S2E2 College Conversations Podcast: “Why College is one of your Most Important Life Decisions” Transcript
Season 2 Episode 2 is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Episode Synopsis
The transcript features an interview with Professor Laurie Kagay, discussing the benefits of attending a Bible school and the lack of community and mentorship in traditional college experiences. The speakers highlight the decline in Christian faith among college graduates and the role of parents in guiding their children's decisions. They emphasize the importance of a Christian worldview in higher education and the challenges faced by students in their twenties. The speakers stress the value of a biblical education in maintaining faith and preparing for adulthood, and advise students to carefully consider their college choices. They also discuss the college tour for the Institute for GED and the importance of deadlines and preparation for the transition to college.
College Conversations Season 2, Episode 2: “Why College is one of your Most Important Life Decisions” Transcript
[00:00:11.00] - Gregg Garner
Welcome back to College Conversations. I'm Gregg Garner. And today, I have with me the vice president for enrollment at the Institute for Global Outreach Developments, Professor Laurie Kagay.
[00:00:20.60] - Laurie Kagay
Hi, everyone.
We want to talk about enrollment. So I I'm I'm gonna ask you some alright.
[00:00:28.39] - Gregg Garner
And I I just want you to answer with respect to your experience. And, you know, I think often when we listen to people, we're looking to them for some kind of, like, professional guidance in that arena. Don't think I'm coming from that angle with you today because our audience is prospective students, current students Right. And families. So instead, I I kinda wanna Hear from you about enrollment with respect to why young people should consider going to an institution for higher biblical education. Like, when you are making the phone calls or creating the web collateral.
[00:01:08.79] - Laurie Kagay
Mhmm.
[00:01:09.20] - Gregg Garner
Or, scheduling a a preview day. What what is driving you to, get students to come to a bible school?
[00:01:19.29] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. I think for me and I think it is personal. I had a couple, a couple Failed experiences, if I can call it that, in college. I was a young person who really wanted to know the Lord, But, also, maybe didn't have much guidance on how to do that. So, you know, growing up, it was like, you can do the the church I grew up in, it was kinda like, You can do whatever you wanna do for Jesus. You know? Like, you just kinda say for Jesus at the end. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:01:49.20] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. I have to talk about how people, They they think that, like, Jesus is to serve us to the degree that we say, Lord, this is what I'm gonna do. Bless me while I do it. Right. Rather than Allowing him to be in the position of lordship where he gets to say what we do. Yeah. I I hear you. That's a very popular brand of Christianity.
[00:02:08.90] - Laurie Kagay
It is. And it was it was the one I was in. I was, you know, I was most likely to succeed in high school. That was mine.
[00:02:16.00] - Gregg Garner
Me too.
[00:02:16.50] - Laurie Kagay
Cheers. Cheers. That was my thing. But, like, I had the scholarships, You know, worked out, and my visits worked out and was ready to go. And, I what was in my heart was that well, it was to be a dance major. My parents were like, how about something more practical? So I was like, okay. I'll be a double major, dance and graphic design. So I went, to a big state school, and it was it was just much different than what I thought. One, I mean, I thought I You could I thought I can do well and still grow in my faith, kind of any you know, regardless. I'll find my people. I'll find Christians.
[00:02:55.69] - Gregg Garner
Common perception. Right? Like…
[00:02:57.09] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. Because because there's college clubs and there's churches, and I can still grow…
[00:03:00.69] - Gregg Garner
in my space. To be a light in a dark world.
[00:03:02.90] - Laurie Kagay
Yes.
[00:03:03.30] - Gregg Garner
You're you're you're seventeen, eighteen years old, and you're gonna go into a…
[00:03:07.00] - Laurie Kagay
doctor role in the take on
[00:03:08.90] - Gregg Garner
you know,
[00:03:09.30] - Laurie Kagay
thousands of students at a university Yeah. Of with my church training that I had.
[00:03:15.80] - Gregg Garner
You know? Which which was probably Sunday and Wednesday, maybe?
[00:03:20.00] - Laurie Kagay
Just Sunday.
[00:03:20.69] - Gregg Garner
Just Sunday.
[00:03:21.40] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. So,
[00:03:22.30] - Gregg Garner
yeah, solid Twenty minutes a week Right. Training.
[00:03:26.80] - Laurie Kagay
Are you
[00:03:27.19] - Gregg Garner
ready to take on the world? I
[00:03:28.00] - Laurie Kagay
I I was ready.
[00:03:28.40] - Gregg Garner
Makes sense.
[00:03:29.50] - Laurie Kagay
Now I I did make some good friends. I did find some Christians, but I wasn't growing. You know, I was I would say I didn't lose my faith. But maybe, like, by the grace of God. You know? Just Sure. But I was I
[00:03:43.19] - Gregg Garner
was like How long was that? Like, a year? Yeah.
