Five ways to be an influential SLT for freshman girls
Samantha Meyeres, Staff Writer
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” John C. Maxwell.
Maxwell is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and pastor. His primary focus is on leadership skills across different areas of life. Some of the leaders on North Greenville University’s campus are the SLTs.
SLT stands for Student Leadership Team and is a program of student leaders at North Greenville University. There are two positions within the SLT program: community leader and tech. The community leader is in charge of planning dorm events and maintaining relationships with the residents while the tech is over any technical issues like room checks, temperature problems, or other maintenance issues.
Sarah Dixon, junior interdisciplinary studies major, is the SLT community leader over the top floor of Emery, a freshman girls dormitory. Although this is her first year being an SLT, she said she has learned and grown through the experience. She shared how she has matured in her leadership skills as well as in her faith. She listed five distinct ways to be a positive influence as a freshmen girls SLT.
1. Go to the Lord first.
The first step to being an influential leader in any situation is to first surrender your goals, time and intentions to God’s will. It requires trust that He will provide strength to help, opportunities to minister and time to serve well.
“Just put Him first,” Dixon said. “I don’t think you could do that job well without loving the Lord and giving him the first fruits of it all.”
The practical application of this looks like praying daily that the Lord would work in the lives of your residents. It means thanking and praising Him first when you see positive outcomes.
Dixon said that whenever she is talking to a resident, she prioritizes asking follow-up questions or calling back to previous conversations. This is a way of showing intentionality and has helped her to form connections and friendships.
“The first two commandments are love the Lord and love your neighbor,” Dixon said.
She remembers these commandments and said she acknowledges that everything fruitful that comes out of her interactions is the work of God.
2. Pursue relationships with compassion.
The second thing to keep in mind is pursuing relationships with compassion.
College freshmen are stepping into a completely new season of life and approaching relationships at that stage of life looks different than it might for upperclassmen. Your residents will be more likely to come to you with questions and will not necessarily have defined friend groups.
The key to pursuing intentional relationships with your residents is to approach them as a friend, but also as someone who is there if they need a question answered or advice. You must have compassion for their situation and cultivate your response with love and respect.
Dixon said that one of the most challenging parts of being an SLT is being bold in taking the step to make those connections.
“I’m intimidated, honestly scared of them sometimes,” Dixon said, “so I go to the Lord first and just pray, ‘Lord, please just see my heart. Because, you know, I’m so human and I can’t do this perfectly.’”
Dixon shared how there was one resident that she was having trouble connecting with. The girl was not someone that she would have probably reached out to if it weren’t her resident. She prayed for the opportunity to talk to her, not thinking that there would really be one. However, when she came down to do her laundry, that resident was there as well and they were able to have a conversation.
This shows that part of being an SLT is stepping out where others may not. It is reaching with the gospel those who feel unreachable.
Dixon phrased it as “dying to myself and being bold, being willing to be bold around them.”
3. Allow yourself to be interruptible.
Dixon also stressed the importance of allowing interruptions and viewing that as an opportunity to connect with a resident rather than a nuisance.
Sacrificing an early night of extra rest for the chance to support a resident going through a rough time is an act of service that can be a way to show the love of Christ in the SLT role.
Especially when it comes to freshmen, who are new to the college experience, the extra intentionality of putting aside what you are doing and making space for them to be vulnerable shows a level of care that can be a positive influence.
Dixon shared how one night when she was trying to go to bed early in preparation for an 8 a.m. class the next day, a resident came into her room crying. Instead of trying to console her as quickly as possible, Dixon set aside her frantic, studying thoughts and devoted her night to intentionally caring for her resident.
“It was a bit hard to stay focused at first, and I was praying, like, ‘Lord please wake me up for my 8 a.m.,” Dixon said. “But sacrificing that sleep, or sacrificing what I was planning on doing so I could help them that way was a way to be centered on the Lord and love others how Jesus loved them.”
4. Exercise humility.
In any situation, but especially in a role of leadership, humility is key.
The acknowledgment that the goal of your work as an SLT is to glorify the Lord and see Him work in the lives of your residents is crucial to remember. You have to humble yourself and allow God to guide your words and actions.
This can come in the form of loving others that are different from you or hard to get along with. Dixon said that there were some of her residents that were being disrespectful towards her and others, and it was difficult to get through to them.
She said, “I just remembered that Jesus said even sinners love those who are easy to love or who are like them. So you have to allow the Lord to overtake those feelings and show compassion and love.”
Dixon noted that in attempting to devote herself humbly to ministering to her residents, the Lord opened her heart to care for each of them.
“It’s a desire,” she said. “I see how the Lord’s worked in my own life and I desire that for them.”
5. Bring them into life with you.
The final thing that Dixon emphasized is the simple act of inviting residents into life with you. Whether that is asking them to run to Walmart with you, sit and do homework or eat a meal, that simple step of intentionality shows care and a desire to know them.
Dixon said the most rewarding part of being an SLT and bringing the girls into life with her is hearing that something she said made an impact on a resident.
One time two girls, one of them her resident and one not, came up to her and were sharing how advice she gave changed their perspective and helped them. Dixon did not even remember saying the exact words, but said she was uplifted to know that what she said had landed on the right hearts.
She said when that happens, she knows it was the Lord’s words, not her own.
“I’ve learned that it’s about not just seeing them as my residents, but as my sisters in Christ, as my friends and as people that God loves,” Dixon said. “Just because they’re my residents, who’s to say I can’t be friends with them?”
