods of life that keep cruising along at the same velocity, something usually changes the pace without my noticing it. I’ll keep my eyes open!

I, Adam Frieberg, do solemnly swear to never again disparage the use of footnotes. While I reserve the right to critique those who use copious amounts of footnotes, I hereby recognize that footnotes have their purposes. My actions earlier in Senior Seminar of labeling the students who read footnotes as overachievers was completely uncalled for and for that I am truly sorry. The Almighty must have concurred because the reading assignment tonight for Dr. Frye’s Major British Writers class was to read “The Knight’s Tale” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in MIDDLE ENGLISH! I humbly recognize that footnotes can be my friend and that in this case having three or four footnotes per line of prose is indeed called for, in order to adequately convey whatever the hell the author was trying to say. I now must apologize for previously using the word ‘hell’ because Microsoft Word definitely just flagged it with a green squiggle line. Oh how I long for easy ways to read footnotes, much like the ever-increasing simplicity of composing copious amounts of college prose using the computer. On this night, on this late hour, I assert that footnotes are not foes and should be given full status as valid stylistic devices.

love Minister’s Week. It’s my recharge after the hasty start of my spring semesters. Every year Brite and TCU and University Christian Church put on a four-day event for ministers to come and gather. They have lectures during the days by great ministers and scholars in addition to worship services at night. I love it because it’s such a different pace for my nights where I can reflect and reexamine moments.

Today Belva and I went to lunch at the Spiral Diner. For those who don’t know, the Spiral Diner is a completely vegan restaurant in Ft. Worth. I had a wonderful parmesan wrap that was delicious. It was fun catching up with Belva and remembering my times in Boston and the wonderful community that I miss. It was also fun for Belva to come back down to Ft. Worth since she went to school here for both her undergraduate studies and Brite for seminary. She’s showing me that she’s another example of a great person who does wonderful ministry in a non-traditional setting who went to her alma-mater for both undergraduate and graduate studies. Hmmm … who knows!

Tonight Richard came with me to the worship service. It was great since he had no idea what to expect. After the service I introduced him to Belva and we talked with Stuart for a while. (Stuart had walked in at the end of the service because his Dad was there; no, he made it clear that he didn’t and wouldn’t have wanted to sit through the whole service). What was even better is that I talked with Sharon Beacond on the way out and I introduced Richard to her and her parents. Richard and Sharon’s mom talked for quite a while about Houston (Richard’s hometown) and I talked with Sharon and then Dottie came up and another round of introductions ensued! The best was Richard’s comment as we were walking back to the apartment: “There were SO many nice people there. They are genuinely nice. I love talking to people who aren’t in college.” In that one service (and really the time afterwards more than in the service), Richard experienced why I love South Hills so much. We talked about why we love the age diversity and how it just enriches our lives. AHHHH —- I love life! Minister’s week is great because it grounds me and refreshes my perspective on humanity!