One week of classes down. Thank goodness for Saturday and a chance to sleep in, leave the Hebrew for a while and get off campus. Here is a typical day in the life during August term, (aka "seminary bootcamp," according to some of the middlers):

7 a.m. Wake up, dress in silence (resist looking at iphone or turning on radio in order to offer prayers of thanksgiving and intercession).

7:30 Read "Dean's Commentary" online, where we find out what's going on around campus. This is a must-read, not only because he told us to read it daily but also because we're told that he will ask about the day's comments if you run into him.

7:35 Breakfast in refectory with other on-hill students ("on-hill" is VTS-speak for "on-campus"; VTS is the Holy Hill, after all).

8:15 Morning prayer, which is usually MP II with a hymn added in; Thursday morning we used a form from Southern India and sang songs in Creole as well as a Sudanese dialect.

8:45 Coffee and/or last-minute studying for Hebrew quiz.

9 Hebrew, which begins with singing the alphabet and other songs, often in rounds, then a prayer offered by a student, with part of the prayer said in Hebrew; as of Thursday, I can actually READ some words! (It's my turn to pray on Wednesday so pray for me if you're reading this before 8 a.m. CDT on 8/22.) Since I've done well on my quizzes I decided to take Hebrew for a grade (still planning to do a full year and do Greek next year). Oh, and when my teacher calls roll, we respond with the word Moses spoke when God called upon him, which is pronounced hinaynee.

11:45 Lunch in refectory (all students, staff, administrators and faculty are expected to eat lunch on campus sometime between 11:45 and 1 p.m.; this in keeping with the VTS mantra, "chapel, lunch, class").

1:00 p.m. Required writing class for all entering M.Div. students. Apparently, VTS had seen that many incoming students didn't have particularly good writing skills so they made this a required course last year.

2:30 Create flashcards for the next day's vocabulary words, study and work through exercises, with lots of breaks for reading email, checking Facebook, texting and calling friends.

6:00 Dinner in refectory with on-hill students.

7:00 Exercise and quiet time for prayer if none taken earlier in day.

8:00 Shower and study (again, with lots of breaks)

12 a.m. Bed