Welcome to OneLife Live!
Derek Melleby:
This is our first ever OneLife Live episode, and I’m excited for the lineup today and for what we’re going to talk about and be looking for future episodes with future guests, there’ll be coming at you here soon as we put together a schedule for our episodes, but I’m excited about what we’re going to talk about today. As you know, if you’ve been following OneLife or you know a little bit about OneLife, OneLife is a gap year program for students who want to experience genuine community, who desire to grow in their faith, who want to take nine months to travel and to learn in new ways.
And also OneLife students earn 30 credits for college. And so today it’s interesting, even though OneLife continues to grow, think about this. The first year of OneLife, we had 16 students at one location. This year, we are going to enter our eighth year. We are going to be at three different locations with nearly 100 students in our program.
The whys of OneLife, why we do this, the whats of OneLife, what students gain from being a part of the program and the hows of OneLife, how do we actually pull this thing off? And so I thought in our first episode of OneLife Live, we would have a conversation about that.
So today this episode is about what is OneLife and, and what are we up to? And I thought the perfect guest for our first episode of OneLife Life, and to talk about all things, OneLife would be the president of OneLife, the newly appointed president of the OneLife Institute, none other than Josh Beers. So please welcome Josh Beers to OneLife Live. Hello, Josh, how are you doing?
Josh Beers:
Hey, good afternoon, Derek. It’s great to be here with you and love listening to you. You just shared a little bit about the incredible growth and the way God’s blessed OneLife.
Derek Melleby:
Yeah, as I was thinking about that, starting one location with 16 students, and now four locations with a hundred students, I should have added for sure only by the grace of God have we grown this way, but I do think there’s something about what we’re doing that’s scratching an itch out there. And so we want to have a conversation about what OneLife is, but then maybe it’s people are tuning in. They’ve never heard about OneLife. So this will be a good introduction. Maybe people who have known about OneLife will learn something new as well. And once again, if you have questions out there, please feel free to add them into the comments and we’ll try to make sure we get to your questions as we go. But Josh I thought the first question to you would be you recently joined us brought years of experience of leadership with young people working in college settings and coaching. But what was it about the OneLife mission that energized you to join our team?
Josh Beers:
There’s a lot we could say, and that would take the rest of the episode. So I’ll try to summarize it briefly. First and foremost, Derek, even when I kind of got to watch from a distance OneLife launched eight years ago, I knew that we were meeting something that was the need of where students are today. And we are… As I watch education, having been in both the high school levels, as well as at the college level, there’s so much pressure all the way from when they start school to teach toward the test and to we teach towards the next grade and teach towards graduation or achievement. And I believe OneLife has said, no, let’s teach and develop you for life. And even in our mission, we say develop and launch servant leaders who live out their faith in every area of life. We’re prepping them for their calling for their career for the next steps in college. But we’re launching them for life, not just launching them to say, “Okay, you achieved this degree or this standard.” So that to me is a vital part that drew me in and I’ve been able to watch the transformation I’ve been close enough to watch lives transformed, not just something achieved and a notch that they somehow accomplished, but actual life launching and seeing where the graduates of OneLife have ended up both at the college and now in their careers over the last seven years.
OneLife Mission: Launch Servant Leaders
Derek Melleby:
Yeah. Let’s talk a little bit more about the mission and unpack it a little bit from our vantage point. So we talk about the mission of OneLife is to develop and launch servant leaders who live out their faith in every area of life. Say a little bit about what that mission statement means to you. I know you already started to do that, but maybe as we look at it here together, is there anything that sticks out to you?
Josh Beers:
Well, I think first and foremost, and we talk about it in other areas of OneLife, but I believe when we talk about education, it just needs to look different. And I think many areas of education have been slow in responding to what is taking place in our world. And I believe students learn best today through experience and some of the components when we say develop and launch servant leaders. So we offer 30 college credits, but that’s a byproduct of experiential education. That’s not, “Well, that’s your number one goal to accomplish that.” That’s something really nice they take with them, but most of them take that with them in launching into their experiences. And so when we say, “Develop and launch,” to me, that means education has to be more than just the mind it’s got to get into the heart and the life. And that’s where the community aspect, the travel aspect, all of those dynamics play in so well that we’re not just a intellectual, but we’re actually a laboratory where they test what they’re learning in real life situations.
