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Ep 16 | Student Leadership with Christine S. and Jonathan M.

We sit down with Trinity's Head Boy Jonathan M. and Head Girl Christine S. As seniors and leaders of the school, the two share their insights into what it means to be a leader and how they strive to use their influence for the good of the community. Fueled by a love for their fellow students and a desire to serve others, Christine and Jonathan strive to emulate Christ in their roles. These students are truly wise beyond their years, and offer excellent advice for students and adults alike about leading others well.

Our actions touch the lives of other people and those around us, even people that we might not know, like something that we do, someone could see. ..it’s a humbling sort of responsibility that we have to act as image bearers of Christ.

Christine S.

     

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...there is a weight and responsibility in the actions you take. So I think one of the most important things is to remember that you're not here for yourself...you’re here for God. 

Jonathan M.

Transcript

 

Disclaimer: This is a direct transcript of the podcast audio and may not be grammatically correct.

 

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Jo Wilbur:

Welcome to Mind and Heart, a podcast by Trinity Christian School in Fairfax, Virginia. In this space, we explore our calling to raise up the next generation to be salt and light in the world. Hello, and welcome to Mind and Heart, a podcast by Trinity Christian School. I'm your host, Jo Wilbur, and today I'm sitting down with Trinity seniors, Jonathan and Christine. Jonathan and Christine are Head Boy and Head Girl at Trinity, overseeing students in all four houses of the Upper School. They exemplify Trinity's core values of truth, courage, and service, and act as responsible and reliable pillars in their school community. Today, they will be teaching us all a little bit about student leadership, the power of influence, and the responsibility that comes with being in a leadership role. Jonathan, Christine, thank you so much for joining us today.

Jonathan:

Thank you so much for having us. It's a pleasure to be here.

Christine:

Thank you for having us.

Jo Wilbur:

Absolutely. Before we get into some more of the questions, I would love to start by just getting to know a little bit more about each of you. So, Christine, if you would like to start, can you just tell us a little bit about what you've been up to, what your life looks like at Trinity right now?

Christine:

Yeah. So, I'm a senior, which is kind of crazy to think about. It's my 13th year at Trinity, so just sort of soaking it all in and accepting the fact that it's my last first-time doing things. Over the years I've had the opportunity to pursue many things that I'm interested in. I'm particularly passionate about service. I have the opportunity to serve in National Honor Society, and I've also had the blessing of leading the International Club, where we can explore other cultures and keep up with global events and host fundraisers to support global events. Other than that, I've been baking. I've got a new puppy, English bulldog puppy named Blueberry.

Jo Wilbur:

Oh, my gosh. Congrats!

Christine:

Yes, thank you, thank you. And then obviously college applications, so yeah. That’s a little bit of my life.

Jo Wilbur:

Awesome, yes. You've got a lot going on, that's for sure, unsurprisingly. Jonathan, how about you? What have you been up to lately?

Jonathan:

Yes, I've just been so excited for senior year. This is my ninth year at Trinity. Obviously, I'm Head Boy, but I also am a captain on the cross country team. I enjoy math, surprisingly enough.

Jo Wilbur:

Can't relate.

Jonathan:

Yep. And, uh a lot of landscaping too, is my work that I do on the side or fence painting. So if anyone needs that, please give me a call. I will do labor.

Jo Wilbur:

Yes, subtle plug. Shameless plug right there, we love it! Well, awesome. So, yeah, you guys both do a ton of stuff here at Trinity other than just going to class, that's for sure. So I would like to know a little bit more about what exactly your role as Head Boy and Head Girl. What do those roles entail? What, what does that really mean? What is that all about?

Christine:

Yeah, so the beauty of starting the system off with Jonathan is that our roles are pretty fluid, so we also have a chance to sort of define it and shape them in a way. I think our biggest role is to support and empower our student body, make them feel at home. Students are the reason why our campus has life, so we take care of the big picture, things like planning school events, hosting committees, but we also have an opportunity to get to know people more intimately. Jonathan, do you have anything to add?

Jonathan:

We are first called to serve, and by service I think we try our best to lead. It's a lot of emailing, I'll tell you that much. A lot of emailing.

Jo Wilbur:

Now that I can relate to.

Jo Wilbur:

Okay, very cool. Can you tell us a little bit about the process through which you became Head Boy and Head Girl? How did that exactly come about?

Jonathan:

Yeah, so I had an interview with Mr. Fellows at the start of June. I came in, it was like an hour long, and we were just talking about the house system, what he was looking for in a leader. And right there I was like, “yeah, you know, I want to do this.” This is something I've been looking forward to. Something that I was hoping for. I love being in a position where I can help others, and honestly, I feel like this is one of those positions where there are so many opportunities to do that, that it's, I feel right at home.

