On being a disciple-scholar

The last couple of weeks, I have heard a lot about being a scholar--that it's different than being a student, and that you will be expected to be a scholar in any graduate program you study in. It's a bit of a shift for me because I have been used to being the student. I'm used to fulfilling the requirements of the class, and while I've enjoyed that, I have done little outside of the what a class requires.

Now, I have heard numerous times that to be a scholar means that you an inquire--you ask questions and find answers to those questions. Classes are merely a starting point and teach the means to find the answers to your questions. It's all interesting, and I'm getting used to that mindset. It's stressful, but there are plenty of times in working professionally that I've had to do ask questions and find their answers. It's obviously different, but I hope that experience has prepared me a little for what lies ahead (at least that's what I tell myself when I need a little bit of confidence).

I've also had a lot of people ask why I'm going back to school and wonder why I'm getting a masters degree when I just want to go back into the same industry I was working in before. Besides feeling like it will help me in furthering that career, a lot of people don't understand coming back to school for the sake of learning, which is definitely part of going back to school.

One of the great things about going back to BYU is incorporating the gospel into academic studies. I don't know that I've appreciated a prayer at the beginning of class as much as I have in one of my classes that begins each session with a prayer. I'm not used to bringing religion to the forefront so openly as is possible only at BYU.

In my program orientation just before school started, our graduate adviser shared this quote with us from Neal A. Maxwell: "For a disciple of Jesus Christ, academic scholarship is a form of worship. It is actually another dimension of consecration. Hence one who seeks to be a disciple-scholar will take both scholarship and discipleship seriously; and, likewise, gospel covenants. For the disciple-scholar, the first and second great commandments frame and prioritize life. How else could one worship God with all of one's heart, might, mind, and strength?" (from On Becoming a Gospel Scholar)

I love this. I love that our religion doesn't think religious devotion and scholarly studies are mutually exclusive. They can coexist and do coexist as a form of worship as we seek to know the great things of God. So thank you, Elder Maxwell, for justifying my decision to go back to school, even if it doesn't guarantee I will increase my earning potential or don't go on to get a PhD.