Derek Melleby:
Yeah, that’s really good. And as I think about the mission statement, especially this development one of the reasons why we think a gap year is so valuable is it sets students off on their course of life and gives them the tools they’ll need to succeed. And the experts and the researchers, they tell us that the years between 18 and 25 are considered the critical years that decisions are made during this time that shape people for the rest of their lives. And what we’re trying to do is, especially that capitalize on that first year out of high school, what is the foundation that students are going to need for the rest of their life?
And then what I love about OneLife too, is you have this nine months of development in some key areas, which we’ll talk about here in a second, but then it’s not just to have this great experience, it’s all preparation for the launch, which is to then enter the real world with real life skills that you need to succeed. The other thing I really like about our mission statement too, is this idea that we’re going to help students live out their faith in every area of life. And so it’s important to us at OneLife is some students, no matter where you think you might be heading in life, whatever kind of career you might be pursuing, we want you to start to begin to think Christianly or think with a solid faith foundation, wherever God is going to take you. And it’s been pretty exciting, just being a part of it and watching our students some go into ministry, some go into the mission field. Many of our students go into everyday life and they’re thinking differently. And they’re thinking Christian lead from a Christian worldview about how to take their faith, wherever they go. And that’s been really exciting to watch, as well.
Josh Beers:
And I loved that comment you made, because I often think that there’s so many questions being asked and I asked it some when I was a student ministry pastor of, “What do you think you want to study? Or what do you want to do?” And this idea of forming character and who you are becoming and how vital that is to the foundation of what you’re going to do the next 10, 20, 30, 50 years. And I’m convinced that taking the time for nine months to really focus on who I’m becoming and anchoring and going deeper is an investment that every student should at least consider as they focus on what they eventually will do with the rest of their life.
Why do students choose OneLife?
Derek Melleby:
Yeah, that’s good. And maybe this is a good time to ask this real basic question is why do students choose OneLife? And you have all kinds of conversation every day. Because I hear you in the office on the phone with students and parents, and you’re answering this question or this question is being posed to us. So what are some of the things that you’re seeing that you’re hearing, the kind of conversations that you’re having for why students are choosing to do OneLife?
Josh Beers:
Well, there’s so many things and there’s lots of variables, but the number one thing I think so many students that I love about this generation is they want to make an impact and they want to make a difference. And they’re not sure exactly what or how that’s going to flush itself out. And so the opportunity for them to say, “let me work on who I am and discover in a deeper way, my calling or clarify what it is I believe that I’ve been created to do.” Many haven’t had the time to step back and pause because there’s the constant pressure of achievement or the doing side that they haven’t been able to focus on exactly how God wired them and the unique person they are and the impact that then they’re meant to be out of who they are and not just what they can do for others.
And so many of them are saying, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, but,” and then we get into the conversation saying, “Do you want to discover that? Do you want to clarify that?” And they’re facing the pressures that many are saying, “Well, you’ve got to have…” There’s a lot of adults, I believe who are challenging students to you’ve got to have the answer. You got to have the answer. And if I go back 25 years ago into the last millennium, when I was a high school graduate, I felt that pressure. And I’m again, encouraged by this generation who’s willing to acknowledge, “I’m not sure, but why wouldn’t I take nine months and,” actually not take a step back if they experienced something like OneLife, because they’re earning the college credits, “but before I rush into all these things, let me discover, clarify, form, deeper character, be more anchored in who I am and in my faith,” and then do it with an amazing group of people and experience getting a broader worldview through the travel and other experiences they have. So it’s a combination, but to me, the amazing part is often we think of, well, the travel and the credits. And often it’s a lot about what guides us from the inside out is why students, when they get honest and alone of why they choose OneLife.
Derek Melleby:
Yeah, now, you and I talk a lot about OneLife. And the last thing I want for this to sound like is a sales pitch, but it is interesting, the more I think about it and the more conversations I have, if you are a student, and this is the other benefit of having eight years of watching students go through the program. But if you are a student, who’s just not exactly sure of what you want to do, but you know you want to do something intentional and you know you should do something meaningful, but you’re not ready to maybe make a four year college decision. Or you’re not exactly sure what the job market is or even what career path you want to choose, but you don’t just want to sit back and wait to try to figure it out. I think OneLife is a great place for you because like you said, you’ll earn 30 credits for college, figure out kind of where you are academically and what might be next that way.
