When I made the decision to do the Pittsburgh Semester program I had very little idea about what I was getting into. I remember hearing Saleem, the founder of the Project, speak at Bluffton about the ideals behind his vision and being very taken with the entire thing, but I still didn't really know what to expect. Now that I am here, I believe that I can honestly say that it exceeds all of my expectations. I have been here now for three days, and those three days have been a whirlwind of activity and preparation for the semester. I've learned the bus systems, visited downtown, toured the neighborhood, learned a little about the history, and even tried some Cambodian food along the way. (Ok, so I wimped out and got something more Chinese than Cambodian.)
Something I'm really excited about is the fact that it seems like one of the guiding principles of the Semester Program centers around breaking down the fake walls that we build between things like school, work, what we do on our time off, or where we spend our money. I think we will spend a lot of time discussing things in our classes that we can apply to our work, or even use our experiences at our internships to further discussion in our classes. To me, that is what living a life that matter is all about.
On a more practical note, I had my interview for my internships over the last two days. I interviewed at two churches, both much larger than anything I am used to. But, that is the sort of experience that I was really looking for in order to contrast with what I already know. At both I would be working with the student ministry program with an emphasis on the music program. I ended up picking the internship at Eastminster Presbyterian where I interviewed today. I was really impressed with their programs and their spirit. It is the smaller of the two churches, so I'm really hopeful that will allow me to gain more hands on experience. It really moved me, also, that the very first thing the youth pastor I met with did was pray for our time together. I want to be a part of a place like this where emphasis is placed on things like prayer. I can't say that was the over arching factor for my decision, but it definitely influenced me. I'm happy with my decision and very excited to work at Eastminster.
It's also really nice to be in a program with students from other colleges. I guess the project is open to people from two other colleges besides Bluffton, but only Bluffton and Malone sent people. It is predominantly Bluffton people, but the people from Malone that I have met so far seem cool. They all seem like they will add a lot to the class conversations. We haven't had any classes yet, but it seems like I've already had tons of those deep, college-like conversations which makes me all the more excited for classes. That seems weird to say, but I think this experience will be what I've always hoped college to be.
But, this is all based on 3 days. Who knows what more may come? Stay tuned.
