Lives Transforming University Student Feedback

 

If this class has influenced your relationship with others, please elaborate.

This class influenced my relationship with others in the way I handle conflict and conversation with my friends who are struggling. I learned how to converse with people in a way that serves them rather than becoming really involved in their situation.

This course allowed me to grow closer in my relationships with people I am already close with and to help me understand those I am not yet close with.

This class has been essential to my own story and process of growth in relationships specifically. It teaches us to know and implement key theories into having effective communication and healthy, interdependent relationships. It has impacted my communication in relationships and has helped me to grasp a more healthy view and approach to interacting with those close to me.

I have used the interpersonal counseling techniques taught in this class in several of my relationships already.

This course focuses on developing healthy communication skills. We learned techniques to help people dealing with difficult circumstances or unhealthy thoughts. We developed skills in listening, empathy, and inquiry that already have improved the way I communicate with people.

I now strive to truly listen to my peers and their struggles, and approach conversations in an emphatic way.

This class has really helped me develop my interpersonal skills and has given me multiple techniques I can use out in the counseling field.

I have a better understanding on how to help others when they are feeling down or have some problem that they need to work on. I feel that I will be able to help them more.

This class has allowed me to communicate better. It has also improved my listening and comprehension skills.

I learned a lot about grace and forgiveness, which is something I struggle with. This has impacted my relationships.

Professor Pay is a fantastic teacher. She’s one of the few people I could trust immediately, and not just because of her soothing voice. She listens as if she genuinely cares, not just because she has to or is paid to. She knows the course very well and her additional humor and honesty really lightens up the course and makes it easier to understand who you could be if you were free. This has been one of the most influential classes of my entire college years.

Lisa Pay and Derek Wilder gave new insight that you will never gain from the secular world, and yet they respect the secular world in all its positives and negatives.

If this class has impacted your thought life, please describe how.

I am much more in tune with how my thoughts influence my emotions. I start learning reasons for why I am anxious about situations. I have been able to work through my problems with different techniques and gain a new perspective on my situation. I am able to look at my challenges as gifts and know that God is going to carry me through it…I don’t need to rely on my own strength.

Oh wow, well I have gained such a greater awareness of my thoughts and where they stem from. This class has GREATLY impacted my thought life and helped me see through lies that I’ve believed for a long time.

Firstly, this class taught me thought life is important. It trains us how to think and therefore feel and act as Christ did—in confidence of the love of God for us.

I have understood better what it means practically to renew my mind, and have been able to identify negative thought patterns and change them.

I have learned that my thoughts are not always truth and in order to maintain spiritual health. I must always be aware of the root of my thoughts. The root can either be based in a lie or truth. If I determine that I am believing a lie, I now have the skills to identify that lie and replace it with spiritual truth.

When I first experience emotions that are not fruits of the Spirit, I often find myself checking to evaluate what lie I could be believing.

This class changed the way I think; when I am feeling down about myself I can now figure out which truth I am believing in and it helps me switch my view around.

I have a better understanding on how God works in us and how to distinguish between unhealthy thought and emotions versus the healthy ones.

I can now recognize the lies that I have allowed myself to believe for so long.

I see where my value comes from now. I didn’t see that before. Even though I still fall into a LOT of my bad habits with thought life, this has given me a chance to attempt to think differently.

I can’t begin to describe it. The first realization I had of an actual application was with Martin Luther and righteousness. I had backslid into a particular sin that day and felt awful about it, and then, while I was walking to go get food, I felt this little nudge and the words from this class came tumbling in. We are made righteous in Christ and by our own works, we cannot succeed in the same—if we could, Christ’s sacrifice would be irrelevant; we are righteous because His Spirit is in us and that is all. And from that moment, I realized that, even when I made a mistake, I wasn’t an atrocious human being. I shouldn’t have done it, but my repentance came almost instantly whereas it might have taken me weeks to return to before this course. Without the guilt, I was attracted to Christ much more quickly and felt a swelling of warmth towards Him and how incredible He was the He would do this great mercy for us. The second time was during a project I hadn’t managed to find the research for. I was sobbing because I wanted to keep my scholarship and ashamed that I might lose it for my last semester. I was ashamed because I didn’t want my mom to know and I didn’t want her disappointed in me. While she did say it was okay if I did lose it (which just played into my need to be thought of well by others [Other People’s Opinions]), I began to realize that it wouldn’t be the end of the world to lose my scholarship, even though it’s a tremendous amount of money lost and a good extra year trying to pay it off.