But you’re also going to gain all kinds of experiences that will hopefully clarify that calling for you or clarify the next steps. But here’s the other thing, even if you are absolutely sure of what you want to do, of what major you want to pursue, of what career path you want to take, why not take nine months to just develop a stronger foundation in your faith to answer some of maybe you do know, and maybe you have a clear kind of calling on your life. It still makes sense to just take a step back. Life goes by fast, at least from my perspective, I don’t think there’s any rush and this could be a great opportunity to just say, “Am I sure? Who am I? What are these big questions of life that I could take some time to think about?” And especially as someone of faith, let’s answer some of those bigger questions about my faith, about the Bible, about what I believe and why I believe it before we pursue a career path or an academic path that we’re pretty confident that we’re on.
Josh Beers:
That’s good. And I would say in adding to that part of my conversations, even just in the last few weeks, I’ve been with students who aren’t sure. And if OneLife isn’t right for them, which it isn’t for everyone, helping them to figure out, okay, yes, the path I am going is a good path for me. So part of it for us is just to walk alongside students. So there might be some, “I think this is the path, but you know what, I’m having second thoughts because of certain things that are unfolding.” To have a conversation with us and let us alongside them as they discover that is also a joy for our enrollment team too, because it might be that, you know what, this solidifies that, “Yes, I should just take this step. And it’s not OneLife.” Our passion is for students to discover that calling in their life and clarify. So what you just said, the joy for me has been, not everyone is the perfect fit, but we’d love to have every student look and say, “Might this be a path for me to consider that could really,” as we say, in our mission, “Develop and launch me for what God has for the rest of my life.”
Derek Melleby:
Yeah. And I really love that about our admission staff and about your leadership too. And as I listened to or overhear phone conversations that people are having, or see email exchanges, when you enter this process, we really want us together to discern where we believe God is calling you next. And if that’s OneLife that is exciting for us, if it’s another gap year program, that’s exciting for us. If it is college, if it’s to take a year and maybe go to community college and get a part time job. But we want to be a part of discerning that for you, as some people who just been a little bit further down the road and have walked many steps with many students. So if you’re thinking about entering the conversation or ending entering the application process, I always encourage people to just do it.
And if nothing else, it’s something now you can cross off the list. This isn’t that OneLife isn’t what’s next for me, but I had some good conversation to understand what it is and then we can go from there.
Character | Calling | Community
Derek Melleby:
Josh, I wanted to talk a little bit about we talk about the OneLife outcomes, this way that students who come to OneLife, this is kind of what you get in a sense. This is what we’re passionate about. Everything we do at OneLife each day, our calendar reflects it our daily schedule reflects it. But we are about these three Cs, character, calling, and community. These things are really important to us that that character, especially, and you already mentioned it a little bit earlier, but we spend so much time thinking about where we’re going.
And there’s so much pressure to have these clear directions now at 17 or 16 years old, to have this clear direction of where we’re going. That I don’t think we take enough time to take a step back and think about who we’re becoming. And so what’s most important for us at OneLife is that people experience and leave OneLife with a firm foundation in their faith in Christ, that they know who they are in Christ, what that means for their lives and that they are developing into the character of Christ. So that’s really important to us. The other thing is to clarify our calling, once again, calling doesn’t necessarily have to be the specific word of God that tells me exactly what I’m going to do. We’re not all going to have, if any of us are going to have that burning bush experience, where we hear the audible voice of God. And he says, “This is what you’re going to do.”
So for us, we think about clarifying our calling as what does it look like? We all have our multiple callings. First we’re called to God and to Christ. And then we have these other callings that God puts on our life. And what does it mean to be faithful to Christ in those callings? So a faithful student, a faithful son, or daughter, a faithful sibling, a faithful husband, a faithful citizen. And that’s another aspect of living out our Christian faith in every area of life. How are we faithful to Christ in all of our callings in life? So that’s really important to us. And then this, I thought you could speak a little bit to this third outcome that we talk about community or relational wisdom. The people you surround yourself with makes the biggest difference in your life. And so for nine months, you get to experience genuine community and to develop lifelong friendships. But I know you recently had a lot of conversations with parents and students Who’ve walked through the program this past year. And talk to me a little bit about what you learned about the community aspect of OneLife.