Jo Wilbur:

And Christine, did you have a similar experience?

Christine:

Yeah, I think I was nominated by faculty and then sort of validated by other peers. And then I also had an interview with Mr. Fellows that was also an hour long. And we also discussed things for student leadership, what we hope to see in our school, and just had a casual conversation really about what it's like to love and serve our school community.

Jo Wilbur:

Jonathan, I know you spoke a little bit to what made you want to be in that leadership role, that desire to serve and feeling at home in that role. Christine, what about you? What really led you to want to be Head Girl?

Christine:

I think it's because I love our school community so much. um It seems like a simple answer, but it's also so powerful and it's something that rings true as well with our relationship with God and our relationship with Christ. um God fully knows us, and God fully loves us, and I think getting to know the unique and vibrant people at the school over the past few years has just really fueled my love for our community and the people that we are here.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, I love that. So as Head Boy and Head Girl, obviously you have a lot of opportunity that comes with that role. What are some ways that you each hope to positively impact the school community in your roles?

Jonathan:

From the positions where I'm coming from, I want to be able to first positively impact my friendships, and from there positively impact the people that I haven't met yet. And actionably, listening to people, caring about what they're saying cause being in this position you hear a lot of people say, “oh, I really like this” or “oh, I really didn't like that” and I think there's a fine balance between listening to what they don't like about it, what they do like about it, and acting on what is best for the community. And I think that the biggest way you can positively impact is by listening and doing.

Jo Wilbur:

Right, right. So not just listening sort of in a passive sense, but I like that you sort of say active listening, taking actionable steps toward what's best for the student body, because it sounds like you're finding that you're getting a lot of feedback from people now that they know you’re Head Boy and everyone's eager to get a word in with you. Yeah, I love that. Christine, how about you?

Christine:

Yes, I totally echo everything that Jonathan said. I think that comes from a place of wisdom that I respect and admire about Jonathan. Yeah, I totally agree, I think we want Trinity students to feel like this is their community, this is their home away from home. And we want them to feel like this is a community that they want to engage in, that they want to be a part of, where its empowering, lifting them up, listening to them, doing things the best that we can to serve them.

Jo Wilbur:

Right, so it sounds like both of you really have a focus on the community and the culture here, not necessarily just working towards certain school policies or things like that, but really creating a familial sense within the school. Is that correct?

Jonathan:

Yeah, I would echo that. Yeah.

Jo Wilbur:

That's an awesome goal. I love that. I know it's very early in the school year, so I might be putting you on the spot. What is the one thing that you've really seen come from your role that you're proud of?

Christine:

I think something that we implemented early on is the idea of having committees based on school-wide events, it’s something that we've started to see about that our first committees are starting to come together for things like the fall picnic and the fall dance and homecoming. And a blessing of that is that more people can serve. So I think it's just been so inspiring and such a blessing to see people step up in areas that they're interested in or passionate about or have experience in, or even just want to try.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, you're seeing other students lean in and wanting to serve and wanting to get involved.

Christine:

I love the idea of leaning in. Yes, exactly.

Jo Wilbur:

Yes, very exciting. And Jonathan, did you have anything to add to that?

Jonathan:

So a couple of things that I've been, I don't want to say working on, but kind of leaning more into, I've been kind of about preserving some of the traditions that we've had before. As a senior, I personally love the homecoming games because well, I don't want to say that we always win, but the seniors have a good shot at winning about every year.

Christine:

Shh, Jonathan.

Jo Wilbur:

You heard it right here from your Head Boy.

Jonathan:

So, I've also been hearing from a lot of my friends that they'd like to keep some traditions that Trinity has had before rather than shifting everything over to the House system, right? Like House system, of course. I love it, I love the culture that's coming out of it, but there are also some traditions that I feel like are good to keep at Trinity. And one of them I've been asking for is grade-wide competition cause you know, as the House system, the goal is to have vertical relationships, right? So, in people in your house and then you also want horizontal, people that are in your grade.

Jo Wilbur:

You want both. I think that's so true. You want to make sure you're establishing relationships, outside of your grade and with the upper, you know, all the different grades in the Upper School. But at the same time, you want that grade level camaraderie as well, right, so not to totally lose that. What are some opportunities either at Trinity or even outside of Trinity that have prepared you for your leadership role?

