By: Erica Briggs on January 11, 2024
I was not a reader in early elementary, didn’t become one until I discovered the fantasy section at the local library. Battles between angels and demons. Tolkein’s orcs and elves. Legends of dwarves and fairies. When I discovered Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, I was hooked on the written word – at least in the third way words…
By: Julie O'Hara on January 11, 2024
About 10 years ago it seemed that everyone I knew was obsessed with “Strengths Finder” as a self-assessment tool. It never excited me the same way that Enneagram or Extended Disc has done, but I still remember three of my top strengths were Responsibility, Learner, and Strategic. Those strengths, and their corresponding shadow sides provide…
By: Todd E Henley on January 11, 2024
I have always enjoyed preaching, teaching, training, podcasting, and hosting workshops. About 90% of the time, I am asked to speak on topics such as: Trauma’s impact on the body, brain, immune system, or nervous system. How to help the body heal from childhood trauma? How pornography and/or sex addiction wires the brain. Generational trauma…
By: Chad Warren on January 11, 2024
Literacy equals access. Access to what? According to the ancients, freedom. In “The Republic,” Plato first introduced the seven liberal arts, those arts which would set a human free, and he began with reading and grammar. In your first few years in elementary school, the goal is to learn to read so that, eventually, you…
By: Chris Blackman on January 11, 2024
Writing was and is my biggest concern in this program and was actually one of the things that prevented me from starting earlier. There are two things against me. Firstly, I am a self-professed standard writer, certainly not an academic writer. The second is that I have always been a slow word-for-word reader, and as…
By: Daren Jaime on January 11, 2024
Growing up as a child I was introduced to the popular saying, reading is fundamental. This simple but complex saying stayed etched in my mind throughout my life’s journey. It speaks to a highly valued skill that is essential for a person’s growth and lifelong learning. What I took from this saying is reading…
By: Kari on January 11, 2024
Bold, wise, and courageous while being a minority are some of Daniel’s admirable traits in the Old Testament. Until this week, I never correlated his actions with his “learning and skill in all literature” as seen in Daniel 1:17 [1]. Perhaps it seemed more obvious as I have focused my own on reading, writing, and…
By: Elysse Burns on January 11, 2024
I remember watching films in which the main character, in a flash of inspiration, writes a literary masterpiece or reads all the resources on a given topic in a very short time, usually overnight. I don’t know why, but throughout my early studies I thought this method was a worthy practice. I think some people…
By: Akwese on January 11, 2024
To be honest, I was struggling to sit down and do this first assignment. The mere thought of delving into reading and writing with the knowledge that public eyes and comments awaited me was paralyzing. Although imposter syndrome had been discussed by others, it wasn’t something I truly connected with until now. That’s because when…
By: Nancy Blackman on January 11, 2024
Image created with Jasper AI Art As a lifelong reader and writer, it’s not the reading I’m concerned with, but my ability to retain the amount of information, not just for one semester but for the entire three years and beyond. When I was a kid I used to deep dive into books as my…
By: Jenny Dooley on January 11, 2024
The Identity Trap: A story of Ideas and Power in Our Time, by Yascha Mounk, offered a clear perspective on the discord and polarization I encountered when I returned to the USA in 2014. Something had drastically changed over the years that I could not put my finger on and left me fearful of speaking…
By: Joel Zantingh on January 11, 2024
I was a late bloomer when it comes to reading. I did not take to reading very well or very much until middle school, and didn’t take to writing very well until my Undergrad. But it seems that the techniques of linear writing processes were at odds with the way my brain is wired. In…
By: Christy on January 10, 2024
Entering into this semester, I have certainly felt a level of trepidation that has prompted doubts on my decision to enter into a doctoral program. My affinity for learning has always thrived, but as an oral learner and verbal processor, reading and writing are not my first choices for knowledge acquisition and expression. As reading…
By: Cathy Glei on January 10, 2024
“. . . identity synthesis may likely lead to a society that fundamentally violates his most fundamental values and his most ardent aspirations for the future. The lure that attracts so many people to the identity synthesis is a desire to overcome persistent injustices and create a society of genuine equals but the likely outcome…
By: Debbie Owen on January 10, 2024
When I was a school librarian and first started teaching middle and high school students how to do research in 2004, the information landscape was drastically different than it is now. Yes, they were using the internet, but Wikipedia was considered an unreliable, forbidden resource for any purpose at all (now, depending on your topic,…
By: Shela Sullivan on January 9, 2024
Originating from Malaysia, English stands as my third language. Fortunately, I come from an English-speaking family. My first English story book was Little Red Riding Hood. I was captivated by Little Red Riding Hood’s bravery as she walked all alone into the forest to visit her grandmother with a basket of bread. Subsequently, my academic…
By: Pam Lau on January 9, 2024
It was September 2020 when my friend, Adrienne, asked me to go public with our friendship. She wanted to know if we could work out some of our current difficulties in front of others on my podcast and in a workshop. Valuing her friendship more than my comfort zone, I agreed and we recorded an…
By: Diane Tuttle on January 9, 2024
I grew up in a chaotic home. To survive I needed to find coping mechanisms. Mine was escaping into a book. I could get lost in a story that took me to faraway places and adventures where my imagination let loose. Reading all kinds of books continues to bring enjoyment. As this semester began, I…
By: Adam Cheney on January 9, 2024
Over the course of the last year as I have been thinking of starting Seminary, I decided that I was going to increase the veracity of my reading. Last year, I read about eighty books. This year I set a goal to read one hundred and twenty. Some of these were academic, some a bit…
By: Jeff Styer on January 9, 2024
Fortunately, I was raised in a family that encouraged reading at a young age. I can still recall some of my favorite childhood books that I would return to over and over again such as More Spaghetti, I Say and The Biggest Sandwich Ever, both written by Rita G. Gelman and Mort Gerberg. Upon entering primary…
