Why You Need to Sidestep the College System Now!

sidestep

Former college students speak out about the typical college campus. They say it isn't worth the cost.

By Melody Dornink

In today’s society, there are many serious problems with the traditional college route. As college prices skyrocket and Christian college students are subjected to an increasing amount of hostility by radically liberal professors, there are a few students out there who have found a better, yet less-traveled, road.

Accelerated distance learning, as facilitated by CollegePlus!, is the route more and more students are choosing. Why? Here are some reasons from the students themselves.

Save Time

Traditional college takes at least four years to complete, and for motivated students who do not have that much time to waste, there is a better way. Zack Hetfield, a business management major, started out taking online classes through a different college which followed the traditional timetable.

“I didn’t like how long it was going to take,” Hetfield said. “It was too slow and too expensive.” He dreaded the upcoming school year and wanted an alternative. His mother heard about CollegePlus!! about that time and Hetfield enrolled as soon as he could. “I love the flexibility of CollegePlus!” he said.

Negative Campus Influences

Kristen Montgomery, a CollegePlus! English major and a high school senior, said one of the main reasons she began looking for options outside the traditional college experience was due to the negative campus influences she encountered at a local community college.

Montgomery started off taking two classes at the community college, a speech class and an English class. To her disappointment, the speech teacher did very little instructing, other than reading the textbook verbatim.

The professor’s beliefs, which clashed with Montgomery’s, came out openly in his teaching. “He spent more time sharing his opinions than teaching us how to write,” she said. “I learned more from a day-long writing workshop by the Institute for Excellence in Writing than I did in 16 weeks of college classes.” Not to mention the fact her English teacher was an unabashed homosexual and extreme liberal.

Montgomery added that her classmates were another negative influence she had to deal with. “It was extremely frustrating that I was one of the only students doing my best and completing assignments on time, she said.”Everyone else skimmed by and still earned an okay grade.”

Unbiblical Worldviews

Montgomery found out that no matter how unbiased someone claims to be, their worldview will come out in their teaching. She now understands that in a secular college setting, it is a constant fight to keep those worldviews from seeping in and corrupting your own.

Montgomery went on to say, “Each week, I would come home feeling exhausted and emotionally drained. I thought, ‘I can’t do this for four years!’ Even though my mom helped me learn a strong Christian worldview and defense of my beliefs, I would still be listening to four years of anti-Christian ideals and opinions.” While Montgomery realized that she would not walk away from God, she was very discouraged and she said that semester was a dark point in her spiritual life.

Follow Your Destiny and Get to Work!

Hetfield encouraged other potential college students to “think through what you want, and don’t waste time. Once you find what you want, go for it. Knuckle down and get to work!”

Montgomery added that God's leading is vital for knowing what course to take in life, whether the decision is related to education or anything else. “Don’t do something merely because it sounds amazing, like earning your degree in two years,” she said. “Follow God’s leading. He may lead you to witness at a secular college or study His word in seminary or do CollegePlus! and accelerated distance learning. The most important thing is to seek God and His will.”

you can Melody is a CollegePlus! English major and lives with her family in Minnesota. She works at a law office and writes for a local newspaper.

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