[00:03:45.50] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. So Two years.
[00:03:47.00] - Gregg Garner
The wear and tear of being in a Position that isn't good for you. And, you know, it all depends on how much buffer you had. You probably Right. You had your you had a good childhood.
[00:03:58.40] - Laurie Kagay
I did. Yeah. I'm not sure if
[00:04:00.19] - Gregg Garner
you did. But I wonder what you'd say after four years.
[00:04:03.59] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. But but even my practical training, you know, Like, even just my educational experience at those schools was kind of a letdown as well. Yeah. It was the only class I ever dropped, Actually, my high school art program was very good, and I was actually making, like, commercials and short, like, video projects things when I was still in high school.
[00:04:24.39] - Gregg Garner
Wow.
[00:04:24.89] - Laurie Kagay
When I went to my first college class, they spent, like, ninety minutes teaching us how to save a file and put it in the right place. And I was I just walked straight from the class to the guidance office, and I was like, I cannot I cannot do this. And that's when I learned, like, some of these fields don't work well in our college setting.
[00:04:44.69] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:04:45.00] - Laurie Kagay
I think especially for, like, media fields. They just grow really rapidly. Yeah. And you
[00:04:49.39] - Gregg Garner
have these tender filled with technology in it
[00:04:51.50] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:04:51.80] - Gregg Garner
Can't keep up. People don't get that the curriculums that are being written And being approved by these, accrediting associations, whoever it is that's monitoring what curricular is out there. What curriculum is out there. They they often came out of an institution where they read books that were five years old. Mhmm. And then they went through their degree, which took three, four years. So now your eight years delay. Mhmm. And now they start to implement Whatever it is that they learned, two, three years later, sometimes five years later. So you're at least a ten year lag.
[00:05:29.39] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:05:29.69] - Gregg Garner
And when it comes to philosophy or Theology, a ten year lag is not too much. But when it comes to technology Technology. A two year lag
[00:05:37.80] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:05:38.30] - Gregg Garner
You're out of business. Right. So, yeah, I agree with you.
[00:05:41.60] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. And then even on the on the dance front, I mean, it was fine, but I think any kinda arts field in a secular, setting is gonna be focused on, like, pushing limits and testing boundaries as far as, like, even Whatever their agenda is in pushing on stage. So, you know, I I kinda got there, and I'm I had some good friends, and that's about what I I spent Two years doing and then, like, my own personal bible studies. And then re recognizing, like, you know, I think I really just wanna get close to the Lord. I think I think I wanna do a life of ministry. So I applied to a bible college next, and I was so excited because I was like, I will go to a place where Everyone loves Jesus. Like, that sounds fantastic. No more, you know, light in the darkness scenario. Let me just go be in the light For a while. Sure. And it's gonna be awesome, and everyone's gonna love the Lord.
[00:06:35.10] - Gregg Garner
Let's talk about that for a second because I know we were using sarcasm earlier, but it does seem Rather ah, gosh. I I don't wanna use a a word that would offend anybody, but Maybe we could say Jesus put it, I'm sending you out like sheep amidst wolves. Mhmm. Right? That there's there's some kind of hostility that exists out in the world. And as a result, he gave us a a tact with which we should navigate those environments. He uses the phrase, Why is a serpent innocent as a dove? But even that needs taught.
[00:07:10.10] - Laurie Kagay
Mhmm.
[00:07:10.60] - Gregg Garner
And for young people to go from Being a high schooler and then now engaging a world that's hostile, it it seems like we should do better as a Christian community at large To try and buffer that transition and equip our young people as they're just starting their adulthood, and and give them that opportunity to slowly figure certain things out so that they're not Jostled into the experience.
[00:07:42.10] - Laurie Kagay
Because high school and college are so different. And high school, everything's, you know, mandated of you and facilitated for you. And so you go, but everything is, you know Yeah. On the school's timeline and protocol and all that. And college is drastically different experience.
[00:07:58.00] - Gregg Garner
But
[00:07:58.19] - Laurie Kagay
then we're trying to do that, again, in a hostile environment Yeah. Without much
[00:08:04.00] - Gregg Garner
So this time, you're going to this new school, and you're like, okay. Yes. It's not a hostile environment. Yes. I'm entering in. It's gonna I'm gonna find some light and some rest. Mhmm. And we're gonna learn.
[00:08:12.69] - Laurie Kagay
And that's what I was anticipating. Now my dreams this kinda where I went real dark glory times because it it wasn't that. And I was like, oh, man. Now I really don't know what to do. I don't know what to do with higher ed. But what I what I was maybe disappointed with to to describe is there were a lot of Christians, But, like, maybe in name only, there was a lot of just arguing theology. You know? Like, people There's a lot of competitiveness
[00:08:42.50] - Gregg Garner
Mhmm.
