Preparing for the Professions
by Shirley A. Mullen '76
For decades, Houghton College has been preparing graduates to enter the professional and commercial networks of our society. Part of that Christian liberal arts preparation is a rigorous mastery of the relevant subject material. Our students have certainly succeeded in this area, as evidenced by their impressive performances on standardized exams and by their longstanding track record in obtaining admission to graduate and professional schools. As important as it is, however, mastery of subject material is not what sets Houghton alumni apart in the professional or business worlds.
The hallmark of a Christian liberal arts education from Houghton is the kind of person who emerges from this comprehensive learning environment.
Houghton people know:
- how to communicate (speaking and listening!);
- how to evaluate information;
- how to translate "data" into diagnosis or knowledge into wisdom;
- how to ask helpful and provocative questions;
- how to build constructive, collaborative communities at work, in the church and in our society;
- how to love other people in ways that invite redemptive transformation;
- how to care for God's creation; and
- how to confront the complex problems and ambiguities of our time with imagination and creativity.
Real life is not like a true-false test, or even a multiple choice exam. And there is no cramming. Houghton alumni are able to make a difference in their worlds because of the habits, the attitudes and the commitments they form over time in the midst of this multi-faceted, educational community—a community that seeks to find just the right balance of stress and support for each person.
We often say at Houghton that "not all classrooms are the same." It takes the full range of educational opportunities at Houghton to meet the full range of diversity among our students (for "not all students are the same…") and to prepare our graduates for the wide range of places in which God wants to take them to make a difference in the world (for "not all callings are the same!").
In this issue, we celebrate the richness of God's grace manifested in the creative and effective lives of Houghton alumni at work in the professional and business communities throughout our world. Here are only four of thousands of alumni stories. We invite you to share your stories with us, and to read others' stories on our Web site.
Shirley Mullen '76 is president of Houghton College.
