It's already noon and this is the first chance I have had to sit down to my computer and get to work. Well, that's not true. I did sit down at my laptop at about 7am this morning to look up directions to Alaina's house in North Philly.
Alaina is a Co-worker of mine. She used to work with the EIC program (Eastern in the city) until it was shut-down last year. She was shuffled to a position on campus, where she provides academic advisement to students struggling with grades and poor study habits. I picked her up this morning to take her to Costco. She's working out the budget and menu for a fundraiser that she, Katie Zoet--another coworker, and I are putting together to help our students afford to go to the Jubilee Conference in February. The event is called "Breakfast for Dinner." Even though we are doing a lot of the organizational stuff, students who are planning on attending the Jubilee will be running the event on Jan 30th, 5-8pm.
It's always nice working on projects like this with my co-workers. Believe it or not my job can be pretty lonely sometimes. I basically have to set my own goals, strategies, and schedules everyday of every week by myself, and then try to keep myself accountable to those things. I'm not complaining; it's the nature of the job, I understand that. But, it is nice every once in a while to work side-by-side with people who really understand what you're going through.
In a way, that's really a core part of my job; identifying with students and trying my best to understand what they are going through. Lucky for me, being only two years out of college myself, I don't have to search very far into my own personal experience to recall what types of struggles they are encountering. I remember what it was like struggling with purpose, and wondering why exactly I was even in college, other than for the mere reason that it was expected of me. I remember too, feeling distanced from God, and uprooted from my life as a dependent youth. As much as I hated to admit it, being dependent, and having everything handed to me, actually had a lot of benefits.
Many students struggle with these basic questions of identity and purpose all the way through college, and I don't have to tell you that many of them look for the answers in all the wrong places.
One of my students, a girl named Wathira, is facing these hard questions as a senior in college. She has enjoyed college in some ways, and despised it in others, but what really scares her now is the daunting reality that college is quickly coming to an end. She has no idea what will come after college. She was told in high school that college was the time and place when you find out what you will do with your life. Yet here she is, with no clear direction for where do go. She will graduate in May with a degree in English literature, this is a subject she is passionate about, and loves writing essays on, but she cannot conceive of a job in that field which would suit her. So then the bigger question hits her, "What did I just spend four years of my life doing? What did I just spend over $120,000.00 on exactly?"
The age old compulsive response that everyone wants to tell her is "Well, with a degree at least you can get a job." The problem with old truisms is after a while they're just old. The fact is more people have degrees in the world today than ever before in history, and a bachelor's degree just isn't as impressive as it used to be. Fact: My wife is working on getting her master's degree and she works at Starbucks. Fact: All of her co-workers have either a master's degree, bachelor's degree, or associate's degree. So the lesson is: I can get a job at Starbucks right out of high school, OR four years, $120,000.00, and a bachelor's degree later I can... ... get a job at Starbucks? Something isn't right with this picture.
This is the reality that Wathira and many of her peers are transitioning into. On top of this, there doesn't seem to be a community for her to enter into that will help her through this transition. The world tells her that if she has made it through college then she ought to be able to fend for herself. Degree equals responsible adult, didn't you know? Of course, her degree wasn't in "responsible adult." In fact the average college student doesn't receive one iota of training on how to survive in the real world as an adult from their university.
Thankfully, Wathira is part of a weekly coffeehouse small group. During the small group time she gets to meet and talk with young adults who have graduated from college some time in the last 2-5 years. She is gradually building relationships with people who still very much know what Wathira is going through, and can share all the wisdom and knowledge they have gleaned in the past few years. Building relationships like these are essential for someone in Wathira's shoes. I know this because almost every new young adult I meet who I invite to small group tells me they have been looking or praying for something just like this for a long time. Many of them come depressed and downhearted, but by the end of the first or second meeting they are shining with joy and laughter. I'm aware that their joy may only last until half-way through their drives home, but for all of them the small groups are a penetrating light in their week when they can commune together, share their struggles and joys, and delve into scripture.
Pray for all the college students and young adults out there who are still seeking fellowship and community, and are struggling with meaning and purpose during this next week.
Until Next Time.
In Christ,
Elliott
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