Josh Beers:
It was great the last month or so just calling families. And for me, just being on the front lines now of OneLife, and just listening to students who particularly in the past year, just went through the OneLife program, even with the disappointment of having to shift gears the last six, seven weeks of the program, because of the COVID situation. Without fail, I would ask them what was the most valuable takeaway or what meant the most to you in your experience. And I expected to hear things about some of the amazing travel. “Boy, I’m taking 30 credits into where I’m going to college.” Some of these other things. Without fail, every one of the students that spoke to me said community was amazing. The group of friends, the people I did life with travel was great, but it wouldn’t have been great if it wasn’t the people that I was with.
I think of it, like if I’m playing golf, I love to play golf, but I really enjoy it with when I’m with people that I love to be around anyhow, then it makes the golf that much more enjoyable. That’s how they spoke about OneLife. The travel, all the experiences were wonderful, but it was the people I did it with knowing that they’re challenging me to grow in my faith, knowing that they’re going to call me out on things that I need to keep being accountable for, but also knowing that they love me and that their lifelong relationships and friendships that they’ve built. And to me, I love seeing these three words in front of us because community allows us to go deeper in the character and calling. And it’s amazing to me when I look at the number one thing sought for in businesses across America and across the world. First thing that any boss is looking for is men and women of character. And it’s easy to give lip service to. It’s really difficult to say, “We’re going to roll up our sleeves and go after that together and actually make that foundational to everything we do.” And again, that’s why I love OneLife’s commitment. And that’s I believe why we’re launching students out who have a leg up on their peers because of the three words that we were just talking about.
Derek Melleby:
Yeah, that’s really good. And we do have a comment coming in from Matt Hunter, he’s the Site Director at Southern Wesleyan University, one of our three locations. He has an interesting comment, “I wonder what percentage of college students would look back on year one in college and say, ‘Well, I had fun, I got some general education classes out of the way, but a lot of it felt like a waste of time.'” And yeah, I think part of that too, is what we’re feeling. Once again, students might be feeling this pressure to do this assumed next step. They’re not exactly sure. And then they have this year and it’s kind of like, “Well, what did I gain?” Where at OneLife we’re pretty committed to making sure students come out the other side having grown in character, calling, and community. So that’s something that I think we’re proud of as an organization and excited about for what students experience throughout the year.
Josh Beers:
Derek, I like that, what Matt just commented on a moment ago because I’ve watched it working at a pretty amazing college myself and having been at a couple of different college settings, you’ll see things that show up like college success in the first year, you’ll see some classes given towards it, but much of what I’ve observed in some really amazing settings is still geared towards retaining them so that we can have the four year experience. OneLife has a little more urgency to it. We don’t have the four year experience, even though Hope would like to come back for a second year experience. We are one year, nine months. And so our urgency about developing and launching looks different. And I think that’s probably why we look and say, “No every day what we wake up to is so intentional,” in those areas that I believe one of the gifts that we’re giving actually is developing students, which I think close to 70% of our students take those credits and go on into college. We’re sending students much more equipped and prepared for what their college experience really should be because of having done a OneLife experience.
Experiential Learning | Service | 30 Credits
Derek Melleby:
So we’ve talked about the why do this and discussed our mission. We talked about the what, some of the outcomes that we’re really passionate about. Here’s a little bit of the how, which once again, the whole motivation for doing this episode today was just to remind people of what we do, and then maybe to have people here and learn about the program aspects of the program that people might not realize. But the first one I wanted to talk to and feel free to comment Josh as I go, but is experiential learning. So one of the things that’s really important to us at OneLife is we believe that valuable learning can happen in the classroom for sure, but perhaps the best, most influential, the lasting kind of learning really happens outside of the classroom.
And so we want to maximize the opportunities for students, not just to learn the classroom, although that’s important. And we bring in dynamic speakers and teachers who are fantastic. So I don’t want to take anything away from them. We have wonderful classroom teachers and our site staff are wonderful classroom teachers, but really where I think the magic happens is where you take what you’ve learned in the classroom. And then you go and have an experience or you go somewhere and you see how what you’ve learned in the classroom applies to life outside of the classroom. And so, we often talk about travel as being a part of OneLife, and that is true. We go on wonderful trips. They’re fantastic. But behind the travel is this idea of experiential learning. So all of our trips are connected to what we’re learning as a community in the classroom. And I think that’s just really beneficial for students as they go. Any thoughts on that, Josh?
