In my new role as an educator, I quite often find myself reflecting back on the education I have had that has shaped my life throughout all levels. The one common theme that connects all of it together is the way that the Church has played a crucial role in the development of all of the academic formation I have had during my life.
Starting out young, we are taught basic fundamental skills in early childhood education that shape our emotional and social understanding of the world around us. We are introduced to the numbers that we will use throughout all of the math we learn and the letters that allow us to read and write for the rest of our lives. In elementary school, we start to get accustomed to how being in school works. Understanding classroom procedures, and beginning to comprehend some of those difficult subject concepts will shape much of our later levels of education. Middle school brings about a lot of advanced material that can really begin to frustrate students, but also a lot of biological changes that make learning that much more difficult. We really start to have a deeper understanding of the world around us, and many of our own opinions and personalities become firmly cemented as who we are as a person. During high school, many students get to the highest level of any particular subject that they will get. This is the last time that education looks “generalized,” before a student may move on to a college or university, where their field of study will be much more specific to them and their own interests.
As you are reminded of this educational pyramid system that we are all quite familiar with, there is one key piece that is often missing in a typical American education that not everyone gets the chance to experience. During a student’s time at Concordia, and even throughout my own journey up the education system, there was one other key component that really shaped me into who I am today. This is, of course, the community of Christian faith that exists at few select schools throughout the United States, and one that exists so prominently here at Concordia.
In the day to day routine as a Concordia student, faith is the key focus of all that they do as they learn and thrive in community with their teachers and classmates. In all classes, not just our theology classes, students are driven by both faith and a desire to learn more about the world that God has created, and how we as Christians are to navigate through both the good and the bad that is encountered in it.
This kind of community is so unique to our school, and it is something that can often be taken for granted. During my own years as a student at Concordia, it was so easy to think that all learning environments were this way. Now, as I have returned to teach here, it is still a blessing to see that the ministry of faith at Concordia is still as successful and as prevalent as ever. When a student is struggling with a class or with a difficult life situation, they can take comfort in knowing that they are surrounded by faculty, staff, and students who are praying for them, and will support them throughout their difficulty. As teachers, we all meet regularly to discuss student’s needs, figure out how they can best be supported in their learning, and have a deep desire to watch them learn and succeed both academically and spiritually.
As I continue on throughout this year, I continue to have many positive student interactions, and those are the parts of teaching that make this vocation so worthwhile! Teachers want to see students thrive and succeed both in class and in the many activities that students participate in. God has richly blessed Concordia by giving it the teachers and students that it has, and may he continue to bless us going forward as we finish construction for even more student opportunities soon!