Relevant Student Ministries by Carina

Relevant Student Ministries by Carina - May 2018 Scholarship Essay

Let’s face it. Growing up is hard, and it is even more challenging when you do not know where to look for guidance. When I first started attending my church’s youth group at the beginning of high school, I was honestly terrified. It was a building filled with dozens of kids my age that I had never seen before. However, after a few months of getting the vibe of the group, I grew a liking for the setting. The number of people became less daunting, the games and activities were exciting and, most importantly, my small group leaders were always there to talk me through the rough situations high school threw my way. That’s when it hit me: I wanted to be a leader too. Now, here I am, running a small group for the sixth-grade girls alongside my awesome co-leader, Lori. Every week, about 40 leaders of all ages gather together at Relevant Student Ministries to bring guidance, support, and most importantly, a godly influence to the students that walk in the door.
With Lori by my side, educating me in the fields I have yet to trek down, I am humbled. There have been countless times when I have been reminded to step outside of my own thoughts and really engage with the teens. Lori has guided me in the route of building an open, trustworthy relationship with the girls. She’s reminded me time and time again to encourage the shy ones to engage and speak out, to bring the ones feeling low out of their valleys and keep up the contact with them almost every day.
It’s a humbling experience to see how these girls look up to me each week. I’m not all-knowing, and I’m certainly nowhere near perfect. However, the mere fact that these young girls strive to be more like me, drives me to set the example of what a strong Christian woman looks like. If I can help guide them in their choices, and help talk them through their struggles now, while the girls are still pre-teens, then I am certain that their lives will follow a happier, godlier path than they would have otherwise. Knowing that what I do and say can change their day, and, in the long run, quite possibly their lives, brings me more satisfaction than I can even begin to fathom.
The experience doesn’t stop there. With the unbelievably amazing support of the leadership team, I have quickly been guided from being a wallflower to being a bright, semi-outgoing leader that guides the small group girls to fun, hope, and, most importantly, a strong relationship with Christ. Only being seven months in and already having over 100 volunteer hours, I have learned how to put the students first, with the encouragement of the other leaders, and, in turn, matured tremendously.
There’s something about being a leader that really made me grow up, in a similar way, I’m sure, to being a parent. When I step into the doors of RSM, I am no longer the comforted, the child, the dependent. Instead, I am the exact opposite: the comforter, the independent. I am the one that picks up her shoe and kills the spider, the one that steps out and asks the question when nobody else has the confidence to. Spending over two hours each week at youth group, as well as messaging the girls throughout the week, has helped me learn how to support the girls in similar ways that my own leaders helped support me.