University and the Convent...

[Bonkira]

Why do you need to apply now? How many visits and retreats have you done with the community besides your visit, and what other discernment work have you done so far?

I entered quite young into a traditional order, with very little life experience or development of myself, and it is one of my biggest regrets to date. I felt the internal burn quite a bit and had for awhile, but I had no one to encourage me to explore if that was a vocation making itself known or if it was simply a pink cloud of ideals and excitement (which is powerful and good, but not a vocation). A desire does not translate to lifelong vocation, and that particular discernment takes time and isn't always obvious.

Education is never wasted, and education is always a benefit in any order that does any apostolate. Education is also it's own formation that Love uses to aid in preparing us for whatever our vocation is, and vocations do not evaporate...deserts have many forms, and requests for obedience comes in unexpected packages. It's certainly possible your worldly formation will lead you where you expect, or Love may surprise you and lead you elsewhere. Leaving space for the Holy Spirit creates infinite possibility.

When I counsel young people around vocations, my advice is to remain open and malleable and to take time. Your parents have asked you for obedience in an area that you don't want....and yet this is a perfect opportunity to practice obedience, charity, and living with an open heart, as our parents are our first superiors. If Christ wants you in his monastery, you'll find your way there...two years or even five years is a very, VERY short amount of time.

I will also add that being able to attend college without incurring financial debt is a gift of the Holy Spirit that should not be denied or placed to the side. That is a door being thrown open for worldly formation. Like, big huge gift of the spirit....all things flow from the source, so from the source they should be received. Use the gift.

[gloriana35]

I am of mature years. When I was young (though I had what was considered to be a 'late vocation' then), approaches to education in active communities could vary greatly. One community, noted for teaching, was sending Sisters (including young ones) to Oxford from the time that university admitted women. Others might draw out the education of their Sisters for many years. It was not necessarily about needing staff for institutions. Some communities feared that Sisters in formation be influenced by 'worldly' ideas, or even be exposed to a spirituality from a different tradition.

One of my good friends (older than I - born 1937) entered a congregation where many Sisters were highly educated, but she was typical in taking 12 years to obtain her Bachelor of Arts degree. She later was a brilliant professor of literature, and held a doctorate by the time she was in her forties (she entered at 17), but did regret that she had not first obtained her art degree before entrance.

I do not believe that adults have an obligation to 'obey' in conforming to parents' wishes (unless their parents are cautioning the against an action that is immoral in itself.) I'm sure many parents opposed having their children enter religious life (or didn't like the spouse a son or daughter chose) - one must decide for one's self. Yet I cannot help but agree that the chance to have a fully financed degree is one I would never pass. I have found my studies to be very enriching, in many ways, including in spirituality (even if the particular discipline was not related to religious life or theology at all.)

I'll admit I have no idea how it is in religious communities now (or to what extent cloistered nuns are educated, or how - though education always is of value.) I'm remembering when religious Sisters I knew well, even those with doctoral degrees, might take many years to obtain even a BA - or who had to pursue a subject which they never would have chosen, because the congregation had a need for someone qualified in that area. 

[gloriana35]

I may be way off the mark, but I have a sense that someone offered a four-year scholarship is an exceptional student - perhaps a born academic. I've known many Sisters, and corresponded with cloistered nuns, who were brilliant scholars - and it enriched their lives. It certainly is not that I think everyone must head for universities. However, I think a 'born student' would live to regret passing up a chance for uni education - even if this is offered by the community later, it might be in a subject that one would not pursue by choice, or take forever.