Second-Career Students

Yale Divinity School has quite a mix of students, coming from all over and with all kinds of backgrounds. Many of our students come to YDS after years of working, raising a family, or just not being in school to pursue other interests. Since neither of us can speak specifically to these "second-career" students, we have called upon two of our BTFO small group leaders who can: Cheryl Bundy and Sierra-Marie Gerfao. Both of these women will be a big part of your BTFO experience, and they will also be part of a panel specifically geared towards anyone returning to school after a break from school, or experiencing a career shift. For now, they have agreed to answer some basic questions about their experiences and what y'all can look forward to as you begin your new academic careers with us!

Q: Who are you, what are you studying, what did you do before you came to YDS?

C: I am Cheryl Bundy and I am an M.Div candidate.  I am discerning  ordination to the Episcopal  Diaconate.  I am a part-time commuting student because I am also the mother of three children, ages 8-14. 

Sierra-Marie Gerfao

S-M: I'm Sierra-Marie, about to start the second year studying for my Master of Divinity.  I've been on the "turtle track," so don't be surprised if you see me finishing up five years from now. I have a wife and two young kids, and I am the primary income-earner in my family, so I quickly learned in my first semester that rushing through school just wasn't going to be a possibility for me.  My tag-line has become, "If I wasn't doing this, I'd only be doing something else."  I don't relate when people have anxiety about the turtle track.  It was better for my family for me to go slow, but now that I'm doing it, I think it is better for me too.  Not only am I a big believer in trying to have a balanced, semi-sane life, but I'm a big believer in the value of fully experiencing whatever adventures one chooses in life.  If I was rushing, I would be getting ready to leave just as soon as I started to feel settled.  Instead, I've really thrown myself into life here at YDS, not just academically, but also all the other great things about being in this community and being a student.  I hope when I graduate, people will have felt that not only I but my whole family has been a positive and meaningful part of the community. 

Q: What made you decide to return to school?

C:  Prior to YDS, I had a 20 year career working in both the for- profit and non-profit worlds and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from New York University.  Two years ago, as my youngest child entered first grade, I began to contemplate what my professional and personal life would look like in the years to come.  My heart kept leading me back to the work I had done as the Director of Stewardship for St James' Church in New York City.  This vocational call inspired  me to apply to YDS.  


S-M: I am seeking ordination in the Unitarian Universalist Association.  I have spent the last ten years or so working in family ministries and lifespan ministries of faith development.  I decided to come back to school for my Masters in Divinity because I wanted to seek ordination, partly in order to have more flexibility in the future of my ministries.  I continue to work in a ministry on a half-time basis, for a small congregation in a shoreline town less than a half-hour from YDS, where I am Director of Lifespan Religious Education.  Serendipitously, they were looking for a Director at the exact moment that I was looking for part-time work to do while I was in school.  It is a fun and unique opportunity to bounce between study and practical application for a while. 

Q: What was the biggest surprise about returning to school? What posed the greatest challenge?

C: While technology has transformed the educational world since I graduated from Smith College in 1988, perhaps the biggest surprise I encountered in my return to graduate education was that exams were still written in the blue books!   The second biggest surprise was how much my wrist hurt after writing a 2 hour exam since it had been many years since I hand wrote more than a simple letter! The greatest challenge, without a doubt, is being able to fit in so many wonderful opportunities.  The amount of amazing events, lectures, cultural events and social opportunities just at YDS is phenomenal.  When you combine these events with the happenings in the wider Yale community and the City of New Haven, there simply aren't enough hours in a day.


S-M: The biggest surprise is sort of silly, but its true.  I was surprised to feel as old as I do at school, where there is a good mix of ages but so many people are so very, very young.  In my field of work, I had been a part of the younger crowd of professionals even though I started to notice two or three years ago that I was no longer the youngest of the spring chickens.  When I came to school, however, I looked around and realized that I wasn't even in the league of the spring chickens.  After the initial shock, though, I have adjusted to life as a hen. The greatest challenges have fortunately been the exact things I would have predicted.  For example, re-learning how to write an academic paper after years of writing sermons is taking a little time.  No surprise there. 

I try to keep in mind something we were told a few times at my own BTFO; that is, if you are here, there is a reason.  We are not here by accident but were all selected to be here, to study at this time at this school.  If we are here, there is a whole group of people who have considered all the evidence and determined that we can do the specific work of divinity school.  Just keep working at it!

Q: How did you find your BTFO experience?

C: BTFO was a great introduction to YDS.  I felt like I had a quick opportunity to meet new people, have a whole host of familiar faces to say hi to, meet people, sample New Haven Restaurants.

S-M: BTFO was wonderful!  I knew there was only a week before classes would start, so I made a really conscious decision to spend the week relaxing into life in the YDS community. I took the full week off of work, even though I had just started my job and could have really used the money, and we used the BTFO childcare so that my wife could have time to both do more unpacking at our apartment and to walk over to YDS and participate in all the activities.  By the way, I think she made as many friends as I did.  In the end, ditching work and fully enjoying BTFO was a wise decision. 

 I do have a couple pieces of advice, based on my BTFO experiences. First, if you have a partner and/or children, pay whatever the extra cost is so that they can participate during the week.  If nothing else, it is well worth having someone else make your meals for a while. Second, don't worry too much about retaining all the information given to you. No one expects that you will memorize everything said even if you are able to attend every activity, so breathe deeply and have fun instead of stressing. 

