Community College Help

westcoast– That’s tough… but totally do-able. I’ve been home from seminary for a year and B”H I’m in a frum college, but some of my good friends are in community college. Based on what they’ve told me, I can tell you a couple of things:

1)Try to bring spirituality with you. This can include learning a Hashkafa book/sefer or saying Tehillim during free time. Another useful thing is to have shiurim on an ipod or mp3 player to listen to…

2)Be prepared for the fact that you’ll really have to create spirituality for yourself especially when it comes to holidays. There won’t be anyone reminding you to do teshuva because yom kippur is coming and there won’t be any donuts to get you psyched for chanuka. Knowing this in advance can help you prepare yourself for the chagim on your own time…

3)In secular college you’ll see a lot of crazy/immoral things. It’ll be easy to feel good about yourself and your spirituality in comparison to the people around you. But DON’T give up on the real standards you hold for yourself! I can explain this further if you want – let me know.

4)In terms of becoming desensitized, unfortunately that’s bound to happen when you’re constantly in a secular environment to some degree. It’s up to you to try to shield yourself from the real grossness… and keep looking through sem notes to remind yourself of the kedusha you felt there.

5)VERY IMPORTANT: You should have a mentor who you can contact whenever you have questions or concerns about something that comes up in college… This can be a Rabbi, teacher, or older girl who you respect and trust.

Good luck! If you have any more questions you can ask me and I can try to answer or ask one of my friends… 🙂