Your Education

[Jake]

I am interested to hear from people of various professions who have completed at least one degree.

Where did you go to school (if you don't want to give specifics, is it a state school, Christian school, and so on) and what did you major in? This can be your associates/bachelors and higher levels as well.

What job(s) do you currently have? How has your education helped/hindered you?

 

[Miss Marple]

I guess I show myself a latenik as I am the first response -

public schooled, some community college. So, no major, although I was working towards a teaching degree.

Current job: wife/mother/homeschooler - also, I work part time, scheduling.

Helped: Typing class was of great benefit to me. Also, French, which helped me to discover an aptitude for language, and greatly increased my English skills. Creative writing classes in English were of benefit to me. The Civics course I took in community college really educated me about how America works. My English 1A in Community College solidified my understanding of literature and how to critically appreciate it.

Hurt: The social structure at the public schools was miserable and very destructive, even when I was "on top" socially. Also I was introduced to a great deal of depravity of types that still shock me when I call them to mind. I was steeped in moral relativism, feminism, and Darwinism. I wasted tons of time.

 

[Scottish Lass]

Public schools, then Georgia Southern University
Current/past jobs: Teaching English (same as my degree)
Help: I'm prepared to homeschool Grace as she grows, I edit works for people in ministry

 

[MLCOPE2]

Undergrad: B.A. in Bible and Counseling from Grand Canyon University (Christian Liberal-Arts school)
Current Job: General Contractor and Maintenance Supervisor for large Korean Church
Effect of Education on Employment: No direct effect. Indirectly an increased knowledge of the bible and how to use it to counsel/encourage/exhort my fellow man has impacted my ability to witness to unbelievers, strengthen believers, solve difficult problems, and deal with difficult people.

 

[JennyG]

I have an MA Hons (a Scottish MA, that is...) in Ancient Greek and Moral Philosophy, but apart from some academic coaching most of the money I've ever earned came from music teaching and playing. So for years I actually thought my degree had been a bit superfluous. I learned better when I came to have a houseful of argumentative teenagers and I don't just mean that humorously! One of them I homeschooled for a while and was glad to be able to do it.
A degree like mine doesn't really point you in any practical direction (except as an academic) but I wouldn't change it.
I agree though,

The social structure at the public schools was miserable and very destructive,..... Also I was introduced to a great deal of depravity of types that still shock me when I call them to mind. I was steeped in moral relativism, feminism, and Darwinism. I wasted tons of time.

 

[Rufus]

Public High School. I understand that a lot of people here dislike Public schools however if you have the ability to think for yourself than it's not really much of a problem. I actually dislike public schools more for their lack of teaching students how to think, and the lack of detail, instead we get told to believe muddled ideas that aren't fully developed.

 

[Believer1993]

Public High School
Currently at Michigan State University.
I actually consider it a blessing to be at a secular university. I have found a great church family, but even more important to my decision to remain here is that my mission field is all around me. I agree with Sean, as long as a Christian knows what they believe, why they believe it, and finds a good church family their faith should be fine. Plus I get the opportunity to share my faith many times a week

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

Public schools (Pocahontas County High School, Go Warriors!)
College: The University of Pittsburgh
Seminary: Pittsburgh Theological Seminary/Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

My college was ok, (mostly my fault) and I use it to some degree, but I could have had a much better education if I had taken advantage of opportunites. Seminary was excellent and I use it every day, even the stuff I learned at the liberal neo-orthodox seminary.

 

[Jake]

Seminary was excellent and I use it every day, even the stuff I learned at the liberal neo-orthodox seminary.

What did you learn useful at PTS? What did you major in college and how did it help prepare you for seminary?

(I'm interested in the second question for any pastors who comment!)

 

[jwithnell]

Public schools (as an unbeliever)

Georgia Southern (back when it was College. After coming to Christ, I seriously considered switching to a Reformed school but decided to stay with a wonderful congregation which was then forming)

I majored in history with a minor in philosophy and was working for newspapers through late high school and college. Having the broad liberal arts background was extremely helpful in my field which morphed over time from journalism to public affairs and am now (on a volunteer basis) doing a fair amount of design and web work. My job with the Forest Service gave me the training for three different wildland fire qualifications which I'm hoping to hold onto although I've been inactive for the last two seasons.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

Seminary was excellent and I use it every day, even the stuff I learned at the liberal neo-orthodox seminary.

What did you learn useful at PTS? What did you major in college and how did it help prepare you for seminary?

(I'm interested in the second question for any pastors who comment!)

It's kind of cliche but I learned how liberals think and I actually had a very good Pastoral Theology professor at PTS, but if I had to do over again I would have left PTS earlier and spent more time at RPTS. But in God's providence He had me stay there for two 1/2 years.

In college I majored in History (with an Eastern European focus) and while I learned a lot of neat stuff it did not really prepare for Seminary directly. I actually tell guys who have asked to major in English if they plan on going to Seminary.

