Not Cut Out for a Bachelor’s Degree
“Flutter, flutter, Thump!”
That’s the sound we heard all throughout May, when a sparrow continually attempted to fly through our basement window. Every hour or so, the same reverberations punctuated the laughter or squalls of children playing at Legos. The image of this sparrow frequently comes to mind when I have conversations about San Damiano College for the Trades. Allow me to elaborate in a light-hearted spirit.
Here’s how it sometimes goes: “Hey, I just heard about this new Catholic trade school, San Damiano! Can you tell me some more?” I energetically explain our mission to recover the dignity of work and rebuild the Church, including details about the robust prayer life, the trade school credential, the associate degree, and the 4,000 hours of real work experience. My interlocutor replies confidently and charitably: “I’m so glad San Damiano exists. There needs to be a place for people who just aren’t cut out for a bachelor’s degree.”
THUMP!
That’s the sound of the bird hitting the window in this conversation. My soul wells up with the zeal of our Lord, getting ready to flip some tables in the temple. How do I reply to that? It’s a typical, well-meaning statement uttered with perfect charity, but it carries some assumptions we simply aren’t working with. This window-thumping comment carries at least three assumptions I’d like to consider.
Assumption One: the bachelor’s degree is the standard path to pursue while those who don’t “measure up” (excuse the pun) should go to a trade school.
Assumption Two: progress through San Damiano’s program is easier than progress through a bachelor’s degree program, meaning, it requires less basic human discipline and virtue: fortitude, diligence, perseverance, etc.
Assumption Three: the skill or aptitude (or in the classical sense, virtue) required to succeed at San Damiano is a lower kind of virtue than those required to pass a typical bachelor’s degree. In other words, programs like San Damiano don’t engage or demand as much of the intellect as the bachelor degree standard.
Permit me a word on each of these.
I’ll work backwards, beginning with the third. It’s easy to assume that the bachelor’s degree requires intellectual virtue while the trade school requires merely a mechanical knack or “know-how.” No question, some people possess a mechanical genius, which is helpful in the skilled trades, but that ability is linked to an intellectual virtue that every good craftsman possesses, whether or not he has ever earned a bachelor’s degree. Interestingly enough, Aristotle includes craftsmanship among his list of intellectual virtues: wisdom, understanding, prudence, science, and craftsmanship. In other words, San Damiano isn’t forming up organic robots limited to the mechanical, physical motions of the skilled trades. We’re forming men who possess mechanical skills, yes, but also intellectual virtues like craftsmanship (knowing the conditions necessary for the making of a thing) and wisdom (the ability to judge and order all things in accord with the highest principles). It’s essential to consider whether and why to install this or that plumbing (wisdom), just as it is imperative to understand the conditions necessary for running the copper correctly (craftsmanship).
As to the second, it’s easy to assume that an associate degree presents less challenge than a bachelor’s degree since the associates is half the credits, but context is key. In the first semester, students are up for a 7 a.m. daily Mass and work hard through shop class, intellectual class, and home renovation until dinner, followed by compline with the Norbertines. Every subsequent semester, after waking up early for work and putting in a full day’s physically and cognitively demanding labor, San Damiano students hustle to share a meal and step immediately into evening classes four nights per week, capping each day in compline with the Norbertines. The San Damiano mission demands a stout heart, disciplined soul, and a firm conviction to persevere in the fraternal, spiritual, intellectual, and technical pillars of the program. I do not say San Damiano requires more personal discipline and virtue than a typical four-year bachelor’s program; I simply emphasize that students entering our Catholic Craftsman Program by no means take the path of least resistance.
Finally, it’s time to expand beyond the narrative of the bachelor’s as “normal” and the associate’s as “remedial.” Our young men deserve more nuanced and prayerful guidance and discernment, real help to seriously consider their vocation and God’s intended means of preparation for that vocation after high school.
Let’s stop being sparrows slamming into windows. San Damiano is looking at a class of 30 new students in August. That’s 30 more young men testing their wings and learning to avoid basement windows. For them, sky is the limit!
A big thanks to all of you who so firmly share our conviction about the importance of this mission for the world that you support San Damiano College for the Trades. Let’s keep rebuilding the Church and recovering the dignity of work!
San Damiano Updates
Our Newest Podcast is available here!
Faculty member Peter Tardiff discusses labor, craftsmanship, and virtue in Homer’s Odyssey and its recent film adaptation with renowned scholar and author Dr. Glenn Arbery.
“Thou hast enlarged my steps beneath me; and my feet are not weakened” (Psalm 18:36).
Students learning some flooring techniques in our second carpentry course.
Catholic Agriculture and work
Faculty Member Peter Tardiff talks about My Antonia and regenerative agriculture with Director of Operations and author, Alex Hurla. Check it out here.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Our summer course teaching students house wrap, windows, and exterior door installation!
Milestone for Project Re-Build
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (Ps 127:1).
Thanks to a generous benefactor, San Damiano College for the Trades is purchasing its first house for Project Re-Build! Our incoming students will renovate this home for resale as affordable housing. God is good!
—Admissions BOOM — We have a completely full class of 30 students for fall, 2026!
—Apply here for autumn of 2027. We’ve already multiple applicants for fall 2027, so get your name on the list!
—Visitors’ Weekend for High School Seniors: September 25-27. This weekend will fill up soon. Email jgaston@sandamianotrades.org for information or to sign up.