What Collegiate Seminar has Taught Me

Collegiate Seminar is a required class for all freshmen. Despite the popular belief that there is nothing to gain from this class besides good reading material (How to Stay Christian in College by J. Budziszewski and The Call by Os Guinness), the class could be life-changing if you let it.

Near the beginning of the semester, we had to write a "personal assessment paper" that discussed the factors that have made us who we are today. In approaching this assignment, I made a list of factors and ranked them. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) was at the top of my list. I was born with RP--an eye disease that causes night blindness and limited/no peripheral vision or as my biology II text described it: "apathy of the retina." Growing up with RP has no doubt impacted my life, but it wasn't until Collegiate Seminar that God convicted me to use it for His glory.

Whoa. It was like the light came on for the first time. I had wondered from time to time that maybe God has not taken away this "thorn" because He could receive glory through my unique testimony, but I never realized that by trying to hide it I was actually hindering God's glory from being reflected in my life.

The public school system has taught me to hide it the best I can by not assisting me very well when I was little and supplying plenty of embarrassing moments through my peers. For example, I was still required to take P.E. when I was little and participate in some of the games. Because I don't have very much peripheral vision, a ball could fly my way and I'd never see it--only feel it. Ouch! You can throw a ball at me, and I wouldn't know it's comin' (please don't try it).

Anyway, God basically pointed out to me, "Hey! How are you going to bring glory to My Name if nobody knows about it?" I'm pressing through and rising to the occasion, which is very good news in light of RP. I've come to realize this through other people's comments; I actually don't look at it this way. I view myself as being just like everyone else when it comes to setting standards for myself (I set a very high standard, partly because I'm perfectionistic).

If I come out of Collegiate Seminar with only this revelation from God, that's fine with me.