The Search for Meaning in College

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Review on a Lecture
Work Cited

Introduction

This essay shall serve as a brief analysis of the key points that were raised in the lecture by Alexander and Helen Astin and Profesor Emeritus on the college search for meaning (Astin et al n.p.).

Review on a Lecture

The introductions aside, the speakers went back into the history of how they got into the field of spirituality exploration. They confirmed that they formed a group that initiated discussions on authenticity, spirituality, and renewal in higher education. In their work, research, and writing, the three speakers embarked on finding and presenting more writings in the aspect of spirituality outside the realms of education. In addition to their website, they have two major panels that help them in their work. Their first major challenge was to create a program that would address the role of spirituality, especially among college students. They also wanted to know the connection between spirituality and religion and what the universities and colleges were doing that either deterred or encouraged their students to pursue aspects of spirituality. They confessed that the lecturers and professors have focused their efforts on academic knowledge and almost totally ignored the issue of the moral development of their students.

Spirituality also has a lot to do with other aspects such as intuition, inspiration, creativity, the mysterious, and the Sacred. A survey was conducted to find the opinions of college students as regards the issues of beliefs and values. The results enabled them to develop up to twelve scales that could be used to assess the levels of spirituality in individual students.

A survey was also conducted on the faculty from the colleges that the student survey was carried. From the results, students reported high levels of spiritual involvement at the college entry-level. Most of the students interviewed that they were searching for meaning in their lives and that an interestingly large number attended some form of religious service several times within the year with most of them reporting that they have at one time or another discussed issues of spirituality with their family members. Large numbers of students also revealed that they had experienced some incidents of doubt as pertains to religion. Most students believe in God but at times find themselves distanced from Him. According to the survey carried out by the speakers and their team, they came up with three conceptions of God, i.e. the personal God, the all-powerful God, and the mystical God.

The speakers also agree that students nowadays have a high threshold of tolerance to opposing religious opinions and that a majority of students also believe that people who are not religious can live equally moral lives as their counterparts who are religious and a majority of students disagree with the belief that people who do not believe in God will be punished. Hellen Astin also explained that a majority of college students expect their institution to foster their spiritual growth. Interestingly, juniors score higher on spirituality and spirituality quests as compared to those that are just entering college. During college, most students become more actively involved in their

spiritual quests. This involved developing a meaningful philosophy of life represented by seeking beauty in individual lives as well as entertaining inner harmony.

There is also a clearly defined growth during college in a quality called equanimity. This includes seeing each day as meaningful and being thankful for each day that comes by. Results from the research have shown that persons who embrace positive psychological traits also show high levels of traits such as optimism and generosity. An ecumenical world view is also another aspect of spiritual growth that develops even more in college. Students are becoming more tolerant of other cultures and the student’s ethic of caring grows impressively in college. Global awareness and global concern reflect a personal quality that should be central to societal discussions.

Overall spiritual growth speaks well of what can be expected of the professionals emerging from college as they can be expected to be more tolerant, more community-centered, and more collaborative. Colleges are also expected to be more humane and more self-aware. Institutions rich in the capital are self-aware, they know who they affect, they know what they believe in and what they want to achieve. However, questions were raised as the research was conducted regarding whether students’ spirituality developed as a result of their experiences to find the reasons for the change and growth of spiritual qualities in college, an analysis of the students’ backgrounds and experiences before entering college were analyzed. It was revealed that the faculty can heavily influence the development of spirituality among college students by engaging them in discussions of personal or spiritual matters.

Practices by the faculty that were found to improve spiritual development included reflective writing and journal, the use of collaborative group projects, and the use of contemplation and meditation in the classroom. The students’ fields of study have differential growth in their spiritual development. Positive growth was noticed majorly in the arts while negative growth was recorded in science and technical fields. Positive growth was shown in the students who were actively involved in student organizations. Some of the strongest positive trends in spiritual development were reported to occur if the student engages in service-learning, takes interdisciplinary studies, or studies abroad. Leadership training was found to have a positive impact on the spiritual development of the students. As far as equanimity and ecumenical world view are concerned, the place where the student lived played a very crucial role in spiritual development.

Students living in shared halls of residence and those who interacted with students from different cultures also had substantial positive growth in spiritual growth. Watching a lot of television, frequent drinking, and partying detract from spiritual growth in students. Spiritual development also has some correlation to the academic and social performance of the students. The positive growth in spirituality is directly related to the number of responsible and socially aware citizens in the world. The research also revealed that the professors and lectures either never or slightly encourage discussions on spirituality. Several other curricular and co-curricular activities were also reported to impact the development of spirituality in college students. The speaker concluded on the point that while students nowadays are more interested in spiritual development, the full potential of both colleges and universities to facilitate such is yet to be realized.

Work Cited

Astin, Alexander, et al. “Cultivating the Spirit: College and the Search for Meaning.” Online video. 2009. CMU. Web.

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The Search for Meaning in College

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