Center for Vocational Reflection

The Augustana College Center for Vocational Reflection helps students recognize who they are called to be. Vocation is recognized when one's skills, gifts, and talents combine with one's passions to meet the needs of the community. The Center works to create times and spaces for one's vocation to be discerned.

What's Happening

Augustana Student Teaches for America

Julia Lombardo '06, pictured far left, found herself asking the questions "What else? What more?" during Winter Term her senior year. Graduation was just around the courner, and for the first time in a while, she felt like she didn't know what was next. She wanted to continue to develop the values and passions she formed at Augustana - an unyielding desire to serve others, to question the status quo, and to relentlessly be an agent of social change.

She found her answer in a humid and unorganized classroom at Southern High School, Durham, N.C., when she showed up for her first day of school as a high school English teacher as part of the 2006 Teach for America - Eastern North Carolina Corps. To read her story click here.

Celebration of Learning Reflective Essay Winners

Laura Valentine and Katrina Jensen were honored at the Celebration of Learning for their reflection essays and awarded with $250 and $100 respectively. These essays were selected from a pool of participants who chose to go the extra mile and submit a personal reflection concerning how their Celebration of Learning project or presentation impacted their understanding of their vocation.

Ms. Valentine stated, "My involvement in the Kindergarten NumberSense Project (KNP) was one of the most valuable experiences of my life. Not only did it help me figure out my career goals, but it also helped me develop as an educator. Confidence goes a long way and for these students, if their confidence grows, they will do better in school. They will continue to explore and want to learn. We have created an environment of excitement and excellence, and the community is a beneficiary because of it."

Ms. Jensen stated, "I once heard a pastor say that life is a "journey in, journey out," with our experiences forming a figure-eight shape that both guide us into ourselves and lead us out into the world. This is the best way I can describe my capstone project, entitled "Primary Prevention of Communication Disorders." I created a presentation about preventing communication disorders for low-income teenage mothers, but I know that, along the way, my "journey in" was developing the kind of person I am called to be."

The CVR thanks the many students who submitted essays for their great reflection.