Pensacola Christian College — Local services in Brent

Attending Pensacola Christian College means you're getting a lifestyle instead of an educational product. A rather extreme lifestyle that might not be for you even if you are independent Baptist. They put you under a rock for Jesus. I'm not sure what the Christian version of sharia law is called, but you get it here. I wasted 3 weeks and maybe $3,000 here, and here are some of my experiences from 20-some years ago.

They gave me a book full of rules that's as thick as a bible, so let's start with the dress code. There are different rules for different meals (and days). I had to learn by trial-and-error at the dining hall, and seeing if I was turned away. And for girls, you could only walk down these walkways and use those doors to go eat. ARE YOU SERIOUS? No one cares!

You needed to be out of the dorms 20 minutes before church services, and you'd get written up if you weren't. A roomie couldn't find his bible by the time the bell rang, so I let him borrow my spare one. (FYI: borrowing bibles was not allowed according to one of their million random rules.) We got written up for being 1 minute late getting out of the dorms.

The rules make it obvious that this college would not prepare someone to navigate nor interact with the world. You know, something that a college should do? But why would they? They preach that the world is nothing but sin and evil. They stopped freshman girls from leaving campus, unless their parents signed a waiver that said it's OK for their precious little angel to venture into the darkness beyond the gates. I wasn't aware of any girl that was trapped like this, but (as a guy) I felt bad knowing the possibility existed. The system of asking permission to go off-campus was insulting. It's clear they don't trust anyone.

My job was to clean the field house at night. Being allowed to stay up past midnight was pretty cool, but getting up every morning at 7 no-matter-what was not.

I was there for a computer science major, but of the classes I was taking, only one was specifically relevant. I realized I was wasting time while sitting in history class going over the pharaohs using the same textbook that I used two years prior in the Abeka DVD program.

A future roomie said if you can't get to Google, the internet is broken, so the internet was broken here. Any website that had a text box on one page, and let you see what you put in it on another was blocked. So Wikipedia, social media, and other highly useful websites were blocked. You were only allowed to have the email address the college gave you, because other email services are 'offensive' to students. Excuse me, if my Yahoo email offended me, I wouldn't have used it for 5 years, and kept it just because.

One day, there was a voter registration signup for local, state, and federal elections in the commons. I wondered how confidential voting actually was for students. I was positive that if the college found out someone voted against officially endorsed candidates or issues, they would get written up. I have no evidence that it was the case, but reading between the lines of the student rule book suggested otherwise. I decided that this is America, I'm American, and I'm not going to live like '1984' anymore. I left after 3 weeks, and never regretted it. Don't let them intimidate you.

I ended up at a secular and nerdy college that was almost exclusively computer science, and full of Mormons. When I would tell someone there about Pensacola, they might say "that sounds like BYU". I asked if you could wear jeans at BYU. "Yes." "Then BYU is full of unwashed heathens by comparison." I graduated faster at the nerdy place than I would have if I stayed at Pensacola.

I've been informed that things have changed here, but reading these other reviews, it hasn't in any meaningful way. Maybe they can ask their history department about what the secret police was, and how those places ended up. But they're still drinking the Kool-Aid, so nothing...

