• HOME
  • ABOUT

HDS Admissions: Student Blog

HDS Admissions: Student Blog

Tag Archives: TED

Reflections on Applying to HDS: Surrender

14 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Considering HDS

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Applying, Cambridge, MDiv, MTS, TED

Post by Patrick Downes, MDiv ‘23 

Editor’s Note: For students who have been out of school for a few years or are well into their careers, applying to divinity school can be an especially difficult decision. Here is a piece from one of our current MDiv students, Patrick Downes, about his experience deciding to apply to HDS. For a more directed approach to the application process, including a suggested timeline, please see this earlier post from July 2020. 

Forest Park in Queens // Photo Courtesy of Patrick Downes

What becomes of a person who flees a call to vocation, flees the Divine, forever fights and retreats? For me, it felt like an endless winter, an overexposure to cold. I wrestled in snow and ice. The moment I turned in my application to HDS, a moment when my acceptance seemed remote, turned into a moment of quiet. I had stopped fighting, for a little while, with God, and began to suffer less. The discernment that became my statement of purpose, my application, belongs to a surrender. 

Last November, fifty-years-old, I attended the Theological Education Day at HDS, or how it is currently known, Open House for Prospective Students.  I walked from my hotel in Back Bay to the Academy of Arts and Sciences, three miles more or less. I chanced the unfamiliar roads, feeling out Cambridge on a weekday morning. I wanted to think and prepare my heart, to cross the Charles on foot. Walking is for me a form of devotion, a time for attentiveness and witness. To attend the day was to advance toward vocation, to situate myself within a scholarly community that embraces exploration of devotion and the future of religion. 

Continue reading →

DivEx: A Year Later

31 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Considering HDS

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

DivEx, Events, TED

Post by: Natalie Solis, MTS 2021 

Read on to learn about HDS’ Diversity and Explorations Program as well as Theological Education Day from DivEx alum and current student, Natalie Solis. Please see the bottom of this post for more information about DivEx and TED. 

Solis DivEx photo 2

Natalie Solis, author, in front of Andover Hall, DivEx 2017

Whether you have dreamt about going to HDS for years or are still discerning whether Divinity School is the right path for you, the Diversity and Explorations program is an extremely helpful introduction to HDS. Just one year ago, I was getting ready for DivEx. Now, I am pursuing my MTS with a concentration in Religions of the Americas and working as a Graduate Assistant at the HDS Office of Admissions. DivEx was a crucial part of my journey to HDS. As a first-generation college student and religion major at the University of Southern California, I learned about HDS early in my undergraduate career from professors who attended HDS. Since I am planning to pursue a career in academia, I sought out faculty advice when I was applying to graduate school last year. In speaking with HDS alum and USC Dean of Religious Life, Varun Soni, he encouraged me to apply to DivEx.   Continue reading →

Catching Up on HDS Happenings

17 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in What's It Like at HDS?

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

AAR, DivEx, Events, TED

Hey everyone! Sorry for the break in posts! We’ve had a few amazing events on campus that have kept us pretty tied up here at HDS Admissions. Continue reading →

Categories

  • Academics (23)
  • Applying (23)
  • Considering HDS (15)
  • Experiential Learning (15)
  • Graduating (6)
  • HDS Interviews (10)
  • Student Life (38)
  • Summers (9)
  • Transitioning to HDS (18)
  • Waiting to Hear (7)
  • What's It Like at HDS? (24)
  • Why I Chose HDS (16)

Tags

Academics Adjusting Admissions Advice Alumni Applying ask students Aspirations Boston Buddhism Cambridge Campus Career Career Services Catholic chaplaincy Christianity Classes Classmates Clubs Community Community Organizing Community Tea Conferences Cross-Registering CSWR Current students Decisions Discernment Diversity DivEx Events Experiential Experiential Learning Faculty Faith Family Field Ed financial aid Fit FOMO Food Friends Graduate Assistants GRE Greater Boston Growth Harvard HBS HDS People Hear & Now HGSE HKS Housing How to Apply Humanist Interfaith Islam J-Term Jewish Latin@ Lectures LGBT Libraries MDiv Ministry Moving MTS Muslim Noon Service Open House Opportunities Orientation Peers Ph.D. Pluralism Project Prospective Students Public Health Recommendation Letters Religion & Politics Religious Pluralism Research Resources RSL Self Care Social Justice Somerville Spirituality Staff Statement of Purpose Student Life Study Abroad Summer Summer Language Program Theology UU Waiting Work Work-Study Workload

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 368 other followers

Twitter Updates

  • “There’s always something good going on. Focusing on that keeps me grounded as I continue trying to improve the liv… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 3 days ago
  • In a special pop-up episode of Harvard Religion Beat, we speak with @HarvardDivinity visiting professor @EJDionne t… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 days ago
  • HDS Alum @q_driskell4 takes a look at @ReverendWarnock's historic senate win in #Georgia, the Capitol insurrection… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 5 days ago
  • “Chaplain, can you do an exorcism?” This is a question psychiatric chaplain Jeremy Sher, MDiv ’16, is sometimes a… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 5 days ago
  • Amazing piece by @HarvardRPL's @LaurenRKerby on the Capitol insurrection. A must read for the moment!! @TheAtlantic twitter.com/LaurenRKerby/s… 1 week ago

Flickr Photos

William James Lecture 2010Eagle Warrior2017 Multireligious Commencement Service
More Photos

Credits

Header image photo: Tony Rinaldo

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel