First repaid loan

Its pretty exciting to find out today that my first KIVA loan has been fully repaid. If you are unfamiliar with KIVA, its a great organization that facilitates loans to those throughout the world in order to break the cycle of poverty. Subgroup A of group Tuwezeshane from Tanzania repaid their loan in only six months. Since its actually a loan, my investment has been returned, and I was able to loan it out again to Thuo Chan Rong in Cambodia, who operates a grocery store. If you haven't yet, check out KIVA.org and make a loan (as little as $25) to break third world poverty.

Baptism in Boston

I just returned after spending a week on the northshore of Boston. It was great to back in New England, visiting friends, attending GCTS' graduation, and most important, being present for Ainsley's baptism at Christ Church. If I get around to it, I will add more about the trip's highlights. But for now, this picture of Ainsley and I will suffice.

Some thoughts on applying to doctoral programs

Beginning this fall, I will be attending Fordham University to embark on the long journey towards a PhD in Historical Theology. That said, I figured I ought to write down a few thoughts that have come to mind as I reflect on this unbelievably stressful process of applying to doctoral programs. For when I began this process, and admittedly, even well into it, I often struggled with the overwhelming feeling that I had no idea what I was doing and how to find the best fit for me. But along the way, I picked up helpful tidbits, and ultimately landed myself at my top choice... so perhaps this might be helpful. Finally, all of my efforts were geared towards finding the right patristics program for me, so keep that in mind if you are working in a different field than mine.

1. What kind of program are you looking for?
Probably the most fundamental question I had to ask was US or UK. While UK programs tend to be much shorter (no coursework), they also seem to cost more as I believe they aren't typically funded, and I still have my reservations about landing jobs back in the US afterward. Also, I really wanted the additional coursework as I still feel relatively new to patristics. Then, what kind of environment do you want to work in? I had an incredibly helpful conversation with Paul Kolbet at BC about the state of patristics studies and which options might be good for me. I had no desire to work in a highly competitive (read: back-stabbing) environment, which eliminated several. Another factor some will have to consider is where you (and/or your spouse) are willing to actually live. Another big factor for me was where do I ultimately want to teach because all programs will open some doors and close others. Figuring out all of this takes time. For me, I started during my graduate studies at GCTS and then spent the better part of a year looking at school websites, talking with professors and students, really thinking about what type of program I wanted to work in and, finally, what type of scholar did I want to become. My initial list began with over fifty schools, but little by little, shrank to the four I ultimately applied to: Notre Dame, Fordham, Marquette, and St. Louis. And I applied to Yale Divinity for an MAR as a backup.

2. Its all about the faculty
I can clearly remember Dr. Rosell's firm admonishment during our historiography course that when it came to selecting doctoral programs, school names counted for little, what mattered was 'who' was there. At the end of the day, you are looking for a professor who will be your advisor. So if a big name school doesn't have anyone in your specific field, why bother? During my studies at GCTS and my year of searching, whenever I came across someone who was doing exciting work in my field, I added them to a list. That way, when it came to patristic exegesis, I knew who was out there and where they were. As I narrowed the list, I made it a point to start reading their books and articles, because I feel like you can learn a lot about how they think and approach historical theology. The next step in my opinion is to establish some sort of connection with them. I used mostly email, though if you can catch them at a conference, chatting over coffee might help a ton. Of course, you will want to meet with them when you visit the campus, but I suggest getting started before that. Another incredibly helpful bit of advice I discovered is talk to current students. They will be a great resource when it comes to knowing what each professor is like as an advisor. Also, make sure whoever you want to work with is not about to leave on sabbatical or retire.

3. GRE Scores
First of all, let me state very clearly... I despise the GRE with every ounce of my being. Okay, now I may proceed. For better or worse, the GRE plays a pretty central role in being accepted, and typically getting financial aid as well. I used a study book, but if I had it to do over again, based on feedback from friends, I would have taken one of the courses by Kaplan or the like. Build your vocabulary as much as possible! Though I will say that even after completely memorizing all six sections in my study book, there were still four words on my exam that I had never even seen in my entire life. Go figure. Also, be careful about not studying for the math section. Some might tell you that only your verbal and writing count, but your program might be like Fordham, where even your math scores are factored into awarding financial aid. One last word of encouragement, your GRE scores aren't everything. Mine were certainly not what I had hoped to get, and from what I had heard from the Director of the Graduate program at Fordham, they weren't even high enough for acceptance, but I still made it in. I know of another student who told me he 'bombed' and still made it into BC. So there are other mitigating factors, but still... study your ass off!

