Introductions: Tracy

Hi all, I’m Tracy! I am a 4th year graduate student in Entomology at Penn State. I’ve been involved with Penn State Christian Grads since I moved here from the warm wonderland known as Florida. I study bees, beetles, yeast, and pollen. I like MacGyver and I live with student of cosmic mysteries and member of the A-team.

I’m going to Australia because I like going places, but also because I have a strong conviction that grad students are a truly unique group of people with emotional and spiritual needs which might be considered a bit strange by “normal” folks. Take for instance, a common problem among grad students known as the Imposter Syndrome. This mental deformity causes very bright, very accomplished students to think to themselves “I don’t belong here. I’m not actually smart, I’ve only gotten this far by chance.” There is a deep fear of being unmasked, of someone finally finding out that they aren’t actually mensa candidates¹. I’ve felt like this at various points in my graduate career, as have most other grad students I’ve encountered. The focus is on our performance – about keeping it together. With God, the focus is on grace – extravagant grace, in which each of us is completely known and completely loved despite our performance or lack thereof. It’s a beautiful message for tired grad students, or anyone who is weary of wearing a mask.

Another thing I enjoy about being in graduate student ministry is discovering the endless diversity of geeks out there. Everyone in grad school is really into some specific area of study. Ask them about it, and you will be treated to a beautiful lecture, enthusiastically delivered as if you were discussing the only truly interesting topic known to man. After your initial lecture, if your eyes have not become too unfocused, the graduate student will treat you as one of them. You now belong to a secret society of those that know just what is so absorbing about their particular topic. Sometimes I am at a loss to understand such erudite and diverse topics as neurophysics, glaciers, computer security, atmospheric chemistry, Abelard, and cosmic rays. But I am delighted to have friends who “geek out” on me when one of these topics is mentioned. Grad students are unapologetic specialists. In their specialties, I see that God has given each of us gifts, talents, and interests unlike those of any other person. In some cases, very unlike those of any other person. C.S. Lewis puts it nicely when he says “…each of the redeemed shall forever know and praise some aspect of the divine beauty better than any other creature can. Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving all infinitely, should love each differently?”²

So my best hope for this trip is to see a few more imposters ditch their masks and plant flags on their own particular corner of geekdom. The world’s got enough perfect, normal people.

1. Laursen, Lucas. 2008. No, you're not an imposter. Science Careers.
2. Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain. New York: Macmillan, 1962.

Introductions: Jared

[On location in Los Angeles International Airport]

G'day everyone! Let me briefly introduce myself for those of you reading this blog who might not know me. My name is Jared Lee, and I'm about to start my sixth year as a grad student in Meteorology at PSU. (Is this really my SIXTH year?!?) I've been involved in Penn State Christian Grads and State College Evangelical Free Church ever since I arrived in State College in fall 2005. I've served on the leadership team for PSCG for four years and playing piano/keyboard at SCEFC for four years as well.

Now that we're sitting in LAX and well on our way on our journey to the Land Down Under, I finally have some time to write an entry for this blog. So g'day! Life's been pretty busy for me this month, with a week-long trip to Colorado a couple weeks ago (for work and pleasure), moving out of my apartment last week, and going to a wedding in Indiana this past weekend. But now my attention can finally turn to things Australian!

In fall of my senior year of undergrad at Gustavus Adolphus College (July-November 2004), I also spent a semester studying abroad at Monash University in suburban Melbourne, Australia. In my time there I got involved with a really great group called Monash Christian Union. I just felt at home from the first time I visited CU, and I really grew in my faith quite a bit there. I made quite a few friendships in CU, and I still keep in touch with several of those friends. And now I'll get to see them again!! I've been talking about going back to Australia just about every summer since I got back, and I'm excited it's finally happening for real.

One thing that I hope to see come from this trip would be some sort of partnership between Campus Crusade (or Student Life, as it's called in Australia) and Christian Union, if possible, for the purposes of building or fostering some sort of ministry and community for graduate students, both at the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Perhaps my connections with the folks at Monash CU can help that come about.

But the ministry work isn't the only thing I'll be doing in Australia. I also have the opportunity to give three seminars on my PhD research: at Monash University (Fri 6 Aug), the University of Melbourne (Wed 11 Aug), and at the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (Thu 12 Aug). I already gave this same seminar at the PSU Applied Research Laboratory this past Friday morning. It went pretty well but there are still some minor tweaks I need to make before I present it in Australia. It would be pretty neat if a post-doc or job opportunity were to arise down the road a bit as a result of these talks and contacts I'll be making.

And then after the ministry portion of the trip is over, I'll be flying to Perth for a few days to go visit my friend Bob, who just moved from State College to Perth about four weeks ago to take a job as a forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology. I've never been to Western Australia before, and I'm looking forward to seeing that part of the country and also the Indian Ocean for the first time -- I've already been to the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans, so that'll leave only the Arctic Ocean to check off my "visited" list. :-)

Well, we paid for a day-pass of wireless internet access here for just one computer, so I should let Ash and Tracy use it for a bit. See y'all on the flip side of the Pacific!

Support Letter

Dear Friends,

Over the past couple of years, God has been putting on our hearts as a Penn State Christian Grads community a desire and vision to help each other connect deeply with Him, one another, our calling as grad students, and the mission of helping our peers do the same. We believe that as we do so, God wants us to help bring the gospel within arm’s reach of every grad student at Penn State. As big as that vision is, God seems to be inviting us to join Him in something even more.

We are writing to tell you about this new initiative for PSCG and to give you an opportunity to join with us. Last summer, Ashley Holleman had an opportunity to talk with Mike Shepski, the head of Campus Crusade’s Campus Ministry for Melbourne, Australia. Mike shared that the long-term strategic plan of the University of Melbourne is to significantly increase their ratio of graduate students to undergraduate students to 50:50. Mike is excited to partner with us, and to use our expertise and experience with graduate student ministry to help shape a graduate student ministry at University of Melbourne.

So, to investigate and (as God leads) establish an ongoing partnership with the campus ministry team at the University of Melbourne, we will be traveling to Melbourne from August 2-16, 2010. During our time there, we will meet with the campus ministry staff team, as well as faculty and grad students at the university. We hope to explore grad student and faculty culture and envision what ministry for grads and faculty might look like there. In the future, we hope that an ongoing partnership with University of Melbourne will provide all of us in PSCG an opportunity to increase our vision for the world, and to expand our understanding of how God is still moving and working in people’s lives. We also hope that this ongoing partnership will provide for many in PSCG an opportunity to grow in their walk with Christ, minister cross-culturally, speak academically in an international setting, and perhaps even pursue future career opportunities.

We are very excited to go to Australia, but we realize that we can’t go alone. Though it is just the three of us physically traveling to Australia, we want this to be a PSCG-wide effort. We would love your input before we go and we look forward to processing with you after we get back. It would be such an encouragement to us to know that you are praying for and with us.

Finally, we are trusting the Lord to put together a team of churches, family members, and friends—including our friends in PSCG—who feel led to partner with us financially to help cover the costs of the trip. These funds (totaling $2175.00 per person) will be used to cover the travel, meal, and ministry costs of the trip. Would you please prayerfully consider giving a one-time gift to help cover these expenses? To do so, you can give online at give.ccci.org/give (search for “Penn State Christian Grads”).

We look forward to sharing with you all that the Lord does in the coming weeks.

Grateful and Excited,
Tracy Conklin, Jared Lee, and Ashley Holleman

Introduction

Welcome to Above and Beyond in the Down Under, where we will be recording our adventures as we visit the city of Melbourne, Australia August 2-16, 2010.