Jonathan:

I've done a couple of things with SGA in the past, so I was seventh grade SGA president for my grade and then ninth grade SGA president for my grade. So I kind of understand where a lot of these activities and planning things are coming from. I've just done it on another side and with the House system, there's so much more student influence in what we do than in the SGA system, which I love personally, but also that we can't just do whatever we want, right? We have to go through faculty, we have to make sure that this is a good idea and not just a “hey, this would be fun.” This is like, no, “this would be fun, and it's a smart thing to do.” I've worked a bit on the side, so I know how to like organize things. I've served at my church, so I know that aspect of community and the Christian worldview.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I love that you mentioned maintaining those relationships with faculty and staff as well because as Head Boy, it is almost like you're the liaison between the student body and, you know, the OHS, the head of school and the faculty and the staff. So you're maintaining relationships with both of those, your peers and, you know, adults. So, that's awesome. And then, Christine, what about you?

Christine:

There’s always the formal opportunities. I'm president of National Honor Society, the International Club, I'm the founder of a startup outside of Trinity called ScolioBend…

Jo Wilbur:

Which is amazing, by the way.

Jonathan:

Very, very impressive.

Jo Wilbur:

Which I’ve heard a lot about. Can you tell us just a quick summary of what that is?

Christine:

A quick summary? ScolioBend is here to encourage other patients with scoliosis. I'm diagnosed with scoliosis, it's a curvature in the spine. Our main thing is bringing people together and making sure our resources are accessible to them, to be able to access mentors and also just resources to understand more about what scoliosis is like. But beyond that, yeah, so there's always those formal opportunities. I think I've been blessed with a lot of informal opportunities, just things like getting to know people in and during lunch or talking to someone in the hallway, taking the opportunity to say hi to a new faculty member or a new student. And these are things that just happen over the years, sort of little moments where God tells you to take a leap of courage. And I think those opportunities have played such a pivotal role in preparing me for, for this role of speaking with people, listening to people, showing empathy and love to other students here.

Jo Wilbur:

Right, it's probably so cool now that you are seniors and you’re Head Boy and Head Girl to look back and see God's hand in preparing you for this role, even when you may not have recognized it at the time. So, what are some positive things? Once again, I know it's very early in the year still, but what are some positive things that you've already seen come from the House system?

Christine:

A blessing of it is that it promotes a bottom-up sort of community where the students have a voice in the school, they can be heard. And that's something that I really love about the House system, just the way that it's set up. I think it's also a blessing seeing more students getting leadership opportunities and being able to be involved in the school. And also, like Jonathan was saying, the idea of vertical integration, not making grades a thing that hinders us from connecting with one another.

Jo Wilbur:

Right, right. Jonathan?

Jonathan:

As a boy, I think one of the greatest things is the competition. But at the end of the day, you all are just friends, so it's friendly and it's fun, just like a different kind of bonding that you wouldn't normally get without a house system.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, well, I will say, just as a staff member, being here at the school in the first few weeks, I have been amazed by just the energy and the camaraderie and the team spirit that I'm seeing because of the house system and the competitions that we've had and the House Day that we had. There's just a lot of fun, to be honest. That's like the biggest thing that I see is students are having so much fun and which in my book is a really good thing. How have you received support from administration in this new role?

Christine:

If I could take an anecdotal sense into it, Ms. J gave me the nicest encouragement letter just at the start, and she's department chair of the English Department here at Trinity, um so it's always a blessing when you have a leader, like empowering another leader and just encouraging them. And I think just receiving that letter has been a great blessing for me. I do admit it's a guilty pleasure of mine that I like to sit on Mrs. Byre’s office couch a little bit too much.

Jo Wilbur:

You know, I keep hearing about this couch Mrs. Byre has. I’m waiting for my invitation.

Christine:

Oh, yeah. See, I don't even wait for an invitation. I just like barge in, I’m just like “Hi Mrs. Byre, I’m going to start talking to you now.”

Um, I've been having many encouraging conversations with her. She's a huge mentor in my life, so yeah, things like that. And also, the students here, I think something that was such a blessing and I'm sure Jonathan's experienced this too is just having student leaders or other students like thank you or even just say hi to you and engage with you. And I think that humbles me a lot because there's a difference between being called Head Girl and being someone that people can look up to. And I want to be someone that people can look up to no matter what title that we have. So, I think that was a blessing, just small interactions like that.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, absolutely. And Jonathan, I do want to ask you the same question, but before I do, Christine, can you tell us anything that was in the letter from Miss J like, is there anything specifically that she advised you or encouraged you with?

Christine:

I remember she mentioned I think it was Proverbs 3:5-6, trusting in the Lord and leaning not on your own understanding. And something that was so encouraging was that I felt like she saw me. She saw both the blessing it is to be a leader and also the pressure and difficulties that come with it. But yeah, Miss J’s a queen. She’s an angel.

