What a great attitude toward school! For part of my school career, I did as little as possible to get by. As a result, my school work was drudgery to me. It wasn’t until I learned to put my heart in it that I began to experience joy in my work.

In his book, The Fight, John White describes the transformation of his work life in college:

"I remember the relief I felt when I quit worrying about exams. I was studying human pathology at the time. With half my mind I was reading and with the other half I was worrying about such questions as: Am I really absorbing this stuff? Is it likely to come up in an exam? Am I going too slowly? Ought I to rely on lecture notes? Why is this so boring?

"Not worry about exams? I caught my breath. One part of me knew that I would experience relief and enjoy my work more. Another part of me rebelled. The suggestion seemed dangerous. My examiners were not interested in godly conscientiousness but in my covering the material.

"The struggle was brief and I opted for godliness. I was sick of the drudgery of studying for grades and of the pervasive anxiety that inhibited real study. I had already grasped the kind of study principles that "how to study" books describe so that my change of orientation entailed no change of method. Indeed I became more methodical. To my joy I found his yoke easy and his burden light so that I studied with rest in my soul. Pathology grew more interesting. I could afford to be curious about what I was reading. I took pride in writing brief outlines of chapters I read through. The drudgery melted away and a sense of satisfaction and gratitude took its place. Exams or no exams, I would study for God. And I took time off to play tennis with a carefree spirit.

"[Now] I was responsible to use my study time in a way that pleased God. I covered the same ground but was carefree and enjoyed what I was doing. I certainly learned a lot more though how this affected my grades I do not know. Nor do I care. I was no longer working for grades but for Christ. Study had become for me...[a calling]. I drew satisfaction from the activity and from the end result of a chapter grasped as well as my abilities allowed.

"Of course I would slip back from time to time [to my old attitudes]. Pleasing Christ in my studies was like learning a new swimming stroke. It had to be practiced. Yet my studies were never the same again."