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After Houghton: Seniors Accepted to Graduate Programs

For those of us enveloped in the familiar “Houghton bubble,” the thought of life after college can easily get crushed under more immediate obligations: Assignments, exams, delicious oven-baked cookies in the dining hall.

Inevitably, the reality of life after Houghton must be acknowledged. As graduation rapidly approaches, many students contemplate leaving as they move on to the next step of furthering their education: graduate school.

Senior Ben Murphy is one such student, going to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for a PhD in English. His ultimate goal is to become an English professor, though while at school he hopes to focus on 20th century to contemporary American literature. “I want to study post-humanism. It has to do with science studies: how science and technology may change what it means to be human.” When asked about the application process, Murphy commented, “It’s not terribly expensive, but the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) is necessary and that’s like 200 bucks…I spent a lot of time researching graduate programs…to get into the programs, you have to be really specific about the professors you want to work with in your personal statement.”

Outside of the English department, junior Rebekah Kimble is currently applying to schools in order to earn her PhD in history. For Kimble, this process has been extended and strenuous as Kimble admitted  “Right now the history job market is terrible. It’s completely flooded with people who have graduated and have a PhD.  Most of the programs I want to get in are only accepting 6-10 students into their entire history program. There are around 400 applicants per program, so I’m actually applying to 18 schools.”

However, this abysmally low acceptance rate has not deterred Kimble in the least. “I really love the subject, and I see it as an opportunity to be a Christian in a secular university… to be a witness without evangelizing per se, being an example without hitting people over the head with religion. Also, I just love researching. Going to graduate school enables me to research what I love and publish books.” Despite the current job market, Kimble has decided to pursue her passions.

Senior Abigail Bruxvoort will attend Northwestern University to procure her PhD in philosophy. Applying to a total of 11 schools, Bruxvoort described her application process: “I took the GRE last May, and I did some basic research on schools over the summer and created a list of schools to apply to. Then, in October and November I started preparing my writing sample, writing a statement of intent, and asking for letters of recommendation…The main difficulty with applying and visiting schools has been being a full time student in the midst of it all.”

When asked about her decision to go to graduate school, Bruxvoort replied, “Why am I going? Because I would happily spend the rest of my life in philosophy classrooms.”

While a PhD program may be what first comes to mind when it comes to talking about graduate school, some Houghton students have their eyes on different goals. Senior Jim Vitale anticipates working toward his Master of Divinity at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. When asked about his future plans, Vitale responded, “I have been pursuing an interest in ministry on and off for almost eight years now, and my love for theology has only grown in my time at Houghton. I hope to use this degree to be ordained a Lutheran pastor and serve a church somewhere.”

Senior Caleb Johnson plans to attend George Mason University to further his studies in International Relations. “I’m an IR major and I love it. I want to join the Foreign Service. Graduate school will present me with opportunities and internships, and give me the experience I need to pass the Foreign Service test.”

From the science department, senior Esther Schow intends to enter Auburn University to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine.  Speaking about her passion for becoming a veterinarian, Schow commented, “I love caring in a tangible way that conjoins the academic side of science, with the emotional side of animal husbandry… since high school, I have known that I wanted to either become a doctor or veterinarian, so graduate school has always been something I assumed I would do.”

Applying for graduate school can be an arduous process which requires planning, research, time, and a moderate amount of cash, but for those with the desire, the opportunity to further their education and grab their goals is entirely worth the effort.

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Investing in an Intentional Future

I started the slow arduous ascent (or is it a descent?) along the road towards graduate school last May. Why did I begin preparing so early? Well, if you ever score below the tenth percentile mark on the math portion of a practice GRE (graduate record exam), then you’ll experience a similar sense of urgent compulsion to spend the summer studying, studying, studying.

benSo, after countless summer hours passed in the demanding company of my “Kaplan prep” practice book, I returned to Houghton to take the horrible GRE and start my applications proper. Round about October I compiled information for specific, potential schools. I honed writing samples and personal statements, and I solicited recommendations from faculty. I paid an arm and several legs for fees that rained like fire from the sky. I ran around campus tying up loose ends—transcripts, resumes, etc. Then, by December, I submitted my completed applications. As some of you surely know, all this stuff is hard work, and the satisfaction of clicking the send button on all those stupid electronic documents is wonderful.

What I’ve so far narrated is the external process of putting my name in the daunting and immense hat that is the current pool of graduate school applicants. Now I want to recall the more internal but no less excruciating process of deciding whether or not it was a good idea to apply in the first place.

I should start by emphasizing that I’m a humanities major who has applied to English programs in hopes of someday teaching in a college setting. So there’s the first and biggest problem. The job market for English positions at post-secondary institutions is abysmal. We’ve all heard the woes of education inflation; there’s no denying that academic degrees mean less now than they ever have before, and as an aspiring English “scholar,” these dire conditions hit especially close to home. The message that most of the world sent me was “don’t go.”

Due to the above-mentioned circumstances, my decision to apply was hard earned at the price of months of fraught consideration. Though, in retrospect, I think the inner turmoil was necessary. It was only after wrestling with all the reasons not to apply that I came to realize that those reasons had nothing to do with my desire to pursue study and employment in the field I love. Liberal arts (and Houghton specifically) played an essential role in this realization. I’ll do my best to explain, but because chapel this semester is focusing on “vocation,” I think I’ll frame the remainder of my explanation in similar language.

Do we come to Houghton to get a job? Are we here to take the first steps up a salary ladder? Are we here for a glorious and future retirement? My hope is that the answer to these questions is a repeating “no.” Though these concerns are important, they are not most important. Though they should be considered in our decisions, they should not dictate our decisions. I know we’ve all heard the tired catchphrases about the strengths of a liberal arts education, but I want to earnestly reiterate the belief that a place like Houghton is more about what you make of yourself than it is about what you can make in a paycheck. Though this truth may not be apparent always (what with the bombarding bad news about the economy, job market, and doom-ridden future), it is crucial to remember the value of years of hard work alongside committed peers and mentors in a deliberate and mindful community.

Now I’m going to step off my soapbox to briefly return to my personal journey. In the face of what felt like cosmic naysaying, key people at Houghton encouraged me to commit to what I care about. This support was essential because it came from caring people who appreciate the satisfaction of investing in liberal arts. They know me, and they also know the rich complexity of enmeshing oneself in a challenging, thoughtful and holistic life.

Even if I don’t get accepted this year (which is looking like a real possibility at this point, especially as I’ve just now received a rejection letter), I’m confident that I will someday leave a graduate school with a terminal degree in English. At that point, I may not immediately find a teaching position. At that point, I may be one of thousands of equally educated peers drifting from one job listing to another. I may be no further along in being sure about my future. But at that point I will not regret my earlier decision to use my gifts, abilities, and resources to commit things that put joy in my life.

It’s probable that I’m over-simplifying by spewing platitudes that you’ve all heard before. It’s also probable that I’m naïve, that what I’m saying doesn’t apply in the least to you. Obviously, it’s also true that a place like Houghton isn’t the only route for you or me to attain a worthwhile future. But is it also possible that Houghton does actually provide what we need to flourish out in “the real world”?