I had many bad experiences at this school but the most recent one was when I woke up late for chapel and my ra came in the room and woke me up urging me to hurry and she said just throw my clothes and and leave. I ended being written up and getting 10 demerits for being “disrespectful” because the ras told student life on me. (Mind you these girls are my peers and they can easily get me kicked out of school if they wanted to) I went to student life to resolve this but all the woman did was keep on making excuses for the girls and blaming me saying “ maybe you were feeling a little upset that day?” “Do you think you had the attitude first and that’s why they responded the way they did?” She told me to talk to my ra and ask her about the situation and email her when I did. I ended up emailing her and was ignored after. Nothing was resolved. This is the email I sent: “I did ask my ra Gracie why I was written up for being disrespectful and she said it was because I took so long getting ready when they kept asking me to hurry up. (Even though I took about 15 Minutes or less) after she told me this false statement I told her I went to student life and that student life explained that she and the other ra wrote me up due to disrespect. She then changed her statement and said it was due to my tone of voice. And when I asked her about the other ras tone of voice towards me she said, “that’s just how she is.” I don’t think it’s right that I get disrespected by other young women who are supposed to be my examples and leaders, when all I did is confront them concerning their behavior and it leads to a situation seemingly untruthful and unnecessary. I was also told during my student life appointment that they said I was taking long to get ready and that’s why another ra came to my room but I don’t believe that’s the case, as she came about 5 minutes after I started Getting ready to converse with her friend. The situation that occurred this day was that I slept through my alarm (a few minutes past 10 am) and I was late to chapel. My RA Gracie came and woke me up and I rushed to get ready. She told me to get ready as soon as possible. She came in another time a few minutes later telling me to try and be ready in a few minutes. Shortly after the other ra came and they began chatting in my doorway for a few minutes. I was putting my shoes on and was ready to go when the ra was very rude in her tone of voice and overall demeanor and as well what she said. She said “let’s get going, we’ve been waiting for you let’s go!” She was waving her hands to motion for me to come and seemed very fed up and had an attitude. So I responded in a normal way, not escalating anything, saying, “I don’t appreciate the way you’re talking to me. Im an adult too. That is very rude.” she didn’t say a word to me after that but my ra Gracie just replied as we started to head downstairs that she wasn’t being rude.i responded that “it just seems like it” And neither of them would look me in my eye or explain why that wasn’t the case if it was. This was the situation that occurred that morning. I was very confused to be called to the student life concerning this situation because I thought it wasn’t a huge ordeal.” That was the email and this was just one minor incident that happened last semester. It’s so awful that students have no control or say in...

Going to college is a major investment and step in a lifetime of learning. For some, this will be your first time away from home and you will certainly face challenges and questions; this is especially true, if you came from a homeschool environment. Regardless of whether you spent your early education at home, a Christian school, a public school, or a combination thereof, the angst that you feel is normal. Allow me to offer you my perspective.

I am an Active Duty Servicemember. My educational experiences include graduation from Pensacola Christian College (PCC), a public university, and various military training and professional classes. I have experience teaching and leading Servicemembers. With this perspective, I can share with you a side-by-side comparison between PCC and public universities.

In a public university environment, students are expected to participate in an open forum with the professor and fellow classmates. This fosters a dynamic way of learning where students are encouraged to examine their assumptions and defend them through reason and critical thought, identifying and overcoming logical fallacies and biases. Logical fallacies are a common quirk with people. Some of them include, but are not limited to: Appeal to Authority, Circular Reasoning, No True Scotsman, Selective Bias, Special Pleading, Groupthink, and Strawmanning. At PCC, the instruction model is a one-way lecture between the teacher and student that offers little room for engagement. The environment at PCC, by virtue of their own mission statement, fosters these logical fallacies and allows them to flourish.

Academic rigor at public universities requires students to conduct research using current, credible resources. They classify those resources in terms of primary, secondary, and tertiary. These source materials encompass a wide array of insights and expertise; they are available in print or digitally. At PCC, they strive to fulfill their mission statement by restricting and censoring any material that may encourage examination and critical thought.

Public universities recognize that psychological health and counseling are major student life components. Like Servicemembers, college students have the right to seek independent mental health counseling that ensures confidentiality without the fear of social stigma, gaslighting, and reprisal. According to their website material, there is little to suggest that PCC either acknowledges psychological health considerations or provides such services.

Depending on your background, you may have limited access to essential resources. If you don’t have a high school diploma, then you have to take the General Educational Development (GED). Others may be eligible for Pell Grants and student loans. If you don’t feel ready to make the 4-year commitment, then community colleges are a cost-effective way to meet the core requirements and transfer later. Remember that you are the customer and that PCC, like any other college, must earn the right to your business.

Good luck!

For more information on resources available, refer to websites specializing in GED prep, Pell grants, and...