Vincent Zarletti on Studying at IWS

Excerpts:
The program had been recommended to me by a number of people, but until I got there, I didn’t really realize how different it was. I was originally very excited about the academic challenge, and in fact that was something I enjoyed throughout the whole process. But I thought it was going to be predominately academic. I had no idea how formative the experience would be for me.…Having been there now, having read the books and done the projects, and rubbed shoulders with the faculty, and lived life for weeks at a time with the other students, it’s something that was transformational! More than just me acquiring new information, it was something that really changed my perspective on things.

You know, whenI think back to my…college experience, I think about how important it was to be noticed. I wanted people to think I was a good musician, I wanted people to acknowledge my talents and abilities, and I wanted to be recognized for those things. And yet at IWS it was so refreshing because none of those things mattered! We were all there together, living life together. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this program, this school, to anyone. It has drastically changed the way that I approach ministry, the way that I approach study, the way that I approach my job, my music, writing, my personal relationship with the Lord.

This wasn’t solely an academic experience, and yet that part was amazingly fulfilling. There’s one memory that sticks out to me. I was in a pracicum lab with the other students, and one of the faculty members stood up to give a critique on what had just taken place, and he mentioned how little time we spend acknowledging all three persons of the Trinity in modern worship. I thought about that for a moment, and I realized that was me, that I never thought about that! When I was doing what I do in worship, when I was choosing songs and writing songs and leading people in the music portion of our worship service, I never thought about that! I began to think about it, I began to incorporate that into the way I prepare each and every week, into the way that I write new music, into the way that I talk to young worship leaders at my church.

I would encourage you to pray about IWS, to think about it. And consider allowing the Lord to use it to form you into somebody that you might not even think you could be.

About the author

Director of Enrollment Management.

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