4. Visiting
I'll make this short and sweet. Visiting schools is a wonderful idea. Try to meet with the professors you are interested in (but as I said earlier, establish contact prior to this), several different students in the program (even if its just to grab their emails for questions later), and the director of the graduate program (as they can help you understand a lot of the nuts and bolts of the program).

5. Statement of Intent
As I came to understand it, the goal is to explain why their program would be a great fit for you. I tried to briefly outline my research interests, some of the work I've done in the area, things that were appealing about their program, and what my future goals are. Each of mine were one page, so precision was important.

6. Lots of prayer
Not to sound trite, but for me, applying to doctoral programs has been apart of pursuing what have I sensed to be my calling. Even with such a strong conviction that this was the Lord's will, there was still a lot of doubt and discouragement along the way. In the end, prayer played a significant role in continually strengthening me for each new day. And thus, I end with this prayer for you:

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favor, and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fordham University - Updated

After much prayer and counsel, I have made my decision to pursue my PhD in Historical Theology at Fordham. While the idea of studying at Yale Divinity was very enticing, the fact remains that Fordham was, and is, my top choice. I am incredibly excited for the opportunity to work with the phenomenal patristics faculty at Fordham. I also want to thank you for your prayers and encouragement along the way. This has certainly been a humbling and stretching journey. Also, in case you were wondering, my next big adventure will be presenting my first paper at the Pacific Northwest AAR/SBL meeting in early May on Second Clement's reading of Isaiah.

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to thee, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly thine, utterly dedicated unto thee; and then use us, we pray thee, as thou wilt, and always to thy glory and the welfare of thy people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

YDS

I just received news today that I have been accepted to Yale Divinity School! It was one of the five schools that I had applied to, but unlike the others (which were all PhDs in Historical Theology), this is for a MA in Religion (History of Christianity concentration) along with a Certificate in Anglican Studies. This particular program is incredibly appealing for me because it enables me to continue in my patristics as well as satisfy my 'Anglican year' should I ultimately pursue priesthood. I am still awaiting responses from the other programs, but I am very excited about the possibility of attending Yale.

Walla Walla Wine Country

This past weekend, Troy, Betty, Dustin, Marie, and myself made our first pilgrimage to Walla Walla wine country. And what a weekend it was! Three days, twelve wineries, and seventy-four wines later (at least that was my personal tally), I think its fair to say we all have much more developed palates. Which is a good thing because that was our sole objective: increase our knowledge of wine so we better know whats out there and what we each like. (right, the crew at Kiona)




I was a little anxious as we headed east because I was in charge of planning our itinerary, but I had some great input from my parents and our friend, Jacky. Though, with a better grasp now of whats in Walla Walla, its pretty hard not to find great wineries. So a brief summary of our adventure... On friday morning, Marie, Dustin, and I all piled into my car for the long drive ahead (troy and betty would join us late that evening). Our first stop was actually in Richland at Barnard Griffin. Then we proceeded east, stopping at Woodward Canyon and L’Ecole No 41 just outside of town. After that we checked into the Holiday Inn Express, grabbed some dinner at the MillCreek Beerpub, and then hit the pool and hot tub when Troy and Betty caught up to us.

Saturday morning began fairly early with our heading out to Pepperbridge, followed by a stop at the joint tasting room of Trust and Chateau Rollat. Then we headed down to Milton-Freewater to visit Otis Kenyon, which was the unanimous highlight of the trip. I had emailed Muriel, the head of sales, at OK beforehand to schedule a visit since they do not yet have a tasting room. After driving up the gravel driveway, past the sketchy-looking house neighboring OK, Muriel greeted us with a big smile and took us into the converted appleshed which now houses their barrels. It was such a great atmosphere (above right, the crew while tasting amongst the barrels). We also met Dreux the assistant winemaker (whos been working with winemaker Dave Stephenson, and is taking a much more active role in the newer vintages). The two of then were absolutely fantastic and super friendly! And if there was such a proverb about the quality of people translating into the quality of their wine, it would certainly be true at OK. Their 05 Merlot and 05 Syrah were voted by our little party to be the favorites of the entire weekend. Dreux was also gracious enough to let us sample his unfinished Reisling, which was quite an experience for us and very enjoyable as well.