Pitt has a very good Jewish Studies department and I wish I had taken more advantage of that program. They have a couple Orthodox Jewish Rabbi's as adjuncts that teach Ancient Judaism and Talmudic Judaism and the like which I think would have been good to take, they also teach "Biblical" Hebrew which would have been helpful.

 

[Jack K]

Bachelor of Journalism, University of Missouri.
- Then worked in TV news, becoming a newsroom manager.
Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with a marketing emphasis, Wake Forest University.
- Then worked in administration for a state college as marketing/communications manager.

Now a freelance writer.

My education was essential in preparing me for both previous careers. Currently, as a writer, there's less of a direct connection to my education. But I had to have the other careers first to develop the maturity and the bank account necessary to set out as a writer.

Education that directly prepares you for a particular trade or profession will typically end up feeling the most valuable later on, assuming you end up working in the field you studied.

 

[DMcFadden]

Public schools through grade 12. B.A., M.Div., D.Min (Christian schools); M.A.O.M in leadership and a Certificate in Institutional Develop and Non-Profit Mgt (30 units) - secular, one private school, one public university. PhD in progress in Intellectual Christian Thought (nearly 3/4 coursework done). I pastored for 22 years and am CEO of a Christian Retirement Home. My education helped me think and argue more effectively and research exhaustively. Much of leadership is more "caught" than "taught," so I would not draw a direct correlation between formal education and job effectiveness. A degree is more of a "hazing" ritual to weed out the uncommitted than a preparation for a job.

 

[Edward]

Undergraduate - UGA, Journaiism. Useful skills: ability to communicate clearly in writing, typing, and oral communication learned as a member of a speaking society. A lot of time wasted with no real benefit in 'core' classes unrelated to either my major or my interests.

Law - Case Western Reserve, Cleveland. A great bunch of professors and a few that weren't. I took all the tax law courses and never used them. I took a bankruptcy course to fill a hole in my schedule, and ended up building a career around it.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

• Public Schools in Germany and US through 8th grade
• Catholic High School
• BS, Nuclear Engineering, RPI
• MS, Electrical Engineering, Naval Postgraduate School
• Master of Military Science, Marine Corps Command and Staff College
• Continuous military education and training from 1990 to 2011
• Currently enrolled at New Geneva Theological Seminary
• Constantly taking new IT training classes

I am an Enterprise Architect for a Large IT company. It's hard to say how specific degrees have helped me except that some helped sharpen my technical understanding of the design process and how things worked while others gave me an appreciation for strategy and the dynamic of large organizations. Experience in various leadership roles throughout my Marine Corps career helped me to understand people as well as how to organize and plan large scale projects and get people to work together or how to architect people, processes, and systems to solve problems.

I think the thing I understand now that I didn't as a young man is that getting specific degrees or having strong academic performance is good as far as it goes but there are so many other factors that prepare you for where you end up. In other words, I'm not a big fan of kids spending a ton for a degree that they can get elsewhere even though the college or institution may not be as prestigious if the price is considerably less. I recently recommended to a friend that he not send his son to a private college and pay 5 times as much for the same degree. Performance and experience will be the key to later success.

Something that also hindered me later in life is not taking some of the social sciences, literature, philosophy, and theology as seriously as I do now. I wasted some hours in college I could have dedicated to more useful topics had I seen the value in them then that I do now. It took a long time to overcome a very utilitarian view of technical knowledge at the expense of despising some liberal arts that I've had to make up for later in life.

 

[jwithnell]

Jack, I'm assuming Columbia? Great program. Same with Grady, Edward. How 'bout them Dawgs?

 

[Jack K]

Jack, I'm assuming Columbia? Great program.

Yes, of course.

 

[kvanlaan]

Grammar School: Calvin Christian School, Dundas
High School: Hamilton District Christian Highschool
Undergrad Bachelor of Business (Int'l Bus. Maor): Oklahoma Baptist University - go Bison!
Masters of Business Leadership: University of South Africa (Incomplete - went on safari instead; shot two warthogs, one oryx, and a gold medal blesbok in Namibia - great choice!)

I am a financial planner and the education itself did not make such a huge difference, but the experiences that came with it, and the background that made working within the industry easier, both helped a bunch.

 

[Mushroom]

And every financial planner knows, everything comes cheaper by the dozen!

 

[reaganmarsh]

What job(s) do you currently have? How has your education helped/hindered you?

I'm a pastor. My studies have been invaluable.

-B.A. in English from a William College College (2003). Overpriced but I learned a lot, and I used it when I was teaching middle and high school English. The background in literature and grammar has actually been very beneficial in terms of the amount of reading I did in seminary and continue to do weekly for preaching and writing. (And just for fun, my wife was also an English major so we took a lot of classes together and taught at the same time for a while.)
-M.A. in Theology (Systematic & Historical Theology emphasis) from SBTS (2008); M.Div. in Theology (Christian Ministries emphasis), on hold at present until we can scrounge up the money. I also took classes at NOBTS for 3 semesters. Seminary studies have been priceless and I wouldn't trade them for anything.
-NANC biblical counseling certification in progress. I am loving this! Incredibly practical for normal ministry counseling and also is helping me sharpen my application skills in preaching.