Jo Wilbur:

She’s amazing, isn't she? She really is an angel. All right, so Jonathan, how do you feel like you have felt that support from faculty and staff.

Jonathan:

With a lot of the male teachers that I've become really close with, whenever I walk into Trinity, it's early in the morning, I forgot to tuck my shirt before I left the house, I’ll walk into one of their classrooms and and we'll talk and chat. And then at the end of it they'll be like, “hey, just so you know, you got to tuck in your shirt real quick.” I'll be like, “Oh, my goodness, thank you so much. I completely forgot.” And that's all it's, it's really nice to have that kind of support behind me as well.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, a little bit of accountability there too, right? Which is definitely part of leadership, is, hey, you're Head Boy now, got to make sure that shirt’s tucked in! Totally. That is a big part of it.

What makes a student leader? Or to rephrase it, what is maybe the number one or top three qualities of what it means to be a good leader?

Christine:

A big quality for me that I would like to display in my leadership is empathy. I think being able to listen to other students, I think, well, empathy includes a lot of things, right? Empathy includes listening to other students which involves making time to talk with other students, connect with them on a deeper level and really see what they're passionate about, how they're uniquely formed and made by God, and celebrating that and wanting to support that. So I would say empathy is my big thing of what makes a student leader.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, and I love that you mention, you know, seeing who they are as being made in the image of God, seeing them through God's eyes. I've learned in my life that sometimes, especially when you're dealing with people who are different from you or who are even difficult, it really helps to look at them from not my broken perspective as another human being, but alright, this is a child of God, this is somebody made in God's image. And it really does help you to empathize with them. It's incredible that impact that that has. So I love that you added that.

Christine:

I totally agree. Yeah, I feel like leaders, there's always the big things like organizational skills, being able to keep track of the big picture, being able to communicate with others, but also the reason why we are leaders is because we love our community and we want to serve them, So I think it's important in the midst of keeping track of all the plans and everything to keep that core love in mind.

Jonathan:

Yes, I've actually been thinking about this a bit, and I think there is a distinction between a student leader and a regular leader, right? It's kind of I would look at it as similar to a student athlete, if you're a student leader, you have to balance both school and leading, right? So you can't just be okay at school and a good leader. You have to be on top of school so that you can be a good leader.

Then it goes down to what makes a good leader. And I would first of all, agree with Christine that empathy is a big key in that because you have to be caring, you have to listen, you have to be respectful, you have to be responsible, for sure. You have to be able to to delegate what you need to delegate. You don't need to have a hand in every single thing that goes on. You need to understand when, yeah when you don't have to do something or when it would actually be a hindrance to you and others if you helped, because you wouldn't necessarily be helping. One of the bigger things, too, is being able to understand that it's not about you while you're there, you have to have that humility, because it is so easy to go into this being like, “I'm Head Boy, I'm Head Girl! Wow, this is great. This is such an opportunity. It's two out of like 750 students.”

Jo Wilbur:

The power.

Jonathan:

Yeah, the power. It goes straight to your head. But you can't let that happen, right? You got to look at it from the big picture where God has put me into this position and I'm going to use this position to glorify God.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, well, I think what you're saying, Jonathan, is so insightful because I think so many people, when they get into a leadership role, they see all the responsibilities and all the power that comes with that. And that power is not necessarily a bad thing because you can use it for good, but then it's all on them to do all these things. And really what you're saying, what I'm hearing is, you know, really being a good leader is about empowering others to be their best, to do their best, to serve in new ways, to get involved in new ways. From a Christian perspective, what does it mean to lead well and use your influence for good?

Jonathan:

Your goal as a Christian is to further the kingdom, right? And the Bible talks about how different Christians are granted different gifts, you know, whether it be teaching and missionary work, and then one of the other ones is leading. And I feel like this is where the idea of leadership and being a Christian just connect and blend, right? It's not where you're necessarily pastoring people, right? Because that's not your goal as a, as at least our goal as a Christian leader. It's more like we are here to make sure that things can run smoothly, that things are done well, and that they're done for the glory of God.

Jo Wilbur:

And doing things well is part of doing things for the glory of God, right? We always say here at Trinity, we're pursuing excellence for mind and heart. You know, I hope people don't forget that part. We really pursue excellence in everything we do.

Jonathan:

Yeah, I've, I've heard it said that, you know, if, if Disney could pursue excellence for a mouse, you know, Mickey Mouse, then we can pursue excellence for God in what we do, right?