Q: How have you become involved in the YDS community during your first year?

The Gerfaos are active and enthusiastic members of the
YDS community garden!

C: Given my academic schedule and demands of three school aged children, I was unable to do more "extracurricular" events at YDS.  However, I did make it a a priority to attend Berkeley's Wednesday Evening Eucharist.  This was a great way to meet people outside my classes, and then Eucharist and subsequent supper every Wednesday were my favorite places.

S-M: For younger students straight out of college, I think the big challenge is often getting off campus and getting involved in New Haven and not just at school.  But for those of us who are returning to school, especially those of us with families and demanding jobs, I think it can be equally challenging to get us on campus.  In undergrad, I only came to school for my classes, and I didn't spend much time hanging out with folks from school on a social basis.  For graduate school, I decided to have a different experience.  I decided I want something of a student-life, even while I have a full life off-campus.  For this reason, my family and I live across the street from YDS, and I have arranged my work schedule so that I telecommute all but two days of the week.  This means that I eat most of my lunches with friends here at school, do most of my work in the YDS computer lab, work out at the Yale gym, regularly take advantage of the Yale shuttle, attend many of the school's social events, and generally have a place in the community.

Aside from that, I love to be a friendly, helpful hand when people need it, so whenever there is an opportunity, I volunteer to help with ushering, greeting, or registration for events on campus.  I hope I am getting a reputation around here as the world's best greeter!  For a couple events, my whole family has volunteered. I am looking to put together a Unitarian Universalist student group at YDS for next year if there are enough of us UUs.  And, of course, all my friends know that my secret wish is that I will get to serve on the admissions committee the year that I graduate :).   

Q: If you could offer one bit of advice for incoming students - second career or otherwise - what would it be?

C: If I could offer advice it would be to  find study groups for exams.  Don't be shy about starting one and certainly don't be shy about joining one.  My best advice to anyone entering YDS, especially second career students, is to be flexible, be open to asking new questions and discerning new answers and to welcome the surprises and challenges that come your way. It is advice that I still want to take, too!  All best wishes for an incredible year at YDS! And a great BTFO. I look forward to meeting you!


S-M: I have five short but equally important pieces of advice:

1.  Decide what kind of experience you want to have, and then make it happen!  There is no right or wrong way to do this.  With some self-awareness and intentional planning, whatever you need for your own formation at this time in your life, there is a way to build your experience around it.

2.  Don't take yourself too seriously.  You are not so important in this world that you can't learn just for the fun of it.  Be playful and enjoy yourself because at what other moment are you going to get to spend all this time with all these ideas and have so little else you are expected to do?  

3.  Keep your eye open for special opportunities for travel or other learning adventures!  There are lots of these, and for some of us, they will be once-in-a-lifetime kind of formation experiences.  I am so glad I took a risk and applied to the Fund for Theological Education this year, for example, because now I am a ministry fellow and get money for a ministry project of my very own design.

4.  Take your spiritual life seriously.  Just because you are in divinity school doesn't mean that your soul is being ministered to.  You will probably have to actively seek ways to be ministered to, both on and off of campus.  Don't neglect that. 

5.  There are lots of advantages of being part of a large university.  Don't limit yourself to life at YDS, but take advantage of all the events, opportunities, and offerings that come from the larger Yale campus.  It's worth a little time to go "downtown." 

Q: What is your favorite place in New Haven?

C: My favorite place in New Haven are the shops downtown.  From the Apple Store to J Crew (which gives a discount to Yale students) to the Yale Bookstore.

S-M: Aside from the candy bowl?  Just kidding.  I don't have a favorite place yet, but here are some "best of" choices:

• Best restaurant food for cheap: Basil on Howe street, where the prices are reasonable, and I am addicted to their curry vegetable noodle soup
• Best place to meet folks from the larger community: The public library downtown, where you can also keep your eye out for flyers advertising a ton of community events
• Best free offering for kids: The Peabody museum has free admission on Thursday afternoons
• Best free offering for adults: Try walking through the under-appreciated Marsh Botanical Gardens, just across the street from YDS, from 9-5 on weekdays
• Best camp for kids during school vacations: Common Ground High School has environmental vacation-week camps for kids of all ages, and scholarships are available for all those who need them
• Best place to bank: Connex Credit Union has fairly limited hours but is the best, friendliest, and lowest-fee credit union we could find in the area
• Best coffee shop: It has to be Blue State Coffee because even though it can get crowded when school is in session, my wife works there, and she is the world's friendliest and funniest person (and say hello when you are there because she's such a ray of sunshine!)
• Best place to grocery shop for cheap: No place can beat the prices and selection of Pricerite on Dixwell (Hamden), where you can still get 4 sticks of butter for under $2, a gallon of milk for $1.75.

Q: When you get pizza in New Haven, where do you go and what do you order?

C: Pepe's is my favorite pizza, hands down.

S-M: Forget all this talk of pizza.  I won't be the first heretic to say it out loud: New Haven pizza is over-rated. Then again, if a friend happens to talk you into mashed potato pizza at a certain particular restaurant, I have to admit it is super yummy, but don't let him/her talk you into the red sauce. White sauce is definitely the way to go when potatoes are involved! [ed. note: She is obviously referring to the famous Mashed Potato pizza, offered exclusively at Bar.]