NACCAP Board Spotlight: Mike Harper, Trinity Academy (KS)
In this episode of the Higher Education, Higher Purpose podcast hosts Phil Cook and Heidi Sturm sit down with Mike Harper, Director of Vocational Guidance at Trinity Academy. Mike shares his insights on guiding high school students in discovering their vocations and the value of Christian higher education. With nearly a decade of experience at Trinity, Mike emphasizes the importance of helping students understand themselves and their place in God's kingdom, viewing them as "wet cement" that needs shaping during their formative years.
Listen as Phil, Heidi, and Mike discuss the challenges of serving in a college-going culture, where 94% of students pursue higher education, highlighting the need for instilling a love for learning and critical thinking that aligns with faith.
Quote:
"I want high school students to understand themselves well and see how they fit into God's kingdom. It's hard at the high school level because you're still kind of discovering yourself. You're not quite sure exactly what that looks like. I think college does a lot to solidify that. I think about them being wet cement. I tell that's what they are, they're wet cement.” -Mike Harper [04:57]
What You Will Learn:
(00:00) Intro
(00:37) Meet Mike Harper
(01:55) Mike's Role at Trinity Academy
(04:17) Helping Students Discover Vocations
(05:56) The Impact of Relationships on Faith
(09:12) Leadership and Service in Education
(15:17) The Importance of Christian Higher Education
(21:03) Conclusion and Thanks
Resources:
Visit our website: https://www.naccap.org
Email us: Office@naccap.org
Visit The NACCAP Annual Conference: https://naccapconference.org
Transcript
Welcome to the Higher Ed Higher Purpose podcast, a podcast designed for NatCaP members, prospective students, and their families.
Phil Cook:Hello again, everyone.
Phil Cook:Welcome to another edition of the Higher Education Higher Purpose podcast with Natcap.
Phil Cook:My name is Phil Cook.
Phil Cook:I'm pleased to serve as the president of NAtCap.
Heidi Sturm:And I'm Heidi Sturm.
Heidi Sturm:And I'm the director of marketing and communications at Natcaptain.
Phil Cook:Heidi and I have been doing these podcasts over the last couple weeks and talking to our people, our persons, our board, our bosses, almost.
Phil Cook:And so we're thrilled today to welcome Mike Harper to the podcast.
Phil Cook:Good morning, Mike.
Phil Cook:How are you doing today?
Mike Harper:Good morning, Phil.
Mike Harper:Good morning, Heidi.
Mike Harper:I'm doing well.
Phil Cook:Good.
Phil Cook:Well, we want to introduce Mike to you.
Phil Cook:We know who he is, but if you're passing through and listening, you might need to know that.
Phil Cook:Mike is the director of vocational guidance at Trinity Academy in Wichita, Kansas.
Phil Cook: He's been there since: Phil Cook:He has a diverse background in campus ministry, which we've got to talk about that he teaches higher education, pastoral leadership, business.
Phil Cook:He has a wealth of knowledge to college counseling, a bachelor's degree from Indiana State, a master's in philosophy and religion and ethics, which again, we could talk about that might put people to sleep, though, Mike.
Phil Cook:I don't know.
Phil Cook:But anyway, we could talk about philosophy.
Phil Cook:And nearing the completion of a PhD in philosophy from the University of Arkansas, Mike's passionate about helping university students, or helping students, rather discover their vocations and helping christians value the life of the mind.
Phil Cook:He's married to Stacy.
Phil Cook:They have three children.
Phil Cook:He hikes, he fishes, and then he's a philosopher, particularly in the mountains.
Phil Cook:Mike, thanks again for being with us.
Phil Cook:We're very grateful that you're here.
Mike Harper:Thank you, Mike.
Phil Cook:I think, first of all, why don't you just talk a little bit about your work there at Trinity?
Phil Cook:How long have you been there?
Phil Cook:What's a day to day look like for Mike Harper and what you get to do there?
Phil Cook:Serving students and families.
Mike Harper:This is the start of my 9th year here at Trinity.
Mike Harper:Can't believe it's been that long.
Mike Harper:The day to day, it varies, obviously.
Mike Harper:I mean, if anybody knows anything about helping students get ready for the next steps, particularly at our school, we're pretty much a college going culture.
Mike Harper:So 94% of our students go to four years.
Mike Harper:And so it's really kind of really preparing most of our students for college.
Mike Harper:And so if you know anything about that, you guys are familiar with this.