Jo Wilbur:

Yes, I haven't heard that. I love that! It puts things into perspective a little bit. That's very true. Christine?

Christine:

Yes, I totally echo what Jonathan said. I think that's such a wise answer. If I could add on, I think Christ also calls us to be servant leaders. Being called a head sometimes makes you think you're leading from the top, and in actuality, Christ is at the head. And Christ, even though he is King of King and Lord of Lords, he washes the feet of his disciples. And I think that's something so powerful and also so humbling that that we are called first and foremost to to serve others instead of leading from the front. Also, about leading well is that we're not only leading here physically, but we're also leading spiritually. So leading here at Trinity has definitely humbled me in the sense that I know I really need to rely on God, like I'm being called out to oceans that I can't swim in on my own, to waters I can't walk in on my own, just relying on God in all things. And if I could add one more thing, leaders do have influence, and in a sense everyone is a leader because everyone has influence. That really calls to perspective for me, like I think it's Micah 6:8, like doing justice and loving mercy, honoring the Lord, knowing that our actions have consequences. Our actions touch the lives of other people and those around us, even people that we might not know, like something that we do, someone could see. And I think that's also it’s a humbling sort of responsibility that we have to act as image bearers of Christ.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, it is. Absolutely. Can you tell me a little bit more what does that specifically look like in your day to day to be you know, what does that sort of spiritual side of things other than just doing a good job at what you're doing, if that makes sense?

Christine:

Yeah, the first thing that comes to mind for me is prayer. Before all our student leadership meetings, we try to pray, before meetings with houses, we try to pray. And I think just praying over God's sovereign hand over everything. I’m praying a lot more since I’ve become Head Girl at Trinity. Like I’ve been praying, but I’ve been praying a lot more.

Jo Wilbur:

That's awesome.

Christine:

Just yeah, that's also a blessing, but just a random points in the day I'll be thinking about “oh, someone told me that they have, they’re taking the ACT over the weekend. um Lord, I hope that they do well.” Or someone told me that they have um they have a meet today. um “Lord, I pray for that as well.” Yeah, just, just those little things when the spirit when the spirit brings things into your mind and up, up to the forefront. Just a reminder to follow God's direction.

Jo Wilbur:

Right, yeah absolutely. And Jonathan, I don’t know if you had anything to add to that as well? The spiritual side?

Jonathan:

Uh, Christine said a lot and I think all of it is really good, um

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, yeah. What she said.

Jonathan:

Yeah, what she said. Ditto. Yeah, I mean, called as a spiritual leader, you've got a lot more people looking at what you're doing. So there is that weight and responsibility in the actions you take. So I think one of the most important things is to remember that you're not here for yourself, right? You’re here for God. And it is through God that you will, that you do everything you do.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah.

Jonathan:

Just coming with that mindset, I think it's helpful.

Jo Wilbur:

Right, leading by example. Absolutely. That's huge. That speaks more than our words do is our actions. People are always watching and especially when you're Head Boy and Head Girl. Absolutely.

Christine:

And if I could ask something really quickly, I totally agree with Jonathan, and I think when we lead by example, when we put others before ourselves, that inspires others to do the same. I've received so much support from my friends and new people here at Trinity, and I think that's because, you know, community is something synergistic, right? It's not just us giving all of ourselves for other people, it's also other people doing the same for us.

Jo Wilbur:

Absolutely. So what are some challenges that come with being in a leadership position, both maybe in general, but also in your roles as Head Boy and Head Girl that maybe you've had to face already in these first few weeks.

Jonathan:

The biggest one is definitely getting organization down. I'm a bit of a scatterbrain person.

Jo Wilbur:

Me too.

Jonathan:
Yeah, like, I know where things are. I just, they're not looking organized, but I know where they are, and that's what matters. So definitely figuring out like, hey, I know actually, I've got to plan out what I'm going to do this day because it has to get done, rather then I will do it eventually, right? Because that's you can't really come to that mindset with this kind of thing.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah. You have to be very disciplined.

Jonathan:

Yes, very disciplined.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, absolutely. Christine, a challenge?

Christine:

You know, the thing I love about serving with Jonathan is I feel like we match and complement each other so much. I am an overthinker. I have planners, it needs to be in place. I write things down before I go in to do things. I know that being in this role means that people rely on me to support them, and that just provides an added responsibility to make sure that I am continuing to encourage and support other people.

Jo Wilbur:

I would love to know who you look up to for inspiration as a leader because I think you are that person for so many people here at the school. But who is it for you that really maybe mentors you or who is a good example for you as you strive to be a leader as well?

Christine:

There are so many people, I can't even list. I would say the first person I look up to is my mom.