Josh Beers:
Well, I would just echo and I couldn’t help, but think as you were sharing that, and I know you’re going to get into it, the service component as well, simply the reality that it’s really what Jesus modeled when he walked the face of this Earth and the three year ministry that he had, he was very intentional about where do I bring the disciples alongside me? But he wasn’t sitting back and saying, “Let’s just sit in a classroom.” He constantly modeled it, gave them experiences alongside them, taught them lessons, took them aside, then expounded even more on that. And that’s what allowed what we see in the book of Acts those same followers of Christ going out and turning the world upside down because they had caught the experiential side of learning. They just didn’t have it in their head, it had taken root in their life.
Derek Melleby:
That’s so true. And then you mentioned the service aspect and that’s really important to us too. And so we talk about developing and launching servant leaders. And one of the ways that you learn servant leadership is through service. And so another component of our program is that we are strategically located on sites where built into the program itself is service hours, service time. It’s another way that we take what we’re in the classroom and we apply it to how we’re living in the way that we serve our neighbors and serve people around us. So that’s really important. A lot of our trips also have service components connected to them. And then also 30 credits. Once again, it was surprising to me. I was having a conversation with someone who I thought knew everything about OneLife and they’re really good friends of mine. So I’m thinking I’m talking about OneLife pretty regularly. I only have shirts and clothing that say OneLife on it. So I just assume that the people in my circles know. And then I mentioned the students who do OneLife earn 30 credits for college, it’s a year worth of college credits. And they had no idea. He said, “Oh, that’s really exciting. Wow. That’s like a great program.” So just a reminder that yes, the students who do the program and this is really important to us. We think that taking a gap year is really important for us. A gap year is just a pause in a normal routine to gain some real life experiences for the rest of life. That’s why we think we’re still in the gap year market. But for us, it’s also important that you earn 30 credits for college.
So if you’re thinking about, “Yeah, maybe I should do that. Or maybe I see the benefits of that, but I also don’t want to lose a step on my academic journey or in my academic path.” But OneLife provides 30 college credits that you could continue on to our institution partners, Cairn University and Southern Wesleyan University. Many of our students do that. They get scholarships and incentives to continue on their academic journey at those institutions. But then also we have a number of students who take those credits and they transfer into other schools. And so that’s really important to us to that you don’t have to decide between a gap year and college. Hopefully this is a way to get the benefits of a gap year, but also receive college credit so you don’t feel like you’re losing a step in your academic journey. Any thoughts on that, Josh?
Josh Beers:
I love that you share it that way because that’s one of the unique aspects of this gap experience is the reality that if college is in your future, you’re not losing ground. You’re just getting a deeper experience, and it allows you then to more intentionally engage as you continue on your college journey. You’re not starting from a year behind. The other piece of it that I think about as we look at the credit component, as we look at the service piece, I thought of that with service and you talked about servant leadership. I look forward to the day where I think that’s not original with me, that the only type of leadership there is, is service. If we’re not a servant leader, what kind of leader are we? And I believe that’s one of the things, again, that is unique, that we are saying in essence, we could put the word leadership that we’re developing leaders, because we incorporate service into everything we do.
And then the learning with the credits, what a springboard for their life, some who go on to college, some Derek. And I think this is a neat note. Some were saying, “College isn’t for me.” And I’ve had numerous students the last eight years because someone who attended the institution where I served, who said, “Wow, I’m only 18 hours away from an associate’s degree.” And they took another semester or they took a couple online classes and they have an associates degree that just helped them better in their career. They didn’t want four years, but they were so close to a two year degree that they said, well, let me finish that up, which is just another way of helping them better for their future of what’s going to be five, 10 plus years down.
Derek Melleby:
Well, thank you, Josh. Thanks for joining us today and being part of this historic day, the first ever OneLife Live episode, you were a fantastic guest and we’ll have to do this again, answer some of the other questions that are coming in. But once again, if you have any questions about OneLife, feel free to check out our website. If you’re still not sure what the future holds for you, we still have openings so feel free to apply. Enter the process. We would love to talk with you, Josh, thanks for joining us. And thank you all for being a part of the first OneLife Live episode, stay tuned. We have more episodes coming your way, including a conversation with all of our site directors next week. We’re looking forward to that. So join us. I’ll get you information. Until next time. So long.
