The Way Things Work
Seminars to Prepare for Life Beyond High School


As a service to young men in high school and their parents, the staff at Chestnut Hill Center have organized a monthly series of seminars with professionals in various fields. The aim of these seminars is to address a number of areas that are important for advancing in maturity after high school, namely:

(a) Developing the aptitudes and skills for students to find their life’s work during college or later; using time well and making the best use of school work, extracurricular activities, and summer vacations to prepare for college and for professional life.

(b) Understanding some key themes in history, philosophy, and the arts that pave the way to understand how things “fit together” in life.

(c) Developing habits of effective reading, writing, speaking and critical thinking that are so critical to success in college and in the workplace. Professionals will demonstrate how, in their line of work, these skills are used, and how they can be developed in high school.

(d) Reflecting on key aspects of integrity that help one to lead a life of service to one’s classmates, colleagues and family members, bringing happiness to one’s vocation in life.

We have organized these seminars in two tracks, one for freshmen and one for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The topics under discussion cover a spectrum of important ideas about success in college, the world of work, personal relationship with God, and family life. Specifically, we will cover the following themes in the two tracks:

For the Freshmen Track (one-year cycle):

Studying effectively, time-management, and how to do research papers
Courtesy and refinement at home and in the workplace
Analyzing famous military battles, especially from the viewpoint of geography
Defending the faith: the reliability of the Gospels
Church History: the early Christian era
Writing effectively; submitting letters to the editor of newspapers
Careers in Science and Medicine
Careers in Business; understanding the basics of business and finance

For Sophomores/Juniors/Seniors Track (three-year cycle):

Smart, purposeful use of the summer vacation
Becoming a lifelong reader: importance of history & biography
Speaking effectively, via the moot court experience
Church History: the Reformation and Modern eras
Critical reading: newspapers and magazines
An overview of Christian philosophy, including ethics
Appreciation of art, great literature, and serious music
Career planning: career assessment exercise, job search and interviewing
How to succeed in the college-application process (for juniors)
Moral law and the formation of conscience
Responsibilities of marriage & fatherhood
Living temperance and chastity, especially in college
How to benefit most from the college experience: becoming a lifelong learner
Leadership: examples from history, including military history
Success in business and professional life

The staff at Chestnut Hill will prepare topics for each track during the school year. Speakers, representing various professional fields and from the staff at Chestnut Hill Center, will lead the seminar each month. The staff will post, in advance, the dates of the seminars and the topics to be covered for each semester.

The seminars, unless otherwise noted, will take place on Saturdays, from 2:00 to 4:15 pm, at the Chestnut Hill Center. The schedule includes a talk by a priest of Opus Dei. Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church, takes responsibility for the Christian orientation of all activities at the Chestnut Hill Center.