Mike Harper:It's calendar driven, honestly.
Mike Harper:And the fall is usually the biggest and busiest time of the year for college counselors.
Mike Harper:And so, you know, a day to day will look very different.
Mike Harper:It's more like a month to month or a week to week, which should have a little bit more consistency.
Mike Harper:I'm getting ready to host a nacaP.
Mike Harper:College.
Phil Cook:Thank you.
Phil Cook:Thank you.
Mike Harper:Yes.
Mike Harper:Yeah, it'll be fun.
Mike Harper:But this week is kind of a weird week.
Mike Harper:Our high school in the past has traditionally done a freshman trip and a senior trip, so kind of bookending your.
Mike Harper:Your high school experience.
Mike Harper:We had a change in leadership two years ago, and our new head of school had an idea.
Mike Harper:Let's.
Mike Harper:Let's do a.
Mike Harper:Let's do an entire high school trip.
Mike Harper:And so this week is going to be the week that we actually have our first high school trip to a camp down in southern Missouri.
Mike Harper:And so this is gonna be.
Mike Harper:This is kind of a different week for me.
Phil Cook:So you gonna be there all week?
Mike Harper:I'm looking forward to it.
Phil Cook:Are you there all week?
Mike Harper:Well, it's.
Mike Harper:It's Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so it's really.
Mike Harper:It's kind of compact.
Mike Harper:So we get up early tomorrow.
Mike Harper:It's about a five hour drive to camp.
Mike Harper:So we get Tuesday night, all day Wednesday, a little bit of the morning on Thursday, and we basically head back by dinner time on Thursday.
Phil Cook:Well, obviously, you're going to be.
Phil Cook:That's an example of you being in students lives.
Phil Cook:And I'm reading from your bio, and I want to get it right correctly again.
Phil Cook:Mike is passionate about helping students discover their vocations, and also, christians value the life of the mind.
Phil Cook:Is that your.
Phil Cook:Why?
Phil Cook:Why do you do this?
Phil Cook:I know you.
Phil Cook:We don't get rich in education, Mike.
Phil Cook:You know that.
Phil Cook:We're not doing this for earthly kind of reasons.
Phil Cook:But what's the motivation?
Phil Cook:Why do you get to this every day on the calendar?
Phil Cook:And what brings motivation to you to do this and serve students in this way?
Mike Harper:I think you nailed it, honestly.
Mike Harper:I mean, I think becoming a college counselor, I think you mentioned my various background.
Mike Harper:I think that's one thing that speaks to that, is that I've done a lot of different things.
Mike Harper:But I think the other thing, too, is that when I look at high school students, I really want them to understand themselves well and see how they fit into God's kingdom.
Mike Harper:It's kind of hard at the high school level because you're still kind of discovering yourself.
Mike Harper:You're not quite sure exactly what that looks like.
Mike Harper:I think college does a lot to solidify that.
Mike Harper:You know, I think about them being wet cement.
Mike Harper:I tell that's what they are, they're wet cement.
Mike Harper:And so just trying to help them understand the form and shape of who they are.
Mike Harper:But then also, you know, kind of bringing those things and pieces together, hopefully find a good fit for college.
Mike Harper:Again, it's not going to be perfect, but if I get them steered the right direction on what their vocation is, which includes the life of the mind, for sure, because they're going to be doing lots of academic work, hopefully that's launching them in the best way that they could possibly.
Mike Harper:Can I talk to parents trying to eliminate future mistakes?
Mike Harper:I think that's one of the ideas too, is that making a good choice helps to cover a lot of different problems that you might encounter in the future.
Mike Harper:So we're just trying to eliminate mistakes sometimes too.
Phil Cook:Man, I love that when we do these, we've been learning every day you get up and try to learn something.
Phil Cook:I'm sure I've heard the phrase looking as people as wet cement, but it's the first time it's really, I'm hearing it and owning it.
Phil Cook:Who invested in the wet cement of Mike Harper's life?
Phil Cook:Who did that?
Phil Cook:Are there people out there?
Phil Cook:And how did you get through that part of your life to get to where you are now?
Mike Harper:I really didn't become a Christian, so I'm going to talk about my life of faith until college.
Mike Harper:And so I would say a couple influences that would kind of launch me directionally toward life in the kingdom were a couple of good high school friends that were christians.
Mike Harper:And then I actually dated a pastor's daughter.