Jo Wilbur:

You have a really cool mom. I really like her a lot.

Christine:

Thank you. I also agree, I think I have a really cool mom. I'm very blessed to have her. Yeah, she she leads a local chapter of a Bible study and I just see her hand to hand and heart to heart leadership, the ways that she draws the best out of people and the ways that she supports people without even being prompted. Like, I will walk into the kitchen, I'll be like, “Oh, Mom, what are you making?” She’ll say, “Oh, I’m making this soup because a lady of mine didn't come to our Bible study last week because she said she was sick. I'm just going to drop it off for her really quickly, I’ll be right back.” I'm like, “wow!” So I look up to my mom. Here at Trinity, I look up to so many people, like I can't even list all the names. I'm so grateful. And I also look up to Jonathan a lot. You know, another blessing is that Jonathan and I have been friends since fourth grade. So, I mean we're co-leading, but we're not co-leading from square one. We're co-leading from being friends first and foremost. So he's certainly been a rock in my life and I'm very grateful for him.

Jo Wilbur:

Aww, I'm going to tear up. That's so sweet. All right Jonathan, how about for you, leaders that you look up to and admire?

Jonathan:

Um, so obviously, my parents, I think that goes without saying, is that everything they've done for me is quite a testament to to everything. And I feel like it changes for me just about every year who I, who I look up to and admire. One of the ones that I definitely do is, Mr. Park. He was here last year. I just like I got close to him during our AP Comp Sci class. He's in the field that I want to pursue, too. He's genuinely kind, a good leader, very responsible. A man that I can see myself wanting to be.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah.

Jonathan:

Definitely that.

Jo Wilbur:

Excellent, awesome examples. Um, how do you continue to grow and develop as a leader?

They're fighting over who's going to go first.

Christine:

I think for me, it's finding that one extra person to serve. Always being open to find another opportunity to serve the community and not hindering yourself from the things that God has called you to do. And even if we don't know what that might be, day to day, just saying every day that “Lord the day is yours. I'm going to follow your plans.”

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah. What are some of those things you think that like hinder, like you mentioned, these sort of reigning yourself in or putting hindrances, like what would be an example of that?

Christine:

Oh goodness. I think practically, just schedule.

Jo Wilbur:

Okay.

Christine:

I think that's always a practical thing, like finding a balance, like Jonathan was saying, like student leader means you're balancing being a student and being a leader. And I think another thing is just, in an effort to feel control, sometimes I feel like these are things I'm going to have domain over today and the things I'm going to do today. And I just don't have space in my life for anything else. As I've been growing over the years, instead of that, it's realizing that God is in control of this day and I'm doing my best to not only advance his kingdom, but to seek his kingdom first.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, remembering who's really in control. The pastor just talked about that in church on Sunday. So funny when God does that. I think he trying to tell me something, but that's a good word. Jonathan, how about you?

Jonathan:

So for me, I like, I think the best way to answer this is how I like look at things and I like to look at things that everything could be done or everything can get done. I may not know the answer to it, I may not be able to do it right now. But there are possibly people that do know the answer. There's definitely time that I can pour into figuring out an answer, and there's definitely, um you know, friends that I can take and ask like to help me with it. Like when it comes to getting something done for leadership, I may not have the solution, but you can ask friends that have an idea. And what if one of those, those ideas are a great idea and ends up being the idea.

Jo Wilbur:

Right.

Jonathan:

So just remembering that you don't have to have all the answers, but if you really pour in the time, if you really have the right people around you and if you really invest your, yourself into figuring it out, I feel like you can figure out an answer.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, everything’s figureoutable which I really like, just having that open mindset, that idea that yeah, I might not have the answer right now, but that doesn't mean I'll never get an answer. That does mean I'll never get there. And really, I think what you both described in your answers just now really comes down to having a growth mindset. So really what I'm getting is the key to growth is having the right mindset, knowing that you can grow, knowing that you can find the answers, that you can delegate to other people if you can't get everything done. To me, that's what having a growth mindset is all about. What advice would you give to your peers or even younger students who are looking for leadership opportunities or who are wanting to become more leaders themselves?

Jonathan:

Like one big thing is understanding that you will never know everything. You can never know enough. I think just looking at things where, sure, you might know a lot about a subject, but you don't know everything about it, right? You can always learn. You can always grow. That's just such a great way to go about it cause if you get into this leadership role and you're like, “Great, I worked hard for this. I did everything I had to do. I am now at the peak.” Then you're limiting yourself to everything that's beyond what you have already achieved. And it's so important just to remember that you don't have to know everything. Assuming that you don't know everything is a good place to start.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, I love that. It goes right hand-in-hand with what you said earlier about having some humility, right? Leadership is about being humble enough to know that, hey, I don't know everything. And once you get to that place where you think you know everything, that's when you really don't know. You maybe don't know what you're doing because that's a bad place to be. I love that, Christine?

