Character
Before Career

MORE THAN A BUZZWORD

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“Character Before Career,” articulates a principle that sets Gravitas apart from other online schools. You can pursue academic excellence, admission to prestigious colleges and universities, and prepare for a meaningful and profitable career in any number of schools. What you need most is a school that will support your growth morally, intellectually, and spiritually. You are a human being, after all, not a human doing, and Gravitas takes that fact seriously.

Growing in character means learning to think well about what matters most, growing to love what is good, and developing the capacity to make wise decisions. As a Gravitas student, you will learn how to grapple with the big questions of life:

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    How do you determine right from wrong?

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    What obligations do we have to each other? To future generations?

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    Is there anything more to you than your physical body?

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    Is there a god?

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    What happens to you after you die?

YOUR CALLING AND PURPOSE. Gravitas is not afraid to ask these questions and many more. You will be given space, opportunity, and the tools you need to wrestle with them. As you develop your own answers to these questions, with help from your teachers, friends, and great texts, you will develop a deeper sense of calling and purpose. You will find that the answers to the big questions will help you organize the rest of your life. This is what a true education was always meant to be.

Knowing what is good and right is only half the battle, however. To live a meaningful life and make a positive impact in this world, you need to develop the character traits that will help you follow through on doing what is right even when doing so is difficult. During your time as a Gravitas student, you will grow in:

  1. Love – the ability to will the well-being of others for their own sakes, whether they are lovable or not
  2. Hope – the confident expectation of ultimate good, grounded in God’s promises, which encourages you to never cease doing good, even when doing so is difficult or unpopular
  3. Faith – active trust in God and knowledge of ultimate truths that outstrip your limited rational capacities
  4. Wisdom – the capacity to deliberate well about the right course of action and act accordingly, applying your knowledge and skill in service of what is true, good, and beautiful
  5. Justice – the ability to treat all creatures with proper respect, being sad and angry when their moral worth is violated and joyful at victories over injustice
  6. Courage – the confidence to overcome and endure threats to your own well-being and the well-being of those you love. Courage requires not that you be fearless but rather that even in your fear you persist in doing what is right
  7. Temperance – the proper ordering of your desires for the finite goods of this life, exercising moderation so that you can achieve higher goods. In a world driven by appetite, you will strive to be the sort of person who loves what God loves and holds with an open hand that which will not ultimately satisfy.

The pursuit of character will not be an easy path. You will encounter threats from without and threats from within your own soul. With help from your mentors, you will learn to identify and resist the vices that will take you off track: pride, vainglory, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust. In the safety of a growth group, you will be able to share in the struggle with people who will be vulnerable with you and hold you accountable.