Jonathan Collier
Liberty University
Yout 350-B01
Dr. Steve Vandegriff
2/19/2023
Student Interview/Conversation Essay
Introduction.
For this assignment I spoke to three high schoolers, Josh, Seth, and Britton. Each of them
attends a different school and fall into different groups from within their respective schools. I
aimed for different students to try and capture a bigger picture as a result of these conversations.
Seth
My first conversation was with Seth. I actually know Seth from my church, he serves on
the AV team and runs sound and video on Sundays and his dad is a fellow deacon. Seth is your
typical teenage boy, I asked him if he liked video games, I used to play when I was younger and
figured this would be a good icebreaker or our conversation. His favorite video games are as you
might guess, the combat style games like Call of Duty. I asked him if he had ever played or
currently played any sports at school and he said no. He’s a tall guy and said that he’s been asked
to play basketball in the past, but he said that “ sports just aren’t my thing.” Next I asked him
about his plans after high school. He thought for a moment, said that he really didn’t know, he
wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, he said that he liked computers and doing sound at church so
he might consider something along those lines. When I asked him what he thought the biggest
social issue at his school was he gave me two answers. First was identity, he felt like kids were
struggling to find themselves. Next he said bullying was a big problem. I asked him if he thought
the two were at all related and he said he felt like “kids don’t know who they are so they pick on
someone else to be seen as strong and popular.” Next we talked about ministry since I already
know Seth’s church background. He said he wished there were more Christian outlets for kids at
his school besides the FCA. He said that if kids had an outlet where they could learn about God
then maybe the two issues he explained to me could be addressed. I wanted to know if he had
any ministry ideas for his school and he said that he thought a men’s type ministry for high
school guys to hang out with Christian guys who were a bit older would be cool.
Josh
Josh visited my Church one Sunday a few weeks ago after being invited by one of the
men in the men’s ministry. Josh is a senior and also takes a couple college classes at the local
community college. He likes reading and studying other religions and plans to major in
philosophy once he graduates high school. I asked him college plans and he wants to get his
associates from the local community college and then transfer to William and Mary. Josh doesn’t
play sports at school but he enjoys playing recreational soccer, he also enjoys running and
working out. He said that the biggest issue he notices at his school was that “most of the kids just
seem disconnected and are lost.” Since he visited my church I assumed that he didn’t regularly
attend another church-I was right. Though, he said he used to go to a weekly youth group when
he was younger but he stopped going because it wasn’t fun or organized. I asked him if there
were any ministries or Christian campus organizations accessible to students at his school and he
said he wasn’t sure. I asked him if he could pick a ministry or outreach to be implemented at his
school what would it be and he said that he would “want to help the kids who seem lost and
disconnected find their way.” This, to me, screamed discipleship, so I asked him if he understood
discipleship and if he’d ever been discipled by anyone. He didn’t have a clue but said that he
had lots of questions (He and I are now meeting on Tuesday afternoons). This is very
encouraging, Josh said he wants to take what he learns from being discipled and try to share with
other guys at his school.
Britton
Britton was the youngest of my interviews. He is in 8th grade and will be entering into
High School next year. While he is only in the 8th grade, Britton spends a considerable amount of
time with kids, especially guys that are older than he is (high school and college aged). We talked
about his favorite sport and he mentioned wrestling. He wrestles for a club, for the varsity team
at his middle school, and also with the high school. He wanted to make sure that I got the
message that he was “really, really good.” I asked him what he thought were common issues he
saw with students at his school. He hesitated to answer but later suggested that kids struggle with
fitting in, everyone wants to be seen as popular. I asked him about church involvement and he
said that he and his sister used to go all the time and that his parents led the youth program at
their church but when he became so active in sports they stopped going all together. I asked him
if he missed being involved and he said he liked it but didn’t “have time with sports and all.” As
far as campus ministry he said that there isn’t much at his school aside from FCA but he isn’t
involved. He did say that at the high school level a few of the wrestlers were involved in FCA
and he might participate with them. Lastly, I asked him if a new campus ministry were to be
made available to teens at his current school if he thought people would come. He said they
might but it would have to be presented as the “cool thing to do” otherwise no one would come.
Ministry Implications.
I made several observations that were common amongst these three conversations. The
first and the most glaring was that there is a major identity problem amongst teens from middle
through high school. They are craving affirmation, acceptance, identity, and connection, and
many are seeking those things in all of the wrong places. Another common thread was lack of
discipleship and disciple-making. Whether engaged in a campus ministry setting or outside of the
school, teens need discipleship, they need Jesus. That’s the identity they are seeking, to be seen
as a son or daughter of Jesus. The third observation was that all three guys were interested in
faith and had questions, which to me offers hope for change.
