Michelle said... on Mar 30, 2006

Hey CEVII,
Thanks for commenting! Congrats on getting your credits out of the way--that's pretty impressive! Personally, I would stay in high school all four years. Even though academically you're ready for college, I found that sticking around that fourth year made me more available to people my age. Being a senior in the youth group, I got to be a role model and leader, paving the way for the incoming seniors and also showing people that you can hold strong in your faith all throughout high school. If I could do it over, I wouldn't trade the ministry I did as a senior for a head start on college; it wasn't where God wanted me at the time.
But on the flip side, I know quite a few Biolans who started here a year or two early, and it seems to work out pretty well for them. My advice? Pray about it, and make sure you're emotionally ready for college.
As for the Torrey professors--Biola is a non-denominational school, which means you get profs from a wide range of backgrounds. Some are more liturgical and traditional, others are more contemporary and charismatic. But on the ESSENTIALS, they all agree. Students and profs alike sign a doctrinal statement when they come here, so you're not getting crazy heretical philosophies on this campus! In class, I've never encountered any weird core theology. I know I differ with some of my profs denominationally, but it's never really surfaced as a problem because the things we don't agree on are the secondary , non-essential traditions, not the foundational truths.
Hope that helps!
In Christ,
Michelle

Michelle said... on Apr 24, 2006

Hey Erin,
Sorry I'm a bit slow on the reply here...we had spring break and all!
Sounds like you come from a little town like I did! LA is definitely a change, but the school is actually situated in La Mirada, which is a suburb. Basically, you feel more like you're in a town from the 50's than in the second largest city in the U.S.! There's a park across the street where you can feed ducks, there are houses when I look out my dorm window, and I did an article last semester about the crime rate here, which happens to be way low! So it shouldn't be too tough to adjust here. I like the fact that it's safe enough to walk to the grocery store down the street, but you can also drive 30 minutes and be ANYWHERE--Hollywood, the beach, Disneyland, amazing malls...it's not half bad if you have friends with cars! :)
Now for your questions on Torrey. I love the challenges and the community of the program, but there are some downfalls. For me personally, the fact that I don't get to do "real" general ed classes or "real" Bible classes is kind of a downer. My friends are taking classes like public speaking, psychology, and biblical interpretation, which seem really fun at times! In Torrey, we learn general ed subject matter, but we do it through reading and discussion, and it's so integrated that I find myself thinking, "whoa, I just learned a bunch of Russian history from Anna Karenina and I didn't even realize it!" The flip side of that dilemma is that we get to read more--WAY more--great texts, and there are no lectures. You don't get in half-asleep, note-taking ruts. You're always in the middle of discussing something big and intriguing.

Michelle said... on Apr 24, 2006

Hey Stephanie!
Thanks for checking out my journal! Yes, I am a journalism major, and the reason you probably didn't see it listed on the site is because it falls under Mass Communication. I LOVE the print journalism program and could talk for days about it, but I really should probably get off the internet and BACK to my journalism work...as in, the two newspaper articles due tomorrow and the magazine issue that we're sending in to the printer in three days! But check out the mass communications website, EagleVision, or my pictures or video to see what's going on in the department!
--Michelle