Session Three: A Fresh Course

Welcome (8 minutes)

Welcome everyone to the group, greeting each person who joins. Using break out rooms if you need to, ask everyone to answer this question:

Who was your favourite teacher at school – and why?

This is the third of four Start Here sessions run by the Christian Union.

If you’ve joined us before, this session will run just like the others. We want to welcome you to our uni and help you meet other students so you’ve got some familiar faces when you arrive.

We’re also thinking through how trusting in God makes a difference to us as we prepare for starting uni. This week, we’re thinking about our courses – looking at what and how we study.

Activity: fantasy care packages (5 minutes)

Split back into breakout rooms if necessary and complete the following task:

Imagine a friend is pulling an all-nighter for a 2,000 word essay which is due tomorrow. You can give them a care package with just five items. What items would include and why?

If there is more than one small group, get each group to present to their ideas to the others.

Hearing from God (2 minutes)

Studying is the reason we’re at uni in the first place, and our degrees will make up a significant amount of our time as students. Because of this, we want to make sure we’re listening to what Jesus says about how we study.

We’re going to open God’s word, and whether this is new to you or not, we’d love for you to listen along and then we’ll chat about it afterwards.

Have a returning student read Matthew 22:34-40. Link to the passage (use Bible.com) in the chat so everyone can read along if they want to. Then introduce today’s video.

Video: A fresh course (8 minutes)

Project the video for the group by sharing your screen. You might like to download the video to use offline.

Thinking it through (10 minutes)

Discuss the following questions together (use the same break out rooms as before if you need them).

Using Zoom’s whiteboard function, make a list of the reasons that students give for going to uni.
How does Jesus’ teaching here challenge or confirm your own main reason for going to uni?
If, as an individual, you were to put your feelings about studying into one word, what would it be?
Was ‘love’ your word? If not, how do Jesus’ words address your approach to your studies?

Video: Rohan’s story (4 minutes)

The details of how Jesus’ teaching plays out will vary for different people studying different subjects – we’ll talk about that afterwards.

First, let’s hear Rohan’s story. While he may being doing a different degree to you, you might find it inspiring hearing someone who’s seeking to honour Jesus in their course.

Project the video for the group by sharing your screen. You might like to download the video to use offline.

What about us? (10-15 minutes)

In the same groups as before, discuss the following questions:

Rohan told us about his path into aeronautical engineering. How did you choose your degree?
How might studying your degree cause you to see more of God and his works?
When studying is hard for any reason, what do you think you’ll be tempted to think or feel? What truths will speak to you in these moments?
Do you think you’re prone to over- or under-work? What can you do to make sure your studies are an expression of your love for God and neighbour?

Encourage returning students to share real life examples of how they’ve been able to show love for God and neighbour in their degrees. Ask for a couple of volunteers to pray for your studies in the light of today’s session.

Until next time (3-4 minutes)

Thanks so much for coming to this Start Here session! We’ve got one left and we’d love to see you there.

In the group chat, we’ll soon be posting information about the CU’s freshers week. We’d love for you to come and join us when term starts, no matter what questions you still have or where you’re at with Jesus. Do keep sharing how you’re feeling about the big start.

Thanks again for coming today – it’s been lovely to see you all!

Make sure to send a reminder round of the details for next week.
As term approaches, and more details/social media information pops up about Freshers Week – be proactive in sharing that too. It’ll help people feel in the loop and get excited!
That’s Session 3 all finished – what a brilliant job you’re doing! It’s amazing to imagine a group of new students approaching their degrees committed to Jesus!

This session includes content adapted from Krish Kandiah’s book Fresh: bite-sized inspiration for new students, and is included with kind permission from the author and from Inter Varsity Press.