Now that we are past the November 1st ED (Early Decision) and EA (Early Action) deadlines, I have time to write a new post! This is an original post from a presentation I gave to my 11th grade students a few weeks ago for the first time in my 19 year career. I feel like I am stepping out on a limb but I am passionate about working alongside this generation helping them understand what will be expected of them not only when they apply to college but also while they are in college and beyond.
I have read a number of books in the last couple years about this current generation, Gen Z (also called iGen). You can view these books in the slide presentation. Since I work day in and day out with students in this generation, I have seen how they respond in certain situations, how they interact, how/if they get involved, how stressed they are and how they are always in front of a screen. After you view the presentation, I speak to each point below on the slide that says “What Do Colleges Look For In An Applicant- The X Factors”
Below are the factors that I think are most important for current high school students (doesn’t hurt to work on them earlier if you can) to understand and improve in before they graduate from high school. If they do, they’re grades will naturally improve, they will have joy in the work they do and improve in their compassion and concern for others. Let me also say that even as adults we need to keep working on these things. Additionally, as believers in Jesus Christ, we should be always working on some of these things as well to bring glory to Him.
Communication Skills- Eye contact, good posture, listening before speaking, saying something clearly and loud enough are all important. Because today’s teens are primarily communicating on their devices today, they don’t get enough practice to improve these skills. Putting them in positions to do the things below will naturally help them improve their communication skills. One skill that today’s teens don’t do enough of, that I have seen a decline in over the years, is asking good questions. Whether they are afraid of what people will think of them or they don’t want to come across that they don’t know something, the practice of asking good questions is so important as they take more rigorous classes and apply to college in the near future.
Ability to Interact With Others Face to Face- This just doesn’t happen enough today because of technology, and COVID-19 hasn’t helped. I think today’s teens actually like to interact face-to-face but they need to do it more at times they are not in their comfort zone because this helps them solve conflict face-to-face and interact with people that are not like them, which they will need to do in the future. It’s always been said that teens would not say some of the things they text someone or comment on social media, if they had to say it to their face. The more they can do this, the better they are prepared for today’s workforce in general.
Networking- This is not something that starts happening after you graduate from college and look for a job. This should happen when a teen is in high school. If they attend presentations, get jobs, volunteer and serve, they are networking with adults that can provide them with future opportunities or these adults can recommend them to others that they know. The earlier a teen establishes a great reputation with adults because they are trustworthy and work hard, they are developing a network that allows them to have future opportunities.
Driving- From what I’ve read and I agree, that this is an important step in a teens life that provides responsibility and develops maturity. Also, if they are not driving as early as possible, they are hindering their opportunities to do the next three things on this list.
Community Service/Serving Those Less Fortunate- First and foremost, this is a responsibility we have as believers in Jesus Christ. Second, the more teens do this the more it will help them grow in communication skills and interacting face to face with individuals. Lastly, the more students do this, it gets them out of their “bubble” or comfort zone and helps them develop compassion and empathy for others that is so crucial for them to have in the future.
Work (Having a job outside the home)- Having a teen work outside the home where they are earning money is very important to their future emotional, mental and physical well being. For them to understand how to be a steward of their finances, having to pay for certain things they weren’t before, working with others that are different than them, serving customers in some capacity and having to complete tasks that they may not be excited about but need to do well, are all amazing growth opportunities that will allow them to mature quicker.
Depending Less on Parents- Sorry parents, but one important aspect to your teen’s growth is for them do be more independent in their decision making, communicating with adults themselves and contributing financially to things that they are responsible for. If you as a parent keep doing the above things for them, this will have consequences later in life for them when they have to do these things whether they want to or not. The earlier they can do these things, in my experience, it will increase their communication skills, have them work through adversity, teach them proper stewardship and allow them to own their decisions which is very important for them to experience before they apply to college.
Growing in (Leadership) Responsibility- I put “Leadership” in parenthesis because not every teen will have natural leadership ability, but every teen should continue to take on additional responsibility, challenging themselves and getting outside their comfort zone more and more as they get older. For teens that have natural leadership ability, they need to put themselves in more situations where they can foster this leadership ability. Everyone will need to lead in some capacity in the future. This can be done at school but definitely outside of school. This also doesn’t mean that they need to be President of something. This could mean being the captain on a sports team, having a leadership role in an extracurricular activity they participate in, leading in some capacity at their church or taking on more responsibility at their job outside of school.
Taking Risks- When students think about taking risks, they think of what they see on TV, putting yourself in situations in which your health is at risk. This is not what I am referring to. Taking a risk in a more general sense is doing something in which you don’t know what the outcome will be. You can prepare and do everything possible to do well at something but ultimately, the result is unknown because of a few reasons. First, it may depend on how others around you also performed. Second, the people determining the outcome want something specific and you don’t fit what they want. Finally, it could be that you created or built something and you just need to see what went wrong and how to fix it to get it right. Teens today do more to avoid risky situations than face them head on. If they did experience more of these situations, they’re growth would be tremendous.
Failing, Learning and Improving (Don’t Play it Safe)- Today’s Gen X (or iGen) teens are the most safe generation. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it also slows their maturation process. One telling stat from the book iGen by Jean Twenge is that 18 year olds today are at a same maturity level than 15 year olds were 10-15 years ago. I think a big reason this is the case is because of today’s teens are not doing a number of the things above. Today’s “world” is 20 times safer today than it was 10-15 years ago. You would think that would be the other way around from all we hear in the news but it’s because we hear everything coming across the news and on social media so quickly after something happens, that we think it’s less safe today. I’m a parent as well and I want to make sure my children are protected. It takes more effort for me to let them go without supervision sometimes, but that is what I have to do.
