AboutVocation and Integrative Learning

We build on the best of the heritage and commitment of Gustavus to support you in sorting out all the voices that compete for your time, energy, and future; to equip you to recognize your gifts and follow your passions in life; to champion the value of a balance between work and rest, action and reflection; to cheer you on as you search for the best possible fit between who you really are and how you can make a difference in the world. To help you develop the skills and take the risks that come with living out your calling to a meaningful life of leadership and service. No matter what your starting point or current place on your journey, we invite you to join us on this continuing human adventure to find “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

What is vocation, anyway?

First, it might be helpful to know that vocation means “calling.” Thinking about vocation as a “calling” causes one to think about the source of the call, which can be different things for different people. For some it is God or the Divine; for others it is the community, other people and their needs, nature, or one’s deepest self. It also implies an ongoing dynamic of listening and response, seeking and discovery and questions and “answers.”

However, your vocation is more than your job, occupation, or career. These can and likely will change. It’s great if your vocation can be lived out, at least in part, in and through your work, but there is much more to it.

Vocation is something that grows out of our life experiences. It is not something that you "have", "buy", "find", or "get", as in "Get a life!" Instead, it emerges within and around us--and takes on various shapes and meanings—in and through our experiences, relationships, and discoveries.