[00:08:43.10] - Laurie Kagay
Who was gonna kinda make it big next within Christianity, which was interesting. I was a transfer student, so that made the transition a little awkward, because people kinda have their
[00:08:55.89] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. They love their
[00:08:56.60] - Laurie Kagay
groups, and they have their things established. But I wasn't finding really the community that I was craving. I would say, like, community and mentorships was something that was lacking. And bible classes were I don't know that actually had bible classes. I had theology classes.
[00:09:17.60] - Gregg Garner
So that's And for people who don't know the difference between theology and Bible, Bible is where scripture's taught. You take an exegetical approach. It's about hermeneutics.
[00:09:25.70] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:09:26.20] - Gregg Garner
Where theology is where doctrine's taught.
[00:09:28.39] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:09:28.79] - Gregg Garner
So in theology, you have this this already, this predetermined topic That now you explore based upon the works of other theologians. Mhmm. And scripture can be used, but it's typically as a a proof text.
[00:09:45.10] - Laurie Kagay
Correct.
[00:09:45.60] - Gregg Garner
Rather than an exploration into the scripture to derive your theology. So that that's maybe a Yeah. Quick def like, differentiation between biblical studies and theology.
[00:09:53.10] - Laurie Kagay
I did I had a OT survey Class, that would be my closest to, like, a Bible. Yeah. And we we went through the whole OT. So we would learn, like, this is when it was written.
[00:10:01.29] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:10:01.60] - Laurie Kagay
This is a keyword you should remember about the book. Yeah.
[00:10:04.79] - Gregg Garner
Didn't you learn a song?
[00:10:06.20] - Laurie Kagay
Yes. It starts with creation, fall, flood, nations. It goes the whole way through, But I don't that's that's I mostly remember the first one. But, yeah, I was missing just some of the components of even direction. Where does this take me next? How did God make me? Like, what are, like, some of the identity components that I think is a big part of college. You know, it is that first time you take your steps away from home. You know, like, you're An individual person maybe, for in a different way than you have been, when you were under the protection of your parents and And all those aspects in in high school. But if you don't know who you are, you don't quite know your next steps. I think what I was missing again were the the the direction in life. There was content being delivered, but I didn't I couldn't place where to put everything.
[00:11:09.20] - Gregg Garner
That was my experience in I went to a Christian liberal arts school and but was a biblical studies major. Mhmm. I started theology, changed to biblical studies, and I noticed that in particular, the theology classes, it was like, here's what everybody thinks. Mhmm. And that was the end. This is what people think. That's the end.
[00:11:28.79] - Laurie Kagay
Here's a survey Yeah. What people think.
[00:11:31.39] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. Mhmm. And then when it came to biblical studies, it's like, Here's what the bible may be saying. Land. There is there is nothing that said, And therefore, because it says this, we should be living in this way.
[00:11:47.89] - Laurie Kagay
Mhmm.
[00:11:48.29] - Gregg Garner
Now I do think that church does that. You go to church, you hear a sermon, they read the Bible, and so you get really inspired because church seems to always challenge you to live a certain way.
[00:11:59.89] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:12:00.20] - Gregg Garner
But I noticed that in the academic institution, academics kinda shied away from that. Like, they didn't want to give you any direction at all. Like, direction was just out outside
[00:12:12.70] - Laurie Kagay
of the young people, I think, crave. Like, what is what is my place? Even watching some of our students now, I think some of the magic of watching them come to life is they're finding, like, I have a place somewhere.
[00:12:25.29] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:12:25.60] - Laurie Kagay
Like, there is a place for me here. My gifts are being recognized. I mean, like, we we redecorated this room recently, and we had to, You know, just patch some drywall and paint the walls. And, I knew one of our new students grew up doing drywall. And he was like, how did you How did you know I did this? And I was like, well, on our admissions call, you know, like, we talked about it and you've done it with your dad. And he was like, I love that. Like, yeah. Let me go get my tools right now. And he did it. Like, he came in and, you know, just started patching the wall immediately. But he, like, Just had joy that his skills…
[00:13:00.39] - Gregg Garner
Sure.
[00:13:00.79] - Laurie Kagay
Could be of use, and someone knew that about him and would need that from him. You know, small examples, but, like, things like that happen all the time. How did you know I did this Yeah. Or that? And then people being so, having so much joy because someone needs that. It's it's a value. It's
[00:13:19.29] - Gregg Garner
Right.
[00:13:19.79] - Laurie Kagay
Anyway
[00:13:21.70] - Gregg Garner
So Yeah. Young people are craving direction, And they they want direction with respect to who they are, not in general.
