Date: August 12, 2024
Before I came to VTS, I was a lay minister who met clergy from all the various Episcopal seminaries. I always noticed that there was something different about people who had graduated from VTS: they all seemed to like each other after graduation. They supported each other. They spoke fondly of their time at VTS and of their classmates.
Now that I am at VTS, I get it. VTS has created something here that is special. Some of the formation is deliberate: the rhythm of chapel, class, lunch. But much of the formation is organic and informal.
My advice for the incoming students is to lean into it. Show up for chapel, class and lunch. Get to know your classmates and the returning students as they come back to campus. Go to Eucharist to hear the seniors preach during the year and go to Evening Prayer to watch the vesper light slide down the window. Sit with your professors and the visiting CACS scholars at lunch. Get to know the people who are there to support you: the library and ARC staff, the Flamingo baristas, the Refectory staff, admins, and facilities staff. And of course be a part of your Student Government Association! (More to come over this week on ways to do that!)
Lean into it because one day these classmates will turn into colleagues. Colleagues that will show up for your ordinations and even maybe your bishop installations. Colleagues you can text when you’re struggling. Colleagues who will support you for the rest of your lives. Just like the VTS graduates I have seen doing just that for one another.
Stephanie Townes
Student Body President