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🧭 Compass Roadmap

Undergraduate English Program
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Undergraduate English Program

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Compass Roadmap | English


Begin Your Journey		First Year
Pursue Community		Second Year
Pursue Hospitality		Third Year
Pursue Calling		Fourth Year
Pursue Wisdom
Grow Intellectually
  • Meet the faculty during Wildcat Week
  • Develop research skills in Cornerstone (CORE 110)
  • Explore the life of Jesus and the New Testament church in BIBL 101 and 102


  • Support your peers by attending ACU's URCI Festival
  • Explore the message of Old Testament in BIBL 211
  • Begin compiling your work by creating a portfolio in ENGL 301

  • Engage in a faculty-mentored research or creative project
  • Participate in information literacy workshop
  • Apply for departmental scholarships
  • Work at The ACU Writing Center, The Shinnery Review or The Writers Guild


  • Present at URCI Festival or other conference
  • Explore the world through literature - complete ENGL 499
Grow Spiritually
  • Experience Candlelight Devo during Wildcat Week
  • Participate in Chapel, including department chapel each month
  • Engage in practices of meal fellowship, testimony and breath prayer

  • Participate in Chapel, including department chapel each month
  • Volunteer in the Abilene community
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Learn about service opportunities at the Local Missions Fair
  • Engage in practices of intercessory prayer, pilgrimage and journaling
  • Participate in Chapel
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Gain hands-on ministry experience on a Global Service Trip
  • Engage in practices of silence, spiritual listening and examen
  • Participate in Chapel
  • Engage in a local church
  • Receive and extend blessings at Senior Blessing
  • Experience Candlelight Sendoff
  • Engage in practices of friendship, relinquishment and developing a rule of life
Grow Personally
  • Take Strengths Finder and reflect on your results
  • Be involved in the ACU community by joining a student organization
  • Identify with a potential faculty, staff or older student mentor in the Department of Language and Literature
  • Care for your whole person by developing a Personal Exercise Plan

  • Take advantage of recreation opportunities on campus in the Rec Center or play intramurals
  • Participate in a Student Organization

  • Develop you leadership skills while serving in a leadership role on campus
  • Lead in a church ministry or local service organization

  • Serve in a leadership role and mentor future student leaders though ACU Leads
  • Lead a student club organization
  • Develop relationships within the department by attending the Black Tulip
Grow Culturally
  • Attend events hosted by the International Students
  • Study Abroad in Oxford, Leipzig or Montevideo
  • Attend events hosted by the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action
  • Participate in a World Wide Witness summer internship
  • Apply to Fulbright AmeriCorps or International Service Opportunity
  • Lead an OMA, ISA or Carl Spain Center event
Grow Professionally
  • Activate your Handshake profile and take the Career Explorer Inventory through ACU's Career Development Center
  • Learn new creative possibilities through Creative U
  • Develop a rĂ©sumĂ© and participate in a mock interview
  • Get a summer job or internship related to your field of interest

  • Research graduate schools that interest you and/or apply to ACU Graduate Programs
  • Identify faculty members who could write recommendations
  • Create a LinkedIn profile
  • Gain real-world practice by completing a summer internship in ENGL 410
  • Secure Letters of recommendation
  • Finalize rĂ©sumĂ©
  • Apply for jobs and/or graduate school

Exploring the Areas of Growth

Five Areas of Growth

  • Grow Intellectually – Sharpen your mind through critical thinking, problem solving and engaging in original research or creative projects. Build knowledge in your field and develop relevant skills through innovative and experiential assignments and activities.
  • Grow Spiritually – Grow in likeness of Christ, as the Spirit leads both individuals and communities into deeper love of God and others. Cultivate Christian community, hospitality, vocation and wisdom through reflective participation in community practices such as worship, study and service. 
  • Grow Personally – Mature as a whole person through mentorship, peer-to-peer relationships and cultivating habits that produce wellness. Discover your strengths, become a productive team member and grow as a leader.
  • Grow Culturally – Deepen intercultural knowledge and the ability to communicate with and relate to people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and geographic areas. Foster a greater respect and empathy for all peoples through building dynamic and mutually rewarding relationships in local and global contexts. 
  • Grow Professionally – Prepare for a meaningful career by exploring options, participating in career development activities, gaining relevant experiences and making purposeful connections that launch your professional life.

Integrated Spiritual Formation Themes

 

NOTE: Transfer students and those that surpass traditional semester cadences can progress to the next phase when appropriate for their needs.

Year 1 – Pursue Community

Connecting students to cruciform relationships with peers and adults on campus and in Abilene through compelling opportunities to invest in a variety of Christian organizations, both discovering and experiencing the distinctive nature of Christian community.

Year 2 – Pursue Hospitality

Engaging students in encounters with diverse peoples, ideas, and cultures through both local and global opportunities to extend and receive hospitality and to serve others in Christ’s name.

Year 3 – Pursue Calling

Advancing students’ understanding of vocation in a manner that integrates each student’s particular identity, career goals and vision for life with the broad calling for Christians to participate in the ongoing mission of God revealed in the pattern of Christ’s life and death.

Year 4 – Pursue Wisdom

Launching students into cruciform and purposeful living beyond the university by equipping them with tools for and experiences seeking Christian wisdom as they prepare to transition into a new season of life and career.