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The other day, one of my students was trying out for an athletic team at school. He’s not the most athletic person on the track, but he’s shown promise over the last few years. He’s trained his body. He’s been with personal coaches. He’s even been at all the “optional” practice to prepare for the day of try-outs.
When it was time to announce the team, the local high school track coach posted the students who made the squad, and my friend’s name was no where to be found.
He was devastated.
“Andy, I’ll never get into the college I want to get into. They’re looking for good grades and athletics. How am I supposed to do this?”
And I just put my arm around him and said, “Maybe it’s time to find the arena you can excel in. Let’s try to figure that out together.” And off we went on a journey of listening, probing, exploring and highlighting different areas he can engage in to achieve his dreams.
When you think of Deep Change in Adolescent life, nothing could emulate more truths in one generation. Kids are becoming adults. Physiologically, brain transformation is undergoing drastic changes. Sociologically, students are learning what it means to engage in deep friendships. Emotionally, teenagers are dealing with hormones, sexuality, and the ability to feel deeply about themselves and people around them. And in the area of success and failure? Well, there’s a need for students to learn how to belong.
I’ve never seen a greater need for those of us involved in the youth world to spend time working on educating Deep Transformational Mentorship. It’s a Jungle out there is an understatement, as teenagers begin to develop the necessary skills of knowing who they are and how they will belong to the world around them.
In the old days, adolescent years were called apprentice years. Students were considered adults from the time they entered the teenage years being given loads of responsibility in the family and the community. But today, we have a culture separated into decades of transformation. High Schools are divided along age lines, and educators have spent countless hours trying to figure out how to help students gain knowledge.
Businesses are designed to allow part time workers to come alongside and serve coffee, sandwiches, and menial labor. But who is actually paying attention to the needs of students? What if they aren’t designed to be local baristas? Where do they go?
It seems everywhere I turn, this transformational age is met with people who are actively trying to tell students what to think, how to act, and where to position themselves for success. But very few are willing to sit down and listen, discern, and walk with students from point A to point B in order for them to find their calling.
The LDG mentoring model is created to help youth workers dig deep into the hearts and minds of students to listen to what they are working through, and help give appropriate space for students to explore, imagine, and creatively be who they are at the core.
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