Degrees & Deadlines Part 2
As we were unable to meet for Student Hub in March, we thought we would produce two blogs looking at the topic that we would have been covering. This is the second part of two. Read part one here.
Deadlines. Whether our deadlines look like essay hand-in dates or the space of a three hour exam to write down everything we’ve revised, there are very few people who don’t find this concept stress-inducing. When it comes to a season of many deadlines – whether coursework or exam based – the reality is that often all our good habits of work and rest fly out the window. Yet, in all seasons, God is calling us to be distinctive and God-honouring in the way we work and rest. He created us and so He knows the ways we are wired and the ways we best flourish.
I’ve done a lot of thinking about work and rest over the last four years, and there are many things I wish I’d known or thought about more as a student. So I’ve written a letter to my student self – I hope you can learn these truths sooner than I did.
Dear Em,
University is going to test your working and resting attitudes more than you realise. You’ve always worked pretty hard, but at university you’re going to find that there will always be people who work harder than you. You might have arrived at university feeling a bit bruised by disappointment from your A-Levels, but that doesn’t mean you have anything to prove. Don’t compare yourself to others – you don’t need to. Remember that you are in Christ – you are free to work hard without placing your identity in your academic successes.
You will face temptation at university to gossip about lecturers and be critical about the lecture content. You will be tempted to text during boring lectures, to skip those that seem pointless and to complain about their harsh marking. Just because you’re paying a lot of money for your degree doesn’t mean you have a right to be rude. Remember that your lecturers are people made in the image of God, that they deserve your time and attention and that this is a way you can ‘work willingly for the Lord’ in a distinctive way. Treat them as you would be treated. Value them as you would want to be valued.
There will be times when you want to skip church because of having ‘too much work’. The majority of the time, this will just not be true. You choose how to use your time and maybe you just need to plan it better. Remember your Dad’s advice and go to church even when you don’t feel like it – it will do you good. Remember that you’re setting up habits for life – be intentional about making church a priority, like you would want it to be for the rest of your life to come.
At university, you’re going to create a great work ethic and learn so much self-discipline and motivation, but don’t let that be a detriment to those around you. You won’t remember the work you were doing, but you will remember the look on that housemate’s face when you tell them you don’t have time to chat. Let yourself be interruptible, like Jesus was. In just a few years’ time you will barely remember anything you learnt in your degree, but friendships will remain.
Please take a sabbath day each week – not just a day off to do all your life admin, but a proper day of rest. When you sabbath, you remind yourself that the world doesn’t rest on your shoulders – it still carries on without you. This might seem really counter-cultural, but you’re going to need to learn this for the future, so get on doing it now. Don’t underestimate the witness that this will be to other people – in third year your Sundays off will inspire the rest of your house to think more intentionally about how they rest, especially in the midst of their battles with various mental health issues. Get going on it sooner! And you don’t need to work a full 12 hour day everyday – remember the two out of three rule. If each day is split into three parts – morning, afternoon, evening – you only need to work two out of three.
Don’t just save all your rest for one day, but make sure every day is lived from a place of rest in God. Life’s going to become really busy as you enjoy a full social life, get stuck in with CU, church and get on with your degree – you’re going to need God’s strength. Make sure you spend time in His presence each day, let Him fuel you and let Him be your peace.
‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.’
All my love,
Em x
FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Where do your motivations for work lie? Are they healthy and God-honouring?
What are you prone to miss with the excuse of there being ‘too much work’?
How interruptible are you?
Do you currently sabbath? How could you build that into your life?
How are you resting in God each day?
FURTHER RESOURCES
Garden City (Book by John Mark Comer)