Seton Magazine Catholic Homeschool Articles, Advice & Resources
Summary
Your studies at Seton have prepared you for this adventure: joining the fearless students at Wyoming Catholic to learn to conquer anything.It’s easy to misunderstand Wyoming Catholic College’s outdoor program. “Oh,” I hear, “I’m not an outdoor person.” Or, “Oh, I already know I want to study nursing.”
But the truth is, you are an outdoor person, because everyone is. God made the natural world as His first communication to all of humanity—and that means you, too.
Meeting the Stars for the First Time
Every existing thing is good and receives its goodness entirely from God. This means that every created being is a sign which points us to Him, if only we can learn to see it. But we will never learn to interpret these signs if we are not able to encounter them.
I started graduate school studying computational astrophysics, but I couldn’t have pointed out a star in the sky. I had had a “good” education.
But how could I have known the stars when I was raised where I could scarcely see them on the darkest or clearest of nights? And if I didn’t know them, what could they teach me? My first backpacking trip through Wyoming was a revelation. It will change you, too. You will discover this precious gift, the natural world, your inheritance.
Made for Stewardship, Not Tourism
You were made to be a steward of creation, not a haphazard visitor or an awkward tourist. The natural world is for you. It is God’s first gift to us, and you will learn to thrive in it. Once opened, this door will remain open to you for the rest of your life.
Creation will be a constant source of joy and a teacher to you, just as God intended from the beginning.
Nature Is God’s First Book
You don’t need nature because your greatest ambition is to become a professional camp counselor. We all need nature first because it is the first way we were made to understand ourselves and our end: God. It is God’s First Book, whether or not we choose literacy. It is the sine qua non for all subsequent works of literature, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and science. Without the created world, every “great” work is meaningless.
An Education Grounded in Reality
Wyoming Catholic’s education is all about encountering reality. It begins, but doesn’t end, in the wild.
It’s why you’ll learn to speak Latin—as if Latin were really a language, because it is. It’s why you won’t just learn to ride a horse, as if a horse were a primitive car or a mere abstraction, but to communicate and to be in right relation with it. It’s why you will fast from your cell phone and screens, those digital distractions so liable to crowd in and crowd out our inner lives.
You’ll find space for authentic friendship—friends who are not selfies or reels, to be liked or swiped. And this will matter to your studies.
You’ll soon find that those same companions with whom you ascended the mountains of Wyoming are cheering you to the summits of your intellectual potential. Whether we’re scrambling up Einstein’s Relativity or the weathered slope of Aristotle’s Metaphysics, we all win when we reach the peak together.
Prepared by Seton for the Ascent
Your studies with Seton have prepared you for this adventure. You’ve learned to read with attention and depth. Now I hope you’ll join our fearless students at Wyoming Catholic, who’ve learned that they can conquer anything.
This is how great doctors, lawyers, teachers, priests, religious, spouses, citizens, and friends are made. I know, because I’ve seen it again and again.
Onward and upward!
Learn more about your adventure at Wyoming Catholic College here.
About Dr. J. Scott Olsson
