{"id":1248,"date":"2014-10-01T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2014-10-01T08:38:14","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T13:38:14","slug":"sarah-goes-to-divinity-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/2014\/10\/sarah-goes-to-divinity-school\/","title":{"rendered":"SARAH GOES TO DIVINITY SCHOOL!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello Everyone, Sarah here!<\/p>\n

I hope the beginning of your fall has been filled with sweaters you\u2019ve thrifted from Goodwill, pumpkin spice lattes, and squash! In Nashville, fall(ish) began for us last week\u2014something I have been looking forward to since the heat of August overcame our beautiful city!\u00a0 Well, technically fall began for me at the end of August when I began my first fall semester at\u00a0Vanderbilt Divinity School<\/a>!\u00a0 I know this is not news to all, but after much thought I decided that this decision has much relevance to Dara House and my work in the Nashville community.<\/p>\n

My decision to apply to VDS came after a long internal struggle about not feeling adequate enough to be doing my work with Dara House and survivors of sexual violence.\u00a0 I knew (and continue to know) that I still have much to learn, but was not sure in what setting or capacity I would be able to combine all of my passions.\u00a0 As an undergraduate, I had the chance to meet incredible people doing incredible work within our community: Darria Hudson, Marie Campbell, Kelley Frances-Fenelon, and many others who greatly influence the way I viewed the work I do and how to lead through my activism.\u00a0 These individuals have inspired me to challenge myself and engage more with my internal struggles while also addressing the needs of the survivors of sexual violence that I do work and will continue to work with in the future.<\/p>\n

In May, after earning my baccalaureate from Vanderbilt, I decided I wanted to spend more time studying the issues that were coming up with the sexual assault survivors I work(ed) with while also better addressing the questions I continued to receive in various educational events I have done in a variety of community settings.<\/p>\n

Many are probably wondering: I didn\u2019t know Sarah was religions?\u00a0 Does that mean Dara House will now be religiously affiliated?\u00a0 What does Divinity School have to do with sexual assault?<\/p>\n

Well, to answer these questions briefly: VDS is not an institution whose sole goal is to educate priests and pastors within the church, but to create leaders who minister within their communities and effect change in a variety of ways.\u00a0 Yes, I am religiously affiliated with the Episcopal church, St. Augustine\u2019s Chapel, but this is a new journey for me that I am still navigating.\u00a0 No, Dara House will not be religiously affiliated, but it is my hope that through my courses, community service, and interactions that I will be able to serve better the needs of this community.\u00a0 Many survivors grapple with issues of theology, identity, and the body, and I feel a strong pull to acquire better knowledge about how to provide the right care and answers.<\/p>\n

At VDS my plans are not only to obtain a master of divinity degree, but also to earn the Carpenter Certificate in Gender, Sexuality, and Religion while also pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Women\u2019s and Gender Studies.\u00a0 In my studies at VDS, my primary focus will be on the relationship between sexual violence and the church; however, more broadly I also will be looking at the body, healing, and individual identity as it relates to sexual violence and theology.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I know this is a broad summary of why I have chosen to go to VDS, but I hope that it sheds some light on to why I have decided to further my education alongside my work with Dara House.\u00a0 I am more than happy to answer any questions you my have about VDS as well as to go more in-depth as to why I have made this decision.\u00a0 Please feel free to send me an email at sarah@darahouse.org.<\/p>\n

In Solidarity, Sarah O’Brien MDiv1<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Everyone, Sarah here! I hope the beginning of your fall has been filled with sweaters you\u2019ve thrifted from Goodwill, pumpkin spice lattes, and squash! In Nashville, fall(ish) began for us last week\u2014something I have been looking forward to since the heat of August overcame our beautiful city!\u00a0 Well, technically fall began for me at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1576,"featured_media":1251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[112,121,31],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-religion","tag-theology","tag-vanderbilt-divinity-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1576"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1263,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions\/1263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltdivinity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}