Christine:

Yes, I totally echo and I agree with Jonathan. Advice I would give is to number one, pray, lean, lean on God, rely on God. We are leaders in our community in our own unique ways, so praying over that, that God has equipped us with that. And growing your relationship with God, I think there’s particularly the Christians Studies teachers at our school, who are just amazing, have been reminding us that as you grow closer to God, you grow closer to each other. It's like we're like the bottom two vertices of a triangle and God's the top vertex. So yes, definitely prayer, also to engage. We're all part of one body of Christ we all matter in our community, in this culture, um we all have a responsibility, so I would also say to engage and and finally to serve. Yeah, I think, I think service is contagious, right? And not in like a bad way, but it inspires other people to do the same. And I think you see that both with servant leadership in a Christian context and even in a secular context, the idea of paying it forward, like our hearts are aligned towards God because of God's common grace so I think service can really inspire us to continue looking towards Christ.

Jo Wilbur:

Right. Well, before I let you go, I want to hear from each of you what you plan on doing next year, what your plans are. You're not going to be here much longer.

Jonathan:

So, first of all, I want to get into college.

Jo Wilbur:

That’s step number one.

Jonathan:

Yeah, step number one, once I get into college, I want to get plugged into a church, some kind of youth group. If I get into Tech, which is my dream school, I'd love to get into Tech for engineering, then I’d, I'd love to get plugged in to Cru that they have there. My sister's at Tech, her boyfriend's at Tech and I've just heard so many good things about the Cru program there. And I also know the church she goes to. I've been there a couple of times. It's great, so start there, but just stay strong in the faith because I feel like in college it can be really difficult to keep that up.

Jo Wilbur:

Absolutely. And I would say the first thing you said, get plugged into a church. That's like I wish I had been more vigilant about doing that when I was in school, and I think it can make a huge difference. Christine, what are your plans?

Christine:

My plan is also to get into a college.

Jo Wilbur:
I’m sure you’ll, you know, get into one.

Christine:

Yeah, we're hoping. Um Yeah, get into college just to see where the Lord takes me. At college, I'm I'm a social entrepreneur, I'm very interested in creating innovation that serves communities. That's particularly where I'm passionate about. I believe that change is not just something that happens to us, it's something that we can create and form and shape together. So that's something I'm interested in doing in college as well. I'm not quite sure where formally or informally, but I'm just entering college very open. Like Jonathan said, finding a church, a strong Christian community, wherever, wherever college I go to. And I think also resting, I've decided to put 100% of my energy into making senior year count both for myself and also as a leader. Yeah, I'd like to take a break over the summer and then come back in for college.

Jo Wilbur:

Well, you know, you both mentioned wanting to get plugged into a church and into a Christian community. And you both have also mentioned being spiritual leaders, in a sense, for your peers. I wonder what is the importance of having spiritual leaders in your life, having Christian leaders both in, you know, pursuing a church, a church family and just having people to look up to in your life. Why is that so important?

Jonathan:

That's actually really funny that you’re asking that because Mr. Hayes just went over a similar question with us in weight training, funny enough. And what he said is that it's so important to have someone that you look up to in your life. You can't just, you know, say, “oh, I'm going to do this, or, oh, I can't do this.” It's important to have someone that you look up to saying, “I can't wait till I can get to that level, or I wish I could be like that,” because it puts yourself in a humble position where you're like, “I'm not there yet. I'm not at that level right now.” So I think the same similar thing can be applied to the Christian faith, right? To people that have studied the scriptures far longer than anything that Christine or I or a majority of Christians have. Looking up to them, being cognizant of the knowledge that they have. And again, like I said before, wisdom is something that you pursue like knowledge, right? It's not something that you attain. So, getting on that road of knowing that I'm not there yet. And that I can still grow. It’s so important to have a Christian leader in your life that you can look up to. To help you on that.

Jo Wilbur:

Well, what you're saying, it reminds me of what Paul says, right? Emulate me is I emulate Christ. If he's really showing us what it means to be a Christian leader is, hey, you're emulating me, but only because I'm doing my best to emulate Christ. The same kind of thing, looking up to people who are emulating Christ and trying to emulate that yourself. Christine, what about you? Why do you think it's so important to have Christian leaders in your life?

