p1razadeoxA

A guide to managing your time to achieve success with your chapel endeavors. 

It’s a Monday morning and hundreds of chairs slowly fill up on East and West campuses for chapel. Chapel monitors are hard at work. IMT services employees work behind the scenes to ensure the program runs smoothly. Chapel bands prepare for worship. 

There are so many moving parts involved in chapel that often go unnoticed. 

There is a mix of attitudes in the room. Some students jump and shout with worship, while others meditate, preparing for the week. Each student has their own opinion and personal practices, but there is one factor that links us together: the chapel requirement. 

In the beginning of the semester, fulfilling the three-times-per-week requirement seems manageable. Come week four, and the number of absences begins to pile up. Schedules become busier, and the idea of time management seems like a distant past. 

The life of a college student is a constant cycle of stress and homework. Whether it is running to class with a heavy backpack, or having 10 different assignments on your mind, we have all been there. The decision to skip chapel to finish an important assignment is a difficult one. Chapel might seem like an inconvenient time commitment. With the right time management, however, it’s a choice you won’t have to make. 

Keep in mind that chapel is an opportunity to grow. The effort that goes into each chapel is evident in the sermons each speaker brings to the podium. There should be respect for all contributions in chapel. It is for this reason – that chapels are carefully planned out events that are designed for us to take time to worship – that there are different options available throughout the week. 

Here’s a list of ways to maximize the most out of the 10 permitted absences students receive each semester: 

Stock up on absences for the last month 

This is a method to strive for. Finals bring stressful times, and having those extra

hours at the end of the year can make a big difference. 

“I save them all to the very end, so I attend as many chapels as I can, and then at the end I… don’t,” said Veronica Ward, a junior communications major. 

In the first weeks of school, freedom and less homework might feel like the perfect time to skip out on chapel and choose to sleep in. But have you considered the lack of sleep during dead week?

Become a chapel monitor

This one could be up for debate, but being paid for fulfilling chapel requirements is an appealing thought. 

“It’s really nice to get paid for a required event,” said Makenna Curran, a junior design studies major and chapel monitor. 

Although there are many positions within chapel services, card monitor is a popular choice for students who have limited hours outside of class (which is most students). The general idea is that time management is possible if work doubles as chapel.

Skip every other week

The techniques of time management taught in First Year Seminar are going to pay off with this method. For students who like to have every aspect of your life organized, this strategy is the

one for you.  

“I go to every chapel until week five, and then I just do Monday and Wednesday morning,” said Ethan Dahlke, a junior film major. 

Avid chapel goer 

No, extra credit chapel is not a tangible achievement on campus. However, it can be good for the soul to attend extra chapels, and allows you to enter studies with a cleared mind. This strategy is not for the busy-scheduled. 

“I love watching Kiristen Negrette go off on stage, so I go to extra chapels during the week,” said Jaci Clark, a junior liberal studies major.

Students and staff work hard on chapel, and to support one another is encouraging. 

Go on a vacation (kind of)

The Office of Corporate Worship considers travel as one valid reason to equate a personal absence.Their website reads, “Personal absences are granted each semester… for personal travel days.” 

This is a stretch, but it is preferred to the paying other students to go to chapel for you strategy that has surfaced in the past. 

***

Maximizing chapel absences is a manageable feat for all students. So strap on your backpacks, because there are three more months of school until our chapel slate gets wiped clean.