[00:13:28.79] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:13:29.10] - Gregg Garner
So I can look for example, your student. There there was direction made available to him with regard to his own family history and his skill set so that he could participate. And there's The the it gets really special when that gets coupled with their biblical education.
[00:13:44.89] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:13:45.10] - Gregg Garner
And they they get to understand. So you're there. You're at your new school. You're finding That there's a lack of direction. And I classes aren't doing what you thought they were gonna do.
[00:13:54.60] - Laurie Kagay
Right. And then even kinda community life, like, I also think there's, like, a little bit of a lack of heart. Like, it was hard to you know, unfortunately, it happens in a lot of Bible schools, but the more people learn, The more they kinda get jaded or start criticizing everything. So our professors were concerned. You guys, No one's going to church anymore. What what are you guys doing? What do you you know, their concern was protecting us from just walking away from the faith generally. I think that was a little bit of disorienting experience for me because I had built up, like, this will be it. This is the answer. And I'm not saying it's not the answer. It just In the moment in time while I was in Yeah. I was like, man, something is still…
[00:14:39.20] - Gregg Garner
But even having someone available to you So that you could an ask those kinds of questions. Were they there? Did you have any anybody? Did they, you know, a mentor or Like, even an RA, like, anything like that, it was like, Lori, like, how's it going?
[00:14:56.89] - Laurie Kagay
Not really. I mean, it ended up happening, you know, in our in our friend groups. So, I mean, the way
[00:15:03.10] - Gregg Garner
that what happens with post secondary institutions, and a lot of people don't get this, is that Their the the accountability typically from their, joint association, whether it's an accrediting association, denominational association, the State itself is with respect to academic implementation. Right. And and they'll have some expectation for, like, community and And student life along those lines. But there's a big separation for people in terms of the goals of the institution. Like, We're a higher academic institution. We're gonna focus on this. Student life, it just needs to have these basic components. We hope students survive and are taken care of. And and usually, student life kinda gets defined by the dining facility or the dorms, like the infrastructure Rather than the programmatic components that help give direction Right. To a young person. And you're saying at the place you in, And I know the place you went. I'm I'm sure it had a nice facility and Mhmm. All those nice kinds of things. But you're saying with respect to a programmatic element for Your your your development as a person, it was just kinda missing.
[00:16:12.10] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. I would say I was like, if I, you know, if I didn't come back from say, if I didn't come From Thanksgiving break.
[00:16:17.70] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. I don't don't
[00:16:18.10] - Laurie Kagay
don't don't know if someone would have noticed. Mhmm. I mean, like, apart from, like, your direct roommate, my friends would have. But, like, on the
[00:16:23.89] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:16:24.20] - Laurie Kagay
College level. Yeah. I guess just someone didn't show up for class. But, like, would they have even had my number?
[00:16:30.89] - Gregg Garner
As a young person to feel like you you aren't seen, that you're you're not there. So getting back to, like, this, like, the your conversation with students enrollment, It sounds like based upon your own experience, you now have criteria that you believe is important for a young person to consider that maybe they wouldn't think about
[00:16:56.50] - Laurie Kagay
with the kind of guidance counseling you did in high school? That young people mostly get fixated on, I need to know what I'm going to do. Yeah. So I need to know this major.
[00:17:06.20] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:17:06.50] - Laurie Kagay
And I'm like, that is an important question.
[00:17:08.70] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:17:09.09] - Laurie Kagay
But sometimes, like, their answers to it don't even fall within the scope of higher education. Or or it's, like, past an undergrad. You know? So they'll be like, Well, I want to yeah. I wanna be a counselor for people who are addicted to things. I'm like, okay. Well, that, You know, maybe. Like, it but you still wouldn't probably do that after an undergrad. It'd be, like, additional master's degree or certificate after that, but they kinda fixated On, you know, one particular job
[00:17:36.59] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:17:37.20] - Laurie Kagay
Where I think the awesome thing about Bible education is it's forming you as a person
[00:17:41.70] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. To To
[00:17:42.09] - Laurie Kagay
To To do because that's just the reality of our world.
[00:17:45.00] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:17:45.70] - Laurie Kagay
So many people have so many jobs throughout their life.
[00:17:48.90] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:17:50.59] - Laurie Kagay
And so, Yeah. I think that I think that young people do zero in on that, on what's my major. Oh, you guys offer biblical studies and community development. I don't see, you know, the exact do what I want.
[00:18:05.70] - Gregg Garner
Do. Yeah.
[00:18:06.50] - Laurie Kagay
That I have in my mind, how I could do that.