What God did through your teaching in the Thought Life class will forever be a part of my testimony ?? Coming to learn the true gospel changes everything. He is so good and loves us so well.

Comments: Use the space provided in the text area below for your comments

This class, integrated with my counseling, has changed my life completely. I will never be the same in my conversations with others because I will always be putting these techniques into practice. This course, above any others I’ve taken so far for my family science major, has helped for my future in counseling— this SHOULD be a required class for Family Science

I absolutely love this class and the useful skills it teaches to war against the lies that are constantly aimed at us. I have been struggling with many things and the realization that almost all of my struggles stem from the thoughts I wasn’t aware I entertained. It was actually a mistake that I took this class, because originally I was supposed to be signed into SOCI 3100, which I eventually did; but, decided to keep this class after it was accidently added to my schedule. I don’t believe in coincidences, I know that God directed me to take this class in order to be able to fight against the enemy who seeks to destroy me. I honestly would recommend everyone to take this class and really dig into the content; do not treat this class as any other because the lasting effects of this course could make the difference between eternal life and death. Definitely a life changing course.

I am incredibly thankful I took this course. It is incredibly beneficial.

I LOVED this course!

Prof. Pay has been a wonderful professor this semester and in this class. She has helped me grow in my thought life and am very thankful I was able to take this class. Thank you Professor Pay!!

This was a good class and I’m really glad I took it. I like to see more factual knowledge, especially within the realm of psychology. I understand that this is not the purpose of the course and that there was certainly an attempt to “mesh” Christianity and Psychology, but I would like to see more of that. Specifically, I want to see how that realistically and behaviorally looks in both Christian and non-Christian mental health settings.

Professor Pay is an amazing woman and a wonderful teacher. I wish I’d been able to take a dozen more classes with her. I’m going to recommend this class to everyone who hasn’t taken it yet.

This course was very life changing to me. I have made gains in my relationships with loved ones in my life as well as with God. I have become more aware of my self esteem and my spiritual life. This class is incredible for anyone at any level of spiritual or personal growth.

This class has definitely shaped the way I think on a day to day basis. It has truly begun to change my life as I apply the material to my life.

Everyone should take this class.

I find myself using the material we learned in class almost everyday. It truly gave me a new perspective on how I think about problems.

If your relationship with others has been effected, please describe how.

I find that I am able to have deeper conversations with some people due to the cognitive skills that we learned in this course.

I am able to slow my thinking process down in order to relate to others in their world.

I just feel that I can better handle supporting others. I felt like in the past I always felt like I needed to fix everyone that had issues. I have learned that this is not really a healthy thing to do.

I have become much more open about what I am feeling and thinking. As a result, I have been able to develop deeper relationships as well as handle conflict better.

I am able to explain how I am feeling more effectively to those around me. I’m also able to give others the grace that Jesus calls us to give, and more importantly, give this same grace most times.

I understand how to be there for people without trying to fix them.

Have there been specific ways your daily thought life has been impacted by this course? If so, please elaborate.

Yes, I find myself recognizing unhealthy thoughts and lies that I believe frequently. I am able to combat these and have a higher self-esteem and confidence level. In turn, this often enables me to perform better.

See above.

This course has made me take the time to think situations and emotions through. I used to be quick to act. Now I take my time to think things through.

I think my own train of thought is better. I am able to think about the thought process I am having and realize if it is beneficially or not. When I am thinking in a negative way I am able to process it and realize that I need to change this line of thought.

I find myself doing TEA naturally in my head all the time it has brought a lot of freedom to my life and allowed me to realize that I am not always what I think I am.

I am now able to see the lies from Satan and the truth of God. I am able to quickly realize my cognitive distortions.

It has been impacted as I am constantly making sure my thoughts are from God and not filled with sin. I am always aware of the actions I take and how my emotions and thoughts drive those actions. I also like all the different resources given to us. I plan on reading the books over again and finishing the ones we did not read all the way through. They are just good resources outside of this class.