Seminary was excellent and I use it every day, even the stuff I learned at the liberal neo-orthodox seminary.

What did you learn useful at PTS? What did you major in college and how did it help prepare you for seminary?

(I'm interested in the second question for any pastors who comment!)

 

[hammondjones]

Winthrop University - BS Mathematics
Wake Forest University - MA Mathematics


I'm employed by a bank, but aside from the fact that you need a master's degree to get noticed around here, my studies in math have very little to do with my work. It was all of the computer programming courses that I was required to take that I actually use.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

I have a Bachelor's Degree from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois from two subject areas:
-Business Management/Finance
-Human Resources

For 8 years I worked at a Public LIbrary as their Manager of Financial Services and Human Resources, using my degree well. I then went to the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana to get my Master's in Library and Information Science...this is the #1 ranked school for this degree. I received it a few years ago, a year before the Library would eliminate my position and I was jobless.

I now work in Credit and Collections for a large pipe-producing company....love it.

 

[FenderPriest]

I went to Auburn University and got a Bachelor's Degree with a double major in English and Philosophy. I've done a couple Master's Degree classes at Westminster Theological Seminary here in Philadelphia. I'm currently a computer technician. My degree helped me to think clearly and write well, geek out over cool ancient stuff, and seek to use those skills for the up-building of faith in Christ's people. I don't regret my degree, and wish more people would pursue the Liberal Arts for high education because knowing how to think is most important in any occupation the Lord calls someone in to.

 

[Romans922]

I have a Bachelor's Degree from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois from two subject areas:
-Business Management/Finance
-Human Resources

For 8 years I worked at a Public LIbrary as their Manager of Financial Services and Human Resources, using my degree well. I then went to the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana to get my Master's in Library and Information Science...this is the #1 ranked school for this degree. I received it a few years ago, a year before the Library would eliminate my position and I was jobless.

I now work in Credit and Collections for a large pipe-producing company....love it.

I have a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity as well in Bible (waste of an education), but I did learn a lot through personal study and study with friends. This is where I became a Calvinist, and then eventually reformed (notice the distinction).

I also have a Master of Divinity from RTS Jackson.

I am now the Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Kansas City, MO.

 

[Constantlyreforming]

dwebbers unite!

 

[he beholds]

After public K-12, I got a Bachelors in English Ed from a Reformed Christian college. I taught English for a year, so that was helpful for that year. I homeschool my kiddos, so it is also helpful for that. In my husband's last semester we met in two English classes, so that was extremely beneficial and cancels any regrets that the school debt might have caused.

The best thing about my Christian college experience was not the classes but the people that you met in those classes. The teachers were smart and did convey a ton of information that will serve me and my kids, BUT it was their love for the Lord, his children, and their subjects that really made the experience worth it. And the same goes for roommates and floormates and friends and so on. Sure, a state school can be fine. But a Christian school--a legit one--makes forming Christian relationships easier.

 

[Shawn Mathis]

Public High School (full class load)--Arvada West (Colorado)
Air Force Technical school (Electronic Warfare) (Biloxi, MS)
BS Electrical Engineering, major in electro-magnetic field/antenna design, (almost) minor in philosophy (Colorado University)
MDiv (115 credit hours with thesis paper) (RITS)
Mentorship under Dr. Coppes (Th.D from Westminster (EJ Young, Van Til, etc.)

I was an Air Force technician (F-16/15/4). Then electrical engineer. Now OPC minister.

My education has been immensely helpful, I think, because by God's grace I tried to learn and apply the basic training to all parts of life. Engineering school taught me patience (try doing a 12 page assignment on one math problem) and analytical skills. The philosophy classes helped me understand people who think differently than me (try taking their "multi-culturalism" classes!). I believe my logic class was invaluable and think it should be required for all high schoolers.

I think the most valuable was the mentorship. I saw a patient man deal with very frustrating people. I also learned to think and write carefully and especially research issues in-depth. And as a pastor-to-be I learned exegesis by example and interaction.

I do miss not having some liberal arts training.

 

[Gage Browning]

Dallas Baptist University - BA- Speech Communications...decided to get a degree in something I cared about...
Went to DBU because I could go at night...since I went back to school while Married with kids....and working...
Job- Sales Manager

 

[arapahoepark]

So far just now receiving my associates of arts...still aways to go

 

[Siberian]

I went to public schools for K-12. I then did a B.A. in Intercultural Ministries at New Tribes Institute. That was specialized missionary training (Bible, Cross-Cultural Evangelism, teaching literacy, language and culture acquisition, etc.) and was vital when I was church planting in Northern Asia. I also did a M.Div. at Luther Rice Seminary. That was great training too; I took every class they offered in the languages and exegesis and as few "practical" classes as possible. The most helpful part of my master program was that I took the entire course while serving under the mentor-ship of a seasoned pastor.

Now I serve as an Assistant Pastor, primarily charged with teaching, preaching and discipleship work. I'm so thankful for my training.