[00:18:09.20] - Gregg Garner
Based upon even today's conversations Mhmm. I'm gonna I'm gonna give you, a a three pronged consideration that you can offer students from now on. And it it came out earlier that I I I think I found better words for each of them. When when you get a biblical education, it's going to develop your identity as a child of God. Mhmm. And and and what that means in terms of who you are and what you have to offer the world. It's it's also gonna give you a a context For developing community. And that those relationships, if they're based on Christ, they can last Your entire lifetime. Then finally, it gives you a sense of mission. So I think coming to a school like ours or another Bible college that Shares these types of values, as a student, you're going to develop in your identity, you're gonna develop community, and you're gonna develop mission. An identity community and mission to me is, something that at some point in your life, you're gonna have to invest into understanding. And unfortunately, for a lot of incoming college students, because they are fixated on these goals that Between now and then, so much can change in your life.
[00:19:22.29] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. And and what's, like, more important in in the long run?
[00:19:26.59] - Gregg Garner
Right.
[00:19:26.90] - Laurie Kagay
Like, for you to Fulfill that career choice or for you to keep on this path of following Jesus.
[00:19:32.70] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:19:33.00] - Laurie Kagay
So, like, Barna has a statistic. He says and it's, like, heartbreaking, but it's That, seventy percent of Christians will, walk away from their faith by the time they graduate college.
[00:19:47.70] - Gregg Garner
Wow. Seven out of ten.
[00:19:49.50] - Laurie Kagay
Seven out of ten. It jumps to eight out of ten by the end of, by the end of your twenties. So it's like, that is the future of our faith right now is Yeah.
[00:20:00.90] - Gregg Garner
And I think this is a message to parents. Right. Because as a young person, you you don't know what you don't know.
[00:20:07.20] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:20:07.50] - Gregg Garner
So you can obviously tell yourself that won't be me. Statistically, it's like Eight out of ten. It's gonna be eight out of ten of you, but you tell yourself it won't be you. But the for a parent, a parent knows that part of our job Is to be that, working part of the executive decision making apparatus in the brain. Right?
[00:20:28.50] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:20:28.90] - Gregg Garner
Young people's Prefrontal cortex is not developed so that executive decision making is deployed effectively until their late twenties. So as a parent, it's our job to help them make those types of decisions. And if we care about our Christian faith continuing into the future, If we care about having a society that's shaped by a Christian worldview, then we have to recognize that It's not somebody else's job. It's our job, and it even exists within our kids. We have to understand what it is that, We're developing when we're developing our kids. Are we developing them in the same way we develop a product so that that product does a certain job? Or are we developing them in the way that God intended us as human beings to develop, which takes some time To to gain this knowledge and wisdom that comes from God. So I think parents need need to know, hey. This is statistics. If you if you appreciate your Christian values and your Christian worldview and how it shaped your experience as a human being, this is not the trend into the future unless your kids get it.
[00:21:34.50] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:21:35.29] - Gregg Garner
And you're you're you're you're like, the statistics, I I wonder, is that for Christian kids coming out of
[00:21:41.00] - Laurie Kagay
for Christian kids.
[00:21:41.79] - Gregg Garner
So Christian kids. So I mean, if your kid went to church Yeah. And was, like, super youth group kids, summer camps, all that kind of stuff, and they go to college, does that even count Christian colleges?
[00:21:51.00] - Laurie Kagay
It's just College generally.
[00:21:52.79] - Gregg Garner
College in general.
[00:21:54.09] - Gregg Garner
So at the end of your twenties, eight of ten of them will walk away from the Christian faith.
[00:21:58.00] - Laurie Kagay
By the end of their twenties.
[00:21:59.20] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. That that is devastating. That's a devastating statistic. And I I do think that parents need to be aware of that, especially if they want a world That is characterized by a Christian worldview. We need to have young people who are gonna grow up with it because At the end of their twenties, they're gonna end in their thirties into positions of authority. They're gonna be bosses at institutions. They're gonna be C-suites at corporations. They're gonna be media influencers. Mhmm. And without a Christian worldview, that's now gonna impact your grandchildren.
[00:22:33.40] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:22:34.20] - Gregg Garner
And and it's a domino effect, but a biblical higher education seems to fortify That that experience or or at least one that is, concentrated on identity, community, and mission.
[00:22:49.70] - Laurie Kagay
That's right. That's right.
[00:22:51.59] - Gregg Garner
I know that for our our institution, even for those who are involved in ministry, it's it's in the ninetieth percentile of graduates are still in ministry.
[00:23:02.70] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. Ninety six percent is is
[00:23:04.20] - Gregg Garner
Ninety six percent after ten years.
[00:23:06.00] - Laurie Kagay
We run the run the stat every year.
[00:23:07.90] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:23:08.20] - Laurie Kagay
But, yeah, it's still in still involved in ministry or missions Ten years after graduation.
[00:23:12.70] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. Which is which obviously gets them out of their twenties. Yeah. So there there's something powerful about a biblical education In terms of the the maintenance of a person's faith because it's it's challenging to grow up in your twenties.
