Jay Neuharth works with Nav20s in the Chicago area helping young adults make the transition to a life thatās quite different from what theyāve known before. Many of the individuals with whom he works come from a collegiate lifestyle.
āThe college experience,ā says Jay, āis unique. Itās a world where everything revolves around the student. Campuses do a lot to make the college experience easy for students. Itās a controlled environment. But that changes when students leave the campus.ā
One individual with whom Jay works described the situation this way: āWhen you step off the campus, youāre nobody!ā He wasnāt being maudlin. He was simply describing how things change when students move from an environment where everything revolves around them, to a situation in which they have to take all of the initiative.
āWhen young people leave the campus,ā explains Jay, āthere is often a loss of identity. And theyāre often lonely. Itās up to them to find a job, to take care of all their needs, to find community. And itās up to them to decide if they are going to invest their lives in the lives of others.ā
What does that look like for this current generation of young adults coming out of collegeāor even those who have chosen not to attend college? How does one reach this new generation?
āThis group tends to move around a lot,ā says Jay. āItās not automatic that theyāll find the job theyāre looking for right away. They may have to move to find the job they want.ā But this is also a generation thatās very comfortable with technology. āIndividuals in this age group are quite comfortable discipling and being discipledāeven in another stateāvia Skype, social media, and texting,ā Jay adds.
But Jay cautions that itās a mistake to assume this ease of using technology means that digital relationships are all thatās important to people in their 20s. āThese young adults still long for personal, face-to-face relationships,ā he says. āAnd they are quite open to cross-generational mentoring from older believers.ā
That mentoringāpassing on knowledge, truth, character, and skills to the next generationāis something thatās emphasized in the 20s internship program. āWe mentor young adults who come to us for discipleship training,ā explains Jay, ābut we also make sure that they are discipling someone elseāpersonally passing on the things that theyāre learning. Itās built into the program.ā
Two years ago Jay directed a seminar for college seniors, designed to help them make the transition from college life to life in the working world. Matt, an intern who came to Chicago from the University of Illinois assisted him. āThis year,ā says Jay, āMatt directed the seminar and I assisted him!ā
Itās just one step in how someone stepping off campus as a ānobodyā learns to be somebody who is able to pass on truth, wisdom, and skills to the next generation.
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