Advice to students

            My advice to students, who will be attending spiritual formation in the next semester, is to take it seriously. Listen to the professor in what they are teaching you.  When you do the discipline on the required week, do it whole heartedly so that your life can be transformed closer into God’s image.  Volunteer in class discussions do not be afraid to speak your opinion respectively on a topic that interest you.  Have compassion in what you say, because your peers will have compassion in what they say.  Your opinion on a certain topic taught is of great value.  When you speak boldly about your interest regarding a topic discussed in class, you give others confidence to raise their hands.  This then opens the doors of opportunity to create an atmosphere of unity and support for one another.  The peers will see that you are not afraid, but will see you as a person of confidence and quality, they will then began to ask you questions and get your opinion.  I share this wonderful thing that I observed in spiritual formation class this semester.  A young man in my class that I have other classes with never speaks in class, he is always quiet and observant.  Well, one particular day in spiritual formation class a topic interest him and he spoke for the first time.  I was shocked and thought it was cute, because he never says anything, maybe he was challenging himself to come out of his comfort zone to contribute to one of the spiritual disciplines that were taught.  I say this to say, you have to find a way to have fun in your classes, you must interact with the professor so that they can be able enjoy teaching you.

Give the professors something to look forward to when they come to teach you.  For example when they go home, they can tell their family, that girl Tori always makes me laugh, she is one of the reasons why I teach, because she enjoys what I do and her willingness to learn.

May I say that I enjoyed professor Maddox interaction with the class and her compassion in teaching her student’s?  I am glad that I had the privilege of her teaching us.  It was interesting that I finally got a chance to have her as my professor in my senior year.  It has been an honor.