What makes College Guild special?

A recent letter from a College Guild student in California:

For me, what makes College Guild special is being able to learn new things that help me to transform my perspective into something that is not only unique to me, but is also outside of myself. A new part of me I'm able to share with my family, which is very much important to me. When I left them I left behind a twisted ideology of myself. By sending home the writing assignments together with volunteer comments of what I have been learning through the units of various subjects has helped me not only to reflect, but also help the family to read and discern for themselves of how much my core beliefs have changed.

For now, this is one of the few things I'm able to give back in reconciling with the impression I instilled in their minds about me. Sort of a rewarding byproduct if you think about it. All in God's grace.

College Guild is special because it's not just an educational program of self-help schooling. No, it is so much more than that. It involves learning activities that deal with everyday living, and I mean real life moral situations. Not the kind of activities I included into the sort of lifestyle I used to live. Additionally, the subject matter taught was academic, self-actualization, life developmental and also helped me to grow spiritually. I learned these things on my own as I started to progress and relate to some of the things I was learning. Even understanding the difference it could make in my life if applied.

For example, there was one course that taught me more than just doing my part in making the environment cleaner, safer and more healthier. It taught me how to see the environment I live in and what I can do to make a difference. The name of the course is Environmental Issues and though it was teaching me about global warming, I understood the assignment to be a universal lesson. For instance, with a question like "What can I do to make my environment better and contribute to the cause of saving our planet?" I took the question and understood it to be a two-fold contemplation. You see, I not only learned about what I can do in relation to recycling and being eco-friendly, but I also picked up on how to make my surrounding environment a bit more brighter and more fruitful. In terms of an act of kindness towards another human being who also lives on the same planet as I. From learning this lesson was the realization of a spiritual aspect in creating harmony, not only with those within the immediate environment, but also with myself in the process. For this new perspective to develop, it took honesty, open-mindedness and willingness to learn something new, which in turn metaphysically helped me to start spinning the wheels inside my head on a more deeper level. I find this quite exciting actually, because you don't even know when that floating light bulb turns on. So yeah, College Guild has definitely guided me towards quite a bit of light-bulb experiences. How to transform questions and adapt them into my current daily living. I believe what keeps me cultivating for more is these same light-bulb moments of enlightenment. My name is Andrew and I encourage anyone to this CG experience.

Sincerely,

Andrew V.

A College Guild student in California

March 11, 2019