Christine:

Yes, it's also funny that you mention it. Mr. Van Raaphorst was mentioning this in our psychology class, how humans are meant, we are formed by God to be relational people and us having a synergistic relationship with one another is such a core part of who we are, it's something that we should not deprive ourselves of. I think the importance of Christian leadership in general, whether you're a formal leader or you're an informal leader, is that Christians have a have such a radical hope for this world, such a such a different purpose that we bring to the world, that that can surprise the world, this idea that we have a purpose here, we are being part of a larger plan in this world. I think that's something that someone who doesn't believe in Christ might not might not see. They might be surprised by and I think having such a strong faith in that purpose, which is versioned and developed by our relationships with others encouraging us to pursue Christ can really inspire other people, even if they're not Christians to do, to do the same, to feel that sort of hope, that hope that overflows in you, that makes you want to be kind to others and makes you want to do good in the world to pursue justice, to love mercy, because we are so filled with hope from God.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, I love that you said that, you used the phrase “we have a radical hope.” I don't know why, when you said that it really struck a chord with me. I got goosebumps. But I am going to take that with me. I'm going to keep that phrase in my back pocket. I love that. Well, you know, as we talk about Christian leadership, I think a lot of us are in a position where maybe we have a pastor that we look up to or even our parents. But what do you think is the importance or is there a special importance of having peers that you can look up to who are similar in age who are Christian leaders?

Christine:

Yes, I definitely think there is such a strong importance in having Christian peers and us influencing each other. The scripture says that iron sharpens iron. So we are called to keep each other accountable, to encourage each other into faith, to grow in the faith. And I think especially going from Trinity, where being a Christian is the majority to going out into the world either through college or like straight into the world where being a Christian is the minority. I think it's important to have other Christian peers to remind you that Christianity is not something to be ashamed of and something to be proud of. Saying, I choose not to do this action because Christ calls me not to is is a statement of your own faith and your own beliefs. It's something that's such a core part of who we are as a Christian. It's it's like the same thing as saying, like, I need to rest today. Like the like the Bible says, we need to read the Scriptures and connect with God every single day because it's like spiritual food, like it's as simple as saying, I need to eat right now. And I think recognizing that as something to be proud of instead of something to sort of only bring out if it seems relevant or if it only only mention that I'm a Christian if it seems like cool or something.

Jo Wilbur:

Right, in the right crowd.

Christine:

Exactly. Right, right. I think that's such a challenge. But yeah, I think that's why it's so important to know that there are you have Christian peers around you who can build you up and support you.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, it's almost like if I were to make an analogy, what you're describing, it's almost like, okay, you can have an amazing coach, but if it's only you on the team, you're never going to win the game. You need teammates. You need teammates who are striving for the same end goal, and then you get there together.

Christine:

And I think Paul says that, too, like you run the race, all of us are running that race. And I'm sure Jonathan, who's part of cross country, who's the captain, I'm sure he knows like when you run and you see other people run, it encourages you to run the race, um to finish a job well.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, as you prepare to, you know, this is your senior year, as you prepare to leave and just continuing this year, even in leadership, is there a verse that you are particularly drawn to for encouragement?

Jonathan:

For me, it's definitely Joshua 1:9 when David's commanding Joshua, you know, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for I am with you, right? That's that's the important part. God doesn't just say, “don't be afraid. You got it. Come on, stop. Stop complaining. What are you doing?” He's like, “you don't need you don't have a reason to be afraid, because I am with you.” And that's just such a powerful thing that I um, I like to remember every now and again.

Jo Wilbur:

Yeah, that's really powerful.

Christine:

That is very powerful, I agree.

Jo Wilbur:

Christine, did you have one?

Christine:

For me I think Colossians 3:23 has been in the forefront. The Lord brings different verses into your heart as you, as you face different things in the world. But I think overall at such a pivotal point where there is so much that we could do with our lives our senior year, Colossians 3:23, just remembering to do all your work for the Lord and do it heartily for the Lord has been at the forefront of my mind. The Lord has brought that up to me.

Jo Wilbur:

Mm. Well, very encouraging. Thank you for sharing those. I know those will probably encourage listeners who need to hear those specific verses. So how exciting is that? Thank you both for joining us today. We so appreciate your time. We know you're so busy, so thank you so much for being here.

Jonathan:

Of course. Thank you so much for having us. It's been a pleasure.

Christine:

Yes, thank you for having us.

Jo Wilbur:

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Mind and Heart, a podcast by Trinity Christian School. If you enjoyed this conversation, leave us a five star review and share this episode with a friend. It helps us so much. For more information, visit us at tcsfairfax.org.

 

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