Why is Personal Development Important?

One of my favorite classes I teach is personal development, where I merge Bible, psychology, and health, among other things. This class (or personal mentoring sessions) is about personal growth and submission to God in mind, heart, body and spirit. For teens and tweens this includes learning Biblical principles, having discussions on working through emotions in a healthy way, thinking productive thoughts and not being passive or having victim mentality, a basic overview of nutrition, personality typing, practicing listening and other social skills, finding inspiration, and so much more.

Personal Development is about gaining confidence, finding a bigger purpose in life, and creating a vision for the future according to the personal mission God has for you. I strongly feel that Personal Development and other electives where students discover their interests and gifts are absolutely essential to education, and should be repeated every year or two, spiralizing upward into deeper topics and more exploration, until dreams are made and detailed, and a future path is set.