Should I stay or should I go?
I know because I am an administrator in the residence life department of a university that I am supposed to like the night life. I am supposed to be one that waits for the sun to go down before I really start my job. I am supposed to be in student housing until all hours of the night playing Halo, debating theology, eating crap that came from a styrofoam package, and the like. These are the things I did for the first few years. Now I think they are ridiculous. I spend much of my time trying to talk college students into going to bed before 2:00am regardless of how little sleep they think their bodies need. Have I gotten too old for this job? Am I still relevant in the lives of college students? I love what I do. I love being able to help college students sort through some of life’s big questions like, “What is my calling?” and, “Do I really believe all of the things that I thought I believed growing up and if not what is there to believe in?” These are a few conversations I have had lately and have often not to mention the political conversations lately. I love these conversations, and I think I am good at having them. I don’t think I am perfect by any stretch but I believe God has gifted me in being able to help others sort through some of these things.
But back to my question. Am I still relevant to today’s college student? I don’t listen to the same music. I rarely have seen the same movies. I am horrendously out of style. So I ask you are these things I need to be in order to work with young adults? Am I being, or more accurately can I be, everything to everyone as Paul tells us? I need to honestly answer these questions so I can know if it is time to hang up my ping pong paddle and don the button down shirt, flat front khakis, and wing-tipped uniform of mid-level college administration. My wife and I are committed to the community we live in but I do not know if I still have the energy to do that voodoo that I do so well (sometimes).
Scott said,
Wrote on November 18, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
You may not know me, I know Jason.
But I just wanted to say that you are absolutely relevant to today’s college student if the conversations that you are having with them are to help them sort through what they really feel called to. I think too often we think we have to fit the mold of the current styles to be relevant. But the reality is that relevance has nothing to do with style and so much more to do with the relationship that you have with them. If the relationships are relevant and the discussions that you have are relevant, then you are ultimately relevant in your job. And much like your next post talks about, you have more to offer because you are older with a little more experience under you belt than you did years ago. Instead of joining the kids/young adults in some of those things that you’ve learned aren’t all that helpful in life, you can help them learn from your experience.
Just my thoughts, not that you have to care… but I did want to encourage you.
Blessings,
Scott