After Otis Kenyon, we took Muriel's advice at stopped at the Ice Burg drive-in for lunch. Then we continued on to Forgeron, and finally arrived at Seven Hills. It was a long day of wine tasting and by the time we made it to the last wines at Seven Hills (left, enjoying their tasting room), our palates were all struggling. We spent the rest of the afternoon back at the hotel taking it easy, and I was able to get into my most recent book, Reading the Old Testament with the Ancient Church by Heine. For dinner we hit up the bar at 26 Brix, which we had heard such great things about. Honestly, we weren't super impressed, but there were a couple tasty things there.

While we had entertained the idea of catching the 8am service at St Paul's Episcopal on Sunday morning, daylight savings stole our sleep and any chance to getting up that early. After our final breakfast at the hotel, we made our way out to the old Airport which has a number of wineries. We stopped at Cougar Crest after finding Tamarack mysteriously closed (must have missed the time change), and then after finding two other closed wineries, we headed back through town to Reininger, where they offered twelve wines to taste... not bad at all! We also made a quick stop at L'Ecole again so Troy and Betty could taste a couple of their wines. This brought our time in Walla Walla to a close, but our wine adventure wasn't done yet. We made another stop at Barnard Griffin, and our final destination (which took quite a few wrongs turns before we made it) was Kiona in Benton City.

As I look back on this weekend, I believe our trip was quite a success, both in terms of fun and great wines! Oh, and how could I not also share my absolute favorites of the weekend. In no particular order, my top picks were L'Ecole 41's 2005 Perigee, Otis Kenyon's 2005 Syrah and Merlot, Trust's 2005 Cab, Chateaux Rollat's 2005 Cab, Seven Hills 2005 Pentad (right, Dustin and I partaking), and Reiniger's 2002 Cima. Since many of these were simply out of my price range, my other favorites that I was able to bring home included Barnard Griffin's 2007 Rose of Sangiovese (great summer wine!), the two from Otis Kenyon, Cougar Crest's Dedication One, and Kiona's Vivacious Vicky Rose and their Late Harvest Riesling. I hope that before I head off to school in the fall, I will be able to make one more trek out there, so until then...

Democracy in action

Throughout my life, I have always had a fondness for politics. Engaging the issues, arguing for one's beliefs, and ultimately making a difference in the world around us are all important for me. So today I took the opportunity to support my presidential candidate at the WA democratic caucus. Being my first caucus, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a fun experience. The turnout was incredible. They said they had split our caucus site into three different locations to accommodate projected turnout, and we still absolutely packed out the junior high cafeteria (which, as a side note, was quite a stroll down memory lane as I attended that school years ago).

When we were finally convened, we nominated a precinct captain as we did not have one, and then commenced our preliminary vote tally. After the first round, we had fourteen for Clinton, twelve for Obama, and one undecided, which using the formula given for assigning delegates gave two to each candidate. Now it was time for discussion and debate. Some were concerned about the conservative hatred of Clinton and how it might bog down any legislative agenda, while others feared that Obama is not experienced enough. Some honestly hadn't really made up their mind and thus came to hear what others had to say. Myself and others made our case for Obama as best we could. Then we had the opportunity to change our preference, and the new tally had seventeen for Obama, eleven for Clinton, and no undecideds. Unfortunately, even with winning over three Clinton supporters, the one undecided, and one that hadn't voted the first time, we were still one shy of getting Obama the third delegate! But I still consider it a victory for Obama. I was also nominated to be an alternate delegate to the next legislative council should one of our delegates not be able to make it. It was hard to tell, but I think we were one of the first precincts to finish. So thats the gist of my first caucus experience. It was definitely worthwhile and fun, and I look forward to seeing the final results from the state. (Update: Obama won with 68% and actually carried every county in the state)