University Overwhelm

In this episode Alexa and Scott talk about the thriving element Social Connectedness, what it is and how you can cultivate it.

In this episode, Scott and Alexa dive into barriers to thriving and how to thrive while juggling responsibilities.

In today's episode we dive into what is Thrive Coaching and why you might need it more than you think.

Scott and Alexa welcome you back to the University Overwhelm Podcast!

What kinds of activities help deepen spiritual formation in a college student? Does involvement in a local church actually help students to grow their relationship with God? What impact does a deep relationship with God and Christian community have on a college student's life? Austin Smith, Dr. Perry Glanzer, and Dr. Ted Cockle all work for Baylor University, and were all involved in a longitudinal cohort analysis of college students in their first and senior years. Scott and Sophia interview these 3 gentlemen to discuss their findings and answers to the questions above! As referenced in the episode: Here is a link to the residential chaplain article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15363759.2023.2219069?casa_token=-BMaAy6pdy4AAAAA:aYPuyiyEHIGl1KvtJ7dSgvJaOk-Htq4-2hI0LQJ9axaYPuWkCAdlT2y3_d9IJ31AdOYHiS6Xhl2qpnA

Scott and Sophia spent a year diving in to the topic of Building Healthy Community. They share their takeaways and what conversations they've had with parents and students thanks to this podcast. Give this episode a listen to hear a bird's eye view of how this season of the podcast was and then go back and listen to the whole thing!

A tough part of building healthy community, is navigating when a friendship needs to end and how to end it.Scott and Sophia talk through the ins and outs of determining an end to a relationship. This is not something to take lightly, and you'll hear that in the hesitation they take to definitively determine what constitutes a needed "break".Give this episode a listen if you struggle to know when things need to end, or if you'd like some guidance in how to go about it in a God-honoring way!

Often times, when talking about building healthy community, we can look around and "judge" those around us. They're not healthy, they lack integrity, they don't show up for us in ways we'd like, etc.But when it comes to building healthy community, we need to start with looking at ourselves and checking to see if our character is solid. Do we have integrity? Are we striving to do the right thing, even when no one is watching? Are we honest and open? Being a healthy community member is vital when building healthy community around ourselves. If your character is questionable or is something you have put little to no time in, give this episode a listen. Scott and Sophia take a birds eye view all the way down to close up and personal at what it takes to build solid character, and why we, as Christians, ought to care about who we are and how we treat others.

Often times, when people are suffering, they tend to experience isolation. Those around them are uncomfortable with their hardship or feel unable to help in a meaningful way, and the person is pushed to the side and left to navigate things alone.Romans 12 is where Scott and Sophia start today's episode. It gives context to God's expectation for us Christians in how to handle grief and suffering in the lives of our friends.How does this apply to building healthy community? Give this episode a listen to find out!

Part of what is so hard in making friends and building healthy community, is we often struggle to know who we are. Not knowing where to place our identity can negatively impact the type of friend we are to others, as well as knowing what types of people we need in our lives to help us grow. This episode dives in to a biblical perspective on identity, and applies that to this season's theme of building healthy community!

In a day and age where "living your truth" and "who am I to judge?" are phrases used to dismiss the importance of holding one another accountable, Scott and Sophia spend time sharing why these mentalities are dangerous. As Christians, building healthy community cannot happen apart from honesty and accountability. What does it look like to hold people in your community accountable? How do you ask someone to help you with accountability? What types of things do we as Christians need to be honest about with one another?Why is it so hard to share the truth with those we love? Give this episode a listen for encouragement in this area, as well as answers to these questions!

"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens" - J.R.R. Tolkein On this week's episode, Scott and Sophia spend time discussing the concept of what it means to be a faithful and loyal friend. Loyalty and faithfulness tend to be used in contexts where hiding someone's secrets or shying away from honesty to our friends are what's expected. But what if those two traits are actually require us to bring to light what has been in darkness? Or to dive deep into the hard parts of life with someone, instead of running away for comforts' sake? Scott and Sophia also nerd out about Tolkein and The Lord of the Rings a few times, so give this episode a listen if you also enjoy Tolkein references!

This season, Scott and Sophia are talking about Building Healthy Community. And this week, they dive into the topic of forgiveness. What does forgiveness have to do with community? Well, when (not if) those in your community let you down.....how are you going to handle it? How would you like others to handle it when you let them down? Scott and Sophia dissect forgiveness and how to develop this vital skill for life and for building healthy community.

Doing an episode on boundaries in the middle of our season on Building Healthy Community may seem odd. However, boundaries are so important if you want your community to truly be "healthy"! Scott and Sophia dive into this topic and discuss how boundaries can be a solid tool for you to use in your journey of building healthy community. Give this episode a listen if you struggle with people crossing lines with you, not knowing where you stand with people, or even if you want to figure out how to better communicate your needs to those around you!

Making friends can be so tough. Where do you even start? Scott and Sophia take the time this episode to explain how to make friends. They give practical examples and tips/tricks. Give this episode a listen if you would like to grow in the skill of making friends!

Forgiveness is an underrated aspect of building healthy community. Scott and Sophia dive into this trait through the lens of community building and maintaining healthy friendships. Human beings will hurt us, let us down, and disappoint us. How can we handle those moments as Christians and as people that desire to extend what we would like to receive? Give this episode a listen if you struggle with growing close to others, letting go of hurts, or forgiveness in general.

Scott and Sophia spend this episode interviewing Liberty University's Dean of Students, Mark Hyde, and his wife, Kathy Hyde. Mark and Kathy have been married for 29 years and have experienced their fair share of hardships and hurdles. Mark and Kathy spent years being foster parents together, as well as adopting kids out of foster care. Mark got Covid in 2021 and was on the brink of death several times. To say they have experienced hardships and hurdles would be an understatement. One way they were able to stay steady and work through those times of struggle was having healthy community surround them and support them. Give this episode a listen to learn why building community NOW will come in handy for when life hits you LATER.

In this day and age, it is common to have friendships and communities that are exclusively online. Scott and Sophia ask the question: Can online friendships/communities be healthy? Are they authentic? Real life friendships are defined by Scott and Sophia as in person, face to face, relationships. The theme for Season 3 is Building Healthy Community. If you are finding that the majority of your friendships are online, give this episode a listen. Scott and Sophia do not tell listeners to abandon the online space, but instead offer up insights into how to view those online friendships and how to determine if they can truly be counted in your healthy community.

Building Healthy Community is the theme for Season 3! Scott and Sophia kick things off by defining friendship and talking about what THEY mean when they use that term. If you struggle with any of these things, you need to give this episode, and season, a listen: Making friends Keeping friends Being honest in friendships Stating your needs to your friends Going through hard times and needing support, but having none Not having a "place" here in college Knowing what God has to say about friendships

Scott and Sophia sit down to recap Season 2. They discuss themes they noted in each pastor interview episode, as well as individual nuggets that really resonated with each of them. If you've skipped around and listened to a few of the episodes, this will be a great listen to you to inspire listening to more episodes. If you've listened to all of the episodes, this will be a great listen for you as they'll likely mention some things you noticed as well! Scott and Sophia are both vulnerable in this episode about what God has specifically done in their lives through this season.