BethelParent A newsletter for parents of Bethel University students
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Coming Home for Summer The end of the semester is near and soon students will be in the last push for finals week. Their days consist of finishing big projects and papers, studying for final exams, and spending the days before summer with friends. If your student is planning to be “home” for the summer, here are some tips that may help their re-entry into the family system. Before your child comes home, discuss plans for the first few days. Give them space to help them transition from college life to home life again. Students are often exhausted after the end of the semester. It is normal for them to need to catch up on sleep. Rather than set curfews or try to regulate their student’s sleep, some parents have found it useful to allow the student to set his or her own hours with the stipulation that the house is quiet and the car is in the garage between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Students will miss their college friends and may find it difficult to explain the 24-7, interdependent life they lived while at Bethel. Blessings on this transition! (Excerpted from http://www1.umn.edu/parent/adviceinvolvement/holiday-suggestions/index.html) n
Issue 54/Spring 2012
Parent Volunteers Wanted for Student Banquet
Help Your Student Prepare for Future Career
Interim Abroad Students Gain Lifechanging Experiences
Carrie Kishaba ’12
One of our fine Bethel traditions is the Spring Banquet, which takes place right before final exams. The entire student body dresses up and gathers in the SRC for a meal and program together. Parents have played a significant role in the past several years, and we need your help! “Last year, my parents This year’s banquet will be held on helped at the Spring BanSaturday, May 19. We ask parent volunquet. This showed me how, teers to help with set-up, serving, and even though I don’t live at clean-up, all while enjoying the comhome, they still want to be pany of other parents and interacting in my life and be involved with the students who are celebrating a in my experience here at successful year. Once the students are Bethel. I greatly appreciserved, we invite you to sit down and ated them taking a night enjoy dinner as our guests. to serve me and my peers. We need volunteers for the followIt was a great night that ing shifts: could not have happened • 24 parents to arrive at 5:30 p.m. without the help of the • 44 parents to arrive at 6:15 p.m. students’ parents.” • 80 parents to arrive at 6:40 p.m. —Micaella Petrich ’14 Clean-up should be complete by 8:30-8:45 p.m. If you are able to stay a bit longer to take down tables and chairs, your help will be greatly appreciated. Interested in volunteering at the 2012 Spring Banquet? Please register at bethel.edu/parents. n
Want to help your child prepare well for a future career? A summer job or internship is more than a paycheck. If these options are approached strategically, your student can maximize summer opportunities to build skills and explore career fields. While a college degree is important, employers also value an applicant’s experiences and skills. In a competitive economy, summer jobs and internships provide necessary experiences. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Job Outlook Survey 2012, the top two skills that employers desire in applicants are team work and communication skills. Challenge your student to seek a summer position that will help prepare for his or her career.
Each January, Bethel offers many off-campus interim courses, most of which are open to students from any academic major. The courses are as diverse as exploring issues of social justice in Cambodia to learning about the history of science in Europe. This past January, 263 students participated in one of 14 offcampus programs. “Bethel interim courses are a great way for students to gain international experience and allow them to focus on a topic of interest that can be more meaningful to study on location,” says International Studies program coordinator Christina Chyerez. “Studying abroad over J-term or for a semester is the highlight of most students’ college experience and, most importantly, it pre pares them for the future.” One such student who was deeply affected by her interim course abroad is Taylor Rafferty. Rafferty, who will graduate next December, studied in Cambodia. She says, “I learned about Christian social justice in light of sex trafficking. God was so faithful in teaching me that yes, these issues are deeply broken and tragic and unjust, but He has a beautifully bizarre plan to redeem every last detail of it. And indeed, He will.” n
1) Begin early. Encourage your student to carefully consider what he or she would like to do after graduation and develop a realistic plan to achieve those goals. Heading to medical school? Consider volunteering or shadowing in the healthcare field. 2) Build relationships. Informational interviews are an excellent opportunity for your student to learn and receive advice from professionals. 3) Visit Career Services. We assist with career counseling, resumé and cover letters, mock interviews, and more! Students can call 651.638.6460 to schedule an appointment. n
Sarah Fowler ’12
Steps to Getting Started
Get Connected
Parents: Encourage your student to start networking now.
Encourage your student to “like” the Bethel University Alumni page, designed to help friends stay connected with Bethel University and with the greater Bethel community. Followers receive updates about what’s going on at Bethel and beyond! Is your student looking for a job or to network professionally with Bethel alumni? Suggest that he or she join the Bethel University (St. Paul, MN) Alumni group on Linkedin!