Advice for a Young Catholic Woman on Choosing a College
You may go to a school that gives good Christian formation, but if you live in what was formerly known as the West, you are immersed outside of your school in a toxic waste dump of a “culture.”
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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Robert Kenefick offers sage advice to a young Catholic woman who is graduating from High School and wants to make an informed choice concerning College:
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Dear Edith Teresa:
Some good friends asked me to give you some advice about how you can become both a well-formed and informed young woman as you grow out of adolescence into adulthood. This is a big challenge indeed, because even though, Edith, you may go to a school that gives good Christian formation, if you live in what was formerly known as the West, you are immersed outside of your school (though hopefully not in your family) in a toxic waste dump of a “culture.” Since I am addressing you one to one, let me give you some advice.
First, talk to your history, English literature, and religion teachers at school (assuming they are serious Catholics) and ask them for a sizeable list of books accessible to you and in their specialty that can help you over time to become a well-formed Catholic secure in her faith and capable of both defending and spreading the Faith and Western culture to your friends in college and eventually within your own family. Obviously, know (and live!) your Faith the best you can, but you also should gradually grow in your knowledge of quality literature, art, music, and cinema. These will refine your taste and help you to sort out the garbage from the exquisite from a Christian point of view.
Second, ask some adults you trust and admire to recommend reliable magazines, journals and websites that can provide you with a sober and sound viewpoint on contemporary issues from a faithful Catholic perspective.
Third, watch as little television as humanly possible, limit your online time, avoid cliques and popularity contests, and rein in your desire for aimlessly adding to your collection of things. Watch what you wear and the effect it may have on the opposite sex, taking as your model women who have learned to distinguish between being attractive and being provocative. Along with your intellectual interests, there is the world of nature outside your door, the joys of physical exercise and sport, all in the context of healthy and supportive female friendships. Always have a book or two at your side, preferably classics of Western (our culture) literature or world history, beginning with the United States and then turning to what was once Christian Europe.
Fourth, a very important question is your (and your parents!) choice of college. This decision will largely determine the future path of your life. Strongly consider attending a small liberal arts Catholic college with a core-curriculum. You can always go to a top-flight public or private university for graduate degrees. At a sound Catholic college you will receive an excellent all-around education with small classroom size and a healthy moral atmosphere; in addition, you will make strong friendships that will last a lifetime. You may also very well meet there your future spouse, who will be your best lifetime friend as well as the father of your children (your greatest contribution to the New Evangelization). Or you may come to recognize instead a higher calling to the religious life, or a more complete dedication as a celibate lay member of one of the new ecclesial realities that are the heralds of the “new springtime” of the Church in this new century.
If for one reason or other you choose a public university (ugh) or a private non-Catholic college, make sure that there is a solid Newman Club on campus where you can find formation, sacramental life, and fellowship. You may already have a spiritual relationship with a Catholic institution and you might try to choose a college where they have a presence to continue receiving that invaluable help. Whatever you do, NEVER stay in a co-ed dormitory. Nothing good happens there.
Oh, and yes, do find some time for daily prayer, spiritual reading, and weekly sacramental life as you complete your high school years. The Holy Spirit is a sure Truth Finder! A good spiritual fitness trainer can help you there. Hope all this helps; if you have any further questions, just mail me.
****
Robert Kenefick is an occasional writer from the Washington D.C. area
****
Dear Edith Teresa:
Some good friends asked me to give you some advice about how you can become both a well-formed and informed young woman as you grow out of adolescence into adulthood. This is a big challenge indeed, because even though, Edith, you may go to a school that gives good Christian formation, if you live in what was formerly known as the West, you are immersed outside of your school (though hopefully not in your family) in a toxic waste dump of a “culture.” Since I am addressing you one to one, let me give you some advice.
First, talk to your history, English literature, and religion teachers at school (assuming they are serious Catholics) and ask them for a sizeable list of books accessible to you and in their specialty that can help you over time to become a well-formed Catholic secure in her faith and capable of both defending and spreading the Faith and Western culture to your friends in college and eventually within your own family. Obviously, know (and live!) your Faith the best you can, but you also should gradually grow in your knowledge of quality literature, art, music, and cinema. These will refine your taste and help you to sort out the garbage from the exquisite from a Christian point of view.
Second, ask some adults you trust and admire to recommend reliable magazines, journals and websites that can provide you with a sober and sound viewpoint on contemporary issues from a faithful Catholic perspective.
Third, watch as little television as humanly possible, limit your online time, avoid cliques and popularity contests, and rein in your desire for aimlessly adding to your collection of things. Watch what you wear and the effect it may have on the opposite sex, taking as your model women who have learned to distinguish between being attractive and being provocative. Along with your intellectual interests, there is the world of nature outside your door, the joys of physical exercise and sport, all in the context of healthy and supportive female friendships. Always have a book or two at your side, preferably classics of Western (our culture) literature or world history, beginning with the United States and then turning to what was once Christian Europe.
