College students are often faced with difficult decisions that can significantly impact the rest of their lives. The prospect of deciding which major to pursue, what organizations to join and which volunteer opportunities to get involved in can be daunting and often leave students uncertain of which path is the right one to take.
The Women’s Discernment Group, sponsored by Campus Ministry, encourages women on campus to use spiritual discernment when evaluating such important decisions. According to Marie Hilton, one of the group’s founders and Campus Ministry director of faith development, discernment differs from pure decision-making in that it emphasizes the role of a relationship with God in each decision.
“[Discernment encourages members to] listen deeply to the voice of God in our decisions,” Hilton said.
Hilton said the Rev. Paul Kualo, S.J., who is active in Campus Ministry and teaches within the Department of Education, approached her with the idea of beginning a women’s group focused on helping students interested in religious life. The Rev. Dick Hauser, S.J., currently leads a men’s discernment group for the same purpose, and Hilton, along with co-founder and Chaplain of the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions Diane Jorgensen, believed it would be beneficial to expand the message of discernment to all women on campus, while still providing resources for those interested in the religious life.
“When it was suggested that a group like this be available for women,” Jorgensen said, “Marie Hilton and I were both very interested but also felt that the focus should be broader, considering all the major decisions that women have facing them as undergraduates or while in professional school.”
The small group is still in its formative stage, and the women held their first meeting this month. They will continue to meet twice per month until the end of the semester, and Hilton said she hopes the group will attract enough dedicated members to continue the group next fall.
The group values a high level of trust among its members, since many of the topics discussed are sensitive. Jorgensen said the small group format allows “women to hear their own voice in the words of others,” and learn different ways of discernment from one another. These usually include types of prayer, deeply listening to the spiritual voice of God and just “learning to sit quietly and be OK with it.” It also requires the ability to be vulnerable when seeking spiritual guidance.
“In order to listen, you have to open yourself to spirit,” Hilton said. “Someone has called it ‘living a discerning kind of life.’”
To demonstrate the practical application of discernment, Hilton uses the scenario of a graduating medical student deciding whether to take an elite hospital position or practice abroad in an underdeveloped country. Hilton considers the opportunities as “two goods,” but the student must decide which opportunity is the one that will strengthen his or her relationship with God.
Part of the discernment message involves students becoming “other-focused” and asking the question, “Can I offer something to others?” Hilton admits that, in an individual-centered culture, this transformative mentality can often be difficult to adopt, but it is nonetheless crucial for students determined to make a decision based on their relationship with God. She said the spiritual element of discernment gives students a level of satisfaction and comfort that they made the right decision.
“Once that decision is made, you will embrace it,” Hilton said.