[00:23:25.79] - Laurie Kagay
Right. That's one. When I talk to high schoolers, like, I've talked to some, Christian high schools. Yeah. And even some of the, you know, people in the office would be like, you know, you can't just sell your school. I'm like, I'm not. I'm not selling just my school. I'm like, I am concerned about these kids walking their faith out into adulthood. And I want them to go somewhere that's gonna grow and deepen and strengthen their faith. Because Christian high schools are doing something wonderful. Right? Like, if they're planting those seeds and nurturing those seeds and
[00:23:52.20] - Gregg Garner
So so wait a second. The Christian high schools are telling you not to sell your school?
[00:23:55.50] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. They're like, well, I'm, like, coming in for, you know, kinda general college advice or guidance. But they'll sometimes be like, You can't just say, like, The Institute’s not the only answer. And I'm like Well,
[00:24:05.50] - Gregg Garner
I mean, we know we're not the only answer. Right? As as there's so many Wonderful opportunities out there for students with college, but it's not my responsibility to know all of those other colleges, and it's not yours either.
[00:24:16.70] - Laurie Kagay
It's not yours either.
[00:24:17.90] - Gregg Garner
I I do think that it's funny because in when it comes to education or it comes to, Christianity, We we we pretend that there there's there's no competition. Mhmm. Right? Like, There's there's so many wonderful young people out there that we can get engaged in a biblical education who, Upon receiving it can do some really awesome stuff in the world.
[00:24:43.20] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:24:44.00] - Gregg Garner
And if we were a secular institution, Like, if if you asked a representative from Apple to to come talk about their experience in the Silicon Valley And but then said, but don't push an Apple product on us.
[00:24:56.79] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. Right.
[00:24:57.40] - Gregg Garner
It's just not gonna happen. Right? But but it's funny when it comes to Christianity.
[00:25:00.59] - Laurie Kagay
It is. I think you're right. It's a Christian thing.
[00:25:02.50] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. But the Jews aren't like that. No. No. No. No. I I think I think it's part of the lame part of the the Christian culture that needs to to to awaken. Like, we we just need to have enough sense to know if a person because even if even if you tell me don't Push my organization, my agenda. If I'm linked to it and you know me, I'm already a push.
[00:25:22.90] - Laurie Kagay
Right. It already is.
[00:25:24.09] - Gregg Garner
Right? And so it's like just surrender to it. Just recognize, Hey. This person, of course, wants you to be a part. Like, if if if I really care about what I do and where I'm at and I believe that it's really wonderful, why can't I share that?
[00:25:35.79] - Laurie Kagay
Right.
[00:25:36.50] - Gregg Garner
So, like, if I had somebody here from another school and and which I have had It'd be weird if they didn't talk about their school and how awesome it is? Right? Yeah. Like, it'd be weird if they talked about how awesome everybody else was. I'd I'd I'd probably ask them afterwards and be like, do you not like your school? But it's interesting anyways.
[00:25:52.79] - Laurie Kagay
But I read another stat today that, only a third of high school students who go to Christian high schools We'll continue to on to go to a Christian college.
[00:26:05.59] - Gregg Garner
So that's only a third.
[00:26:06.79] - Laurie Kagay
Only a third. So only a third of …
[00:26:09.40] - Gregg Garner
I wonder if families believe well, I think on the one hand, from my experience in k to twelve space Mhmm. I think parents wanna Shelter their kids. So they wanna protect them from, you know, accessing, The that fruit of knowledge of good and bad Mhmm. A little too early. And so they believe that in a Christian school environment, they they Can have people who care a little bit more. Mhmm. And perhaps there'll be less bullying, perhaps there'll be less exposure to, You know, the big evils, like cussing, smoking, drinking discos, those kinds of things. But, yeah, I I think once They're done with that.
[00:26:46.90] - Laurie Kagay
But, yeah, is it, like, eighteen times up? Yeah. Yeah. Like, we I did it. Even, like,
[00:26:52.00] - Gregg Garner
How much does a young person learn, And how much could you teach them? And for many Christian schools, having taught at other Christian schools in k to twelve space, and I'm you know, that's the thing. Like, we're we're either gonna be, People who tell the truth or we're just gonna, make everybody happy, and I'd rather tell the truth. My experience in teaching Christian schools It's like they they they often, in the k th twelve space, don't teach the Bible. They teach history on the Bible. They teach geography on the Bible. They teach, Some basic considerations for, salvation. And then after that, they're like, A class on the left behind series, a class on is heaven real book and writing a book report on it. They they just, You know, and they're typically taught by coaches. Coaches are there. Yeah. She's and I'm not not against coaches or anything like that, but it's just like, Hey, coach. Come coach. And, hey. We got this Bible class. You wanna teach it? And he's like, well, I'm gonna teach on. They're like, how about heaven is real? And then so they just get the heaven is real book out. Right. It it's it's so to think it it doesn't surprise me then
[00:27:58.59] - Laurie Kagay
Mhmm. A third of them.
[00:27:59.59] - Gregg Garner
A third of them Go on while the other two thirds don't, just because they're they they probably even feel like they've heard it all By that point I
[00:28:09.00] - Laurie Kagay
I I think there is some of that
[00:28:10.09] - Gregg Garner
for sure. Like, there's nothing else that it could teach me. It was invaluable. I wanna go experience the world. Let's figure you know, get kinda Amish on it. Let's Let's get out of here. Let's go see something else. So when you're talking to young people, you have these statistics running in your mind, And you you have a genuine concern for them to develop a sense of identity, community, and mission. Mhmm. And, that that kind of, fuels Your your job then.
[00:28:36.20] - Laurie Kagay
It does. I think it's I think it is another thing I tell young people is, like, I think it's the Like, if we're laying following Jesus aside, I think choosing your college is, like, your second biggest decision you make in your life. life.
[00:28:47.79] - Gregg Garner
Of your life. Really?
[00:28:48.50] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. That's what I think
[00:28:49.59] - Gregg Garner
Bigger than spouse?
[00:28:51.00] - Laurie Kagay
That's number one. It's with so, like, following Jesus is is an outlier. Okay. Okay. It's an outlier. It's a beginning of life and all good things. And then your spouse. Your spouse is number one and then your college because your college is One, it's often where you meet your spouse. It's often where you meet the friends that you keep for a lot of your adulthood, And it's also, you know, it's where you often find a network for what kind of job or career you have right after college. And it's Whether depending on your college choice, it impacts how much debt you're gonna carry, and that debt follows kids for decades sometimes.
[00:29:32.09] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:29:32.79] - Laurie Kagay
And it just it's a big choice, and we give it to eighteen year olds. So, I mean, there's they have my my prayers and my compassion in that, but it is. It's a big choice. But, yeah, for those reasons, I think it's one of the biggest Bigger decisions that you make in life. A lot of people's, like, pivotal life moments happened when they went to college. True. You know, they change their it's it's first time they're seeing the world in some ways. Like, sometimes that's when their ZIP code changes, and that's when they, You know? Yeah. Our our Change of license strangers. Yeah. It's it's a big shift. But, yeah, those are things if if you're in a whole new world and space and Looking for even a spouse and career and future steps, you wanna make sure that you are doing that in a place that nurtures the things you're talking about, identity, Community and mission. And if a and if a school can fortify those things in in a way that's effective, which I do believe ours is, Man, then the future's really bright. Like, we're not playing around at this point.
[00:30:33.70] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. Alright. So to wrap up here, For students who are listening right now who may be looking for a school, what do they need to be doing right now? We're we're we're in December. We're about to end the year. What are the things they need to be doing if they're thinking about coming to, going to college next year?
[00:30:51.09] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. If you're going to college next year, like, you're a senior right now, Then, yeah, a lot of people are starting to make their choices. Like, you're gonna start to see a lot of priority deadlines, even in the month of December.
[00:31:03.50] - Gregg Garner
Is there, like, a early enrollment sometimes for people?
[00:31:06.09] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. Priority deadline typically means there's some sort of, like, break or, or deal or puts you kind of first in line for certain scholarship offers that exist is is what our early decision will do. So maybe a deposit is a lower amount or you get some sort of incentive by saying, I wanna make this choice, and I know I wanna make it now.
[00:31:26.90] - Gregg Garner
Sure.
[00:31:28.00] - Laurie Kagay
If you haven't visited the school, You know, that's always a good thing to do. That's, like, I would say, the best way to see if this is the right fit for you. There are, you know, resources out there, like, The College Tour is one of them that can give you, I would say, like, the best taste if you can't make it there.
[00:31:44.09] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. Because Physically like, for so For for the institute, how could they see The College Tour?
[00:31:49.59] - Laurie Kagay
So it the college tour, you can you can just search, In YouTube, you can find either the Institute for GOD's YouTube channel or The College Tour TV. And on both of those channels, you will see our, Our, like, thirty minute episode about the Institute for GOD as well as the segments, you can also look for us on The College Tour website. And so if you look, we are in you can look under like, if you, you know, Sort by state.
[00:32:19.79] - Laurie Kagay
You can look find us in Tennessee if you sort by category. You can find us in religious schools, or you can type us into their website and search and find it there. We will be on season ten of the college tour. So in February, you can find us on Amazon Prime.
[00:32:34.59] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:32:35.00] - Laurie Kagay
For that. But I do I do think that's a great resource.