Fourth, a very important question is your (and your parents!) choice of college. This decision will largely determine the future path of your life. Strongly consider attending a small liberal arts Catholic college with a core-curriculum. You can always go to a top-flight public or private university for graduate degrees. At a sound Catholic college you will receive an excellent all-around education with small classroom size and a healthy moral atmosphere; in addition, you will make strong friendships that will last a lifetime. You may also very well meet there your future spouse, who will be your best lifetime friend as well as the father of your children (your greatest contribution to the New Evangelization). Or you may come to recognize instead a higher calling to the religious life, or a more complete dedication as a celibate lay member of one of the new ecclesial realities that are the heralds of the “new springtime” of the Church in this new century.
If for one reason or other you choose a public university (ugh) or a private non-Catholic college, make sure that there is a solid Newman Club on campus where you can find formation, sacramental life, and fellowship. You may already have a spiritual relationship with a Catholic institution and you might try to choose a college where they have a presence to continue receiving that invaluable help. Whatever you do, NEVER stay in a co-ed dormitory. Nothing good happens there.
Oh, and yes, do find some time for daily prayer, spiritual reading, and weekly sacramental life as you complete your high school years. The Holy Spirit is a sure Truth Finder! A good spiritual fitness trainer can help you there. Hope all this helps; if you have any further questions, just mail me.
****
Robert Kenefick is an occasional writer from the Washington D.C. area
- - -
Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
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While there are a few good points in this article such as limiting the amount of TV and internet usage, I found it slightly disturbing how quick the author was to suggest that private Catholic institutions have the vast upper hand on public colleges. His polarizing comments including his "ugh" remark about public institutions were unfounded and offensive. As a graduate of both Catholic elementary school and high school, making the transition to New York's public college system (one of the best public college systems in the nation) was a bit of a change but my friends from high school who did choose to attend Catholic colleges experienced the same type of strife. The academics at my SUNY were rigorous, class sizes were small and the Newman Club on campus gave me the strongest sense of family I'd felt since leaving home. In fact, my college has one of the highest Catholic involvement rates in Western New York. While the author permits the thought of attending public college in a Masters or Doctorate program, the ridiculous tuition of such private places often makes it a not only fiscally difficult but irresponsible decision for the student, especially given the equivalent academic rigor found at both places. Admittedly, having attended Catholic schools for 14 total years before making the switch to public, I used to have the same elitist mentality until I actually attended college. I still value my Catholic faith as precious, but I know now that I don't have to pay a fortune to prove it. Overall a good article, but Catholic universities in the 21st century are not nearly the shining beacons of morality Mr. Kenefick suggests, they are just as susceptible to the moral evils that occur any place with 5,000+ young adults exploring their first taste of unchaperoned independence.
Hey, first this is a great article.
Second, in response to Amber, this article is NOT sexist: the author doesn't say that being a wife and mother is the BEST contribution to Catholicism. He says it is a place where you might meet someone with whom you might become a wife and a mother. Keywords: MIGHT!
As for the Catholic affiliation thing, it's a matter of personal choice. If you want to go to a Catholic college that is true to Catholicism, you might have an easier time finding people who share your beliefs. But hey, I'm of the opinion that a Christian college is a Christian college.
I've been attending classes at a secular college, and it's been rough sometimes, because I'm being taught by professors who don't have the same belief system as I do. It's exhausting to have to constantly make sure that you're not being brainwashed! : )
Do you know what I find unbelievable about this article?
"You may also very well meet there your future spouse, who will be your best lifetime friend as well as the father of your children (your greatest contribution to the New Evangelization)"
How dare this man assume that that is the best contribution a woman can make to the world. The blatant sexism of it is beyond belief.
I know darling pop out a few children or become a nun. Do your bit for Catholicism.
It does not make me a bad Catholic just because I don't want children, because I want a career and a life
I too agree with Michael's comment that the selection of school not be deemed soley by its tag of Catholic Affiliation.
Many factors in selection process come into play.
Having graduated from a Catholic University I can attest that many peers did not practice their faith and course selection focused more upon other world religions. The faculty and their beliefs were all over tyhe board.
Choosing a school only because of a Catholic Affiliation is an ignorant way to make a college decision. Catholic affiliation does not mean the students are the "most holy" or turn out "the best Catholics." In fact, very many times the opposite, as you'll learn when you meet up with friends who attend these schools.
I agree with the commenter Kyle; there's no need to be as frightened of the world as the author of this article suggests. I am currently a junior at a non-Catholic university (which is not necessarily 'ugh'), and I have grown immensely in my faith during these years. In fact, I was not originally even Catholic, but I went through the RCIA process at the Newman Center and became Catholic during my sophomore year of college! It's important, of course, to listen critically to everything you hear and consciously decide to live a holy life for God - but that's something you have to do no matter where you are! In the end, the institution can't make or break your spiritual life. It's your decision to live wholesomely that will make college a life-giving, Godly experience!
It's a big world out there, Edith Teresa, and it's not all a toxic waste dump. The fortress mentality he's trying to sell you on won't be very useful in preparing you to live in a world that needs good, loving people of faith to engage and help heal it, not run from it.