Graduates should have the personal skills necessary to relate effectively with students as individuals. Specifically, students should be able to:
- assess the development and personal needs of individual college students;
- make positive contributions to the personal development and learning of individual students;
- assist students in accessing and utilizing a wide range of services and programs designed to benefit them.
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Small group Bible studies serve to fulfill part of the APU chapel requirements for High Sierra students. I have had the pleasure of leading a small group every semester for the past three years. Each semester, I meet regularly with approximately six women. These are times that I cherish as opportunities to challenge and encourage these women to pursue a more intimate relationship with Christ and meaningful relationships with each other. I strive to create a mentoring environment (Parks, 2000) where women feel safe to ask big questions, think critically, receive support and encouragement and meet with Christ.
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Mentoring Student Leaders
One of my favorite parts of my job is meeting weekly with my student leaders. Intentionally setting aside time every week to encourage, challenge, listen to, support, ask questions of, offer love to, and pray with my student leaders has become one of the most tangible things I do to help them grow (Parks, 2000; Bolman & Deal, 2001). It is my hope that as I invest in these leaders they will feel better able to love and care for their peers. My student leaders have come to appreciate and value this time and often come with creative ideas for how we can spend our time together.
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Living in small community with thirty to forty college students means that I often find myself in the role of counselor. Students learn quickly that life does not go on pause simply because they have decided to spend a semester studying in the mountains. When issues, struggles, questions and joys arise students often come to me seeking a safe person to help them process (Cloud & Townsend, 1996). I respond to them with love and care and strive to be a helper and a truly empathetic ear (Egan, 2007; Rosenberg, 2003). I have copied a few letters from students who have received these gifts from me.