[00:32:37.70] - Gregg Garner
Yeah. So either visit in person or or see a video tour.
[00:32:40.70] - Laurie Kagay
Some students right now that are they're quite far from Nashville, but I'm like, watch this. Watch it with your family. You know? And and then let's talk again after.
[00:32:49.40] - Gregg Garner
That's great.
Gosh. What a great tool.
[00:32:51.90] - Laurie Kagay
It is. Oh, yeah. I'm so thankful that we have that.
[00:32:53.70] - Gregg Garner
Priority Deadlines that make them more eligible for certain discounts or scholarships. There's a tour that they need to take. They need to visit in person. What's what's another component?
[00:33:03.29] - Laurie Kagay
Another one is yeah. There's certain sometimes scholarships have certain things, certain applications tied to them. So, maybe you need to fill out a financial information form. For us, we have, like, a pro dev Application as a part of our thing. We're also we're gonna be announcing soon, launching a a church planting cohort for, seven students, in our first few years at college here. So there's there's always, like, some special things you wanna be looking at They're starting new programs or new cohorts that you can, look look for and apply to. But other than that, you want to be, you know, Talking to your parents even about dates. Like, I sent a message out to our students recently. All of our academic, dates are set. So when Parents are often wanting to take that final vacation or, you know, do these certain things, to make those final memories. You just you wanna have all those things in order.
[00:33:59.00] - Gregg Garner
That's good.
[00:33:59.79] - Laurie Kagay
Sometimes students are asking really good questions like, what kind of computer do I need to bring when they bring to campus? That's like we have a little sheet for you for that if you're coming here because you'll get Logos Bible software, which is awesome, and you wanna make sure you have a computer that handles that
[00:34:13.19] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:34:13.80] - Laurie Kagay
Well and effectively. But, yeah, it's like making those choices of what am I gonna bring and What are, the things I wanna do even with my family or with my siblings, before I do make this transition, but also knowing it's not like game's over. You know? There's breaks and You don't you don't change completely, but, yes, all of your applications, you don't you definitely wanna turn those in, as well as the additional forms, whether that be for scholarship or special programming.
[00:34:39.90] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:34:40.40] - Laurie Kagay
And then it's you know, you can also start connecting with other students who are, planning to go to the school too or even current students. Yeah. Social media is a nice tool for that. I I noticed our little people start following each other.
[00:34:53.40] - Gregg Garner
Yeah.
[00:34:53.80] - Laurie Kagay
Which is cool once they post their, like, acceptance box, then they start following each other. But that's a nice tool to be able to, you know, get to know each other and start saying, You know, ask learning a little bit about each other's lives. If you're interested in going, like, on mission, we have a Summer Internship. This summer, which is available for students seventeen and up. So that's we have, we initially had twenty four spots available. I think now we're down to about Ten spots, remaining for summer internship, but that is, like, a six week Mission intensive.
[00:35:32.90] - Gregg Garner
Seven week.
[00:35:33.59] - Laurie Kagay
Seven week mission intensive, where you'll get to go to East Africa, minister here in Nashville, Have tons of worship, tons of bible studies. I definitely recommend that because I think that's, like, puts your heart in just the best condition. It will get you ready to start Bible school.
[00:35:50.09] - Gregg Garner
That's great, Laurie. Yeah. Thank you so much for your time.
[00:35:52.59] - Laurie Kagay
Yeah. Thank you.
[00:35:53.30] - Gregg Garner
For this advice for students. Students, I think it's really important that In when thinking about applying to a Bible college or any college at all, that you remember Paul the Apostle's plea With the Roman community that giving themselves over to God like a living sacrifice would be the holy and acceptable thing that they did, and that Doing so is their ultimate act of worship. And he goes on to say that their their mind needed to be because the world wants it to conform to how it operates. But if they would be close to God, Which is the whole thing about giving yourselves over to God and as a living sacrifice. The Hebrew term for sacrifice is korban, and it literally means to bring near. So sacrificing means to get near to God. So getting near to God, there's gonna be a transformation that takes place. A renewal of mind is what he talks about. And then it says, as a result of that renewed mind, you can know what is actually pleasing to God, what is his good And perfect will. And if you are indeed concerned with implementing the will of God on earth as it is in heaven, There's there's some mindsets that have to change, and the Bible will tell us that it's by a washing of the water of the word That our mind gets renewed. So consider biblical higher education as you look at furthering your education, And I I know that God will meet you in all of that. Thank you very much, and thank you, Laurie. Thanks again.
[00:37:25.19] - Laurie Kagay
Thank you. We'll see you guys.
[00:37:35.40] - Laurie Kagay
Yes.
Show Notes
Institute for GOD
Gregg Garner
For comments, questions, or topic ideas, email us at conversations@instituteforgod.org