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Powered by LifeTypeOur topic for this Large Group is the Christian view of success & vocation. We chose specifically to have this topic on that day because the university's largest job fair is happening that day as well. So students will already be thinking about internships & careers. CMU takes pride in the good job placement of its graduates, but students definitely feel the pressure to know exactly what they're going to do with their lives right now. Therefore, we thought that it would be a good idea for our students to hear from you about your experiences in choosing your career paths from Christian perspective. Since there are 3 of you, you'll each have about 10 - 15 minutes to introduce yourself & to tell us your story: your educational & career backgrounds, what you're doing now, how you made your career decisions, how being a Christian influenced your career decisions, how your views on success might be different because you're a Christian, etc. Then, we'll have some time for questions, & you can wrap everything up with any advice you might have for us as college students. Ideally, this would be interactive so feel free to do whatever you can to help facilitate that. Some background on our group: we'll have anywhere from 35 -50 students ranging from freshmen to grad students of all majors (although approximately 2/3 of the group are technical majors) from across the country/world.
Thoughts on what points I should hit? I'll probably email the other two folks who are coming, and see if we can coordinate a little bit.
At our pastor's birthday party, Billy did a caricature of our pastor, and "quoted" him as saying: "Don't use notes - any sermon worth preaching is one that you can remember." I agree with that, and that doesn't count sitting down and memorizing it either. But, I am planning on using that model (I suppose that is what I always have done when speaking, so I guess it is just more intentional this time) next Tuesday.
Hrm. I don't have a category for this post to go in, so I guess I'll put it in "Reviews", since I can at least review the evening once I am finished...
To me an obvious one is how being a Christian affects how you try to balance work and family -- perhaps especially from an entrepreneurial point of view.
I generally disagree with the "don't use notes" philosophy, although perhaps that's because I'm a written word type of person. Speaking without notes is great if one can pull it off, but I've also seen too many cases where it causes the speaker to ramble and not make clear, coherent points.
I'd compare it to different types of music performances I've heard: The best is where the performer knows the music so well he doesn't need the score and can put his whole heart into what he is expressing. Or where he knows music itself so well he can improvise and play extemporaneously. But of the other two, I'd rather have a performance where the musician can refer to the written notes as needed than one where he can't "get the point across" because (1) he's concentrating not forgetting the notes or (2) he's not good enough to pull off an improvisation. As a choir member, I've been in all of the above situations myself. :)
I'd think an index cards with the main points you wanted to make is a good idea. Especially with the time limit, you don't want to get sidetracked and then not have time to say other important things.
I've done presentations both ways. I don't like the "reading voice" that I get if I'm reading a speech, but in order to give a timely presentation without notes I've found it necessary to plan my 'speech' very carefully beforehand and run through it in my mind and some parts out loud before hand. This gives me practice speaking more formally (I mean smoothly and deliberately - I normally just ramble) and it imprints the sequence of points I want to address. For 15 minutes I doubt that you'll need notes, but for an hour presentation I often have the outline nearby and at some transition point I glance at it make sure I'm on track. The chief advantage of not using notes is that you give your full attention to your audience and can 'read' them and adjust your presentation as you go. As an aside, the best kind of audience for my music is one that I can read. I don't like playing for people who know how to sit still and be serious.
But that wasn't your question. I think it would be important to discuss the dangers of getting our identity or sense of worth through our career. People may pay lip service to the idea, and I'm not sure that you struggle with it, but then maybe you could help give people who are struggling with that kind of pressure (from themselves or others) to get a better perspective. Maybe you could also talk about it not necessarily being God's way to have a plan all drawn up but the importance of being ready at any moment to follow the door or window that God opens up. If we have a plan it's too easy to follow it and we become desensitized to God's direction.
As to success. I suppose it's obvious that in every job or task we have we should do our best (not perfectionism) and we should take pleasure in doing good work (Ecc.) and not be focused on future rewards. Easier said than done. Hope this helps you get to thinking.
I think Tom Grosh recently reviewed a book (by Os Guinness?) that talks about the primary calling/vocation to follow Christ subsuming all other secondary callings, such as callings to be a parent and an engineer and a musician, etc.
It's important to get priorities straight, putting God's kingdom first, but also to understand that work in this world (for example engineering) has value and can be a part of God's call... not merely as a means to an obviously "Christian" or evangelistic end, but because all things are created by and for the Christ and come together in Him.
Another thought... when working, work as serving Christ rather than a human master, and look to Him for your reward. (Still, I don't think that necessarily contradicts asking for a raise when appropriate.)
OK, enough rambling. If I were giving this talk, I would definitely use notes!
Thanks Janet for reminding me of the end of James 4, about, "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that," and not, "To day day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain."
I emailed the other folks who are coming, and one guy wrote back (he has been a professor at CMU since 1977 - I don't know if he did the math to figure out that if I graduated in 1999, I was born in 1977... As I read his response, I thought of one issue to bring up, and I guess that Peter and Janet were touching on it as well - what is the definition of success, that the very definition, or at least the practical implications of that definition (now that I see the first definition, and don't need to change it) work out in your life.
success: (answers.com)
1. The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.
2. The gaining of fame or prosperity. The extent of such gain.
(I also note that there is a Success, New Hampshire, which has a total population of 2. I guess that shows that success is hard to attain)