Mike Harper:This probably wasn't the best decision on her part, and I can attest to that.
Mike Harper:But actually she's probably one of the first persons that actually shared the gospel with me in a way that I knew she was concerned about my soul.
Mike Harper:And so it was a little more hellfire and brimstone y for me as a junior in high school, and I was still pretty willful and I was like, nah, I don't want to have anything to do with that.
Mike Harper:But it did.
Mike Harper:Her family, my friends that walked a life of faith, were definitely influential and attracted me to the kingdom in many ways.
Mike Harper:And so my.
Mike Harper:I think events actually took over after that is I was.
Mike Harper:I was born to a teenage mom at 14 and she never married my dad, never knew my dad really growing up, but also found out about him when I got to high school.
Mike Harper:We talked a little bit more about that, but then really from the age of three on, my grandparents adopted me from her.
Mike Harper:So I really live with my grandparents growing up, and so my grandmother died when I was in 8th grade.
Mike Harper:And then my senior year, this is kind of the culmination of that is my grandfather got sick with cancer, and he died that year.
Mike Harper:So she had shared the gospel with me as a junior in high school.
Mike Harper:And then when my grandfather, my parent really, my dad died my senior year, it really made me start thinking a little bit more seriously about these things and asking bigger questions about life.
Mike Harper:And she and I didn't continue to date into college, but actually, I kind of filled out a lunch line survey with crew.
Mike Harper:If anybody knows, old school outreach industry, with campus, they would sit at a lunch line and just do a little survey with you.
Mike Harper:And I was interested for sure.
Mike Harper:I was kind of.
Mike Harper:At that point, I was asking questions, and they came and they shared the gospel with me in a friendship way, in a loving relationship way that made a little bit more sense to me.
Mike Harper:And so I think that ministry, that time in life, those events kind of launched me into a life of being with God.
Mike Harper:And so I think those are the major influences early on, I think.
Mike Harper:But honestly, there's lots of people from that point forward that have kind of formed and shaped me to kind of be where I'm at today, for sure.
Mike Harper:But that's kind of the formative stages of at least launching me into this type of work.
Phil Cook:Thank you for your transparency.
Phil Cook:Thank you for your candor.
Phil Cook:I love that.
Phil Cook:I mean, there is a line of people I'm in the line of.
Phil Cook:I started thinking about the Lord seriously, because of wanted to date a girl.
Phil Cook:I mean, it's a part of the narrative of men out there.
Phil Cook:I saw a great article.
Phil Cook:I think the girls.
Phil Cook:Yeah, I saw, I think an article from Garner recently where men.
Phil Cook:The numbers are starting to turn, that men are starting to embrace the idea of what it means to be a leader.
Phil Cook:Heidi, I said, you go next, but I'm gonna jump in there.
Phil Cook:Mike, what does it mean for you as a man, as a male, to lead students in your vocation, but your family and the church?
Phil Cook:Little philosophizing here.
Phil Cook:But what about the role of Mendez and leadership and the idea of pursuit of God?
Mike Harper:Yeah, that's a great question.
Mike Harper:I think, you know, I've done some leadership classes before in the past, but I think I can't continue to escape the fact that Jesus was a servant leader.
Mike Harper:And so I'm kind of my default is that I think the emptying of myself and trying to figure out how to serve people is really one of the hardest things I do as a leader.
Mike Harper:But I think it's also one of the hardest things for anybody to do is to kind of give up yourself a little bit and not be consumed with myself, but try to help them to see that, too.
Mike Harper:And so I think about forming and shaping high school students.
Mike Harper:I think that's probably one of the hardest tasks of forming and shaping high school students.
Mike Harper:And like I said, when I was a junior, I rejected the gospel because I knew my own will was not directed, it was directed at myself.
Mike Harper:Right.
Mike Harper:And so I think trying to think about how we continue to give up those things, and that's been a life lesson, even contemporarily.
Mike Harper:I mean, we've had changes in administration over the past nine years that I've been here, and that's hard.
Mike Harper:That's hard because, I mean, you have certain things that you're used to but yet got to kind of die to yourself a little bit each time that that kind of happens a little bit and embrace whatever the leadership is going to be next.
Mike Harper:And so for me, it's trying to help people see that this is a life of sacrifice.
Mike Harper:There's a reward at the end of that, there's hope at the end of that.
Mike Harper:This isn't continual sacrifice, but it is a short term that helps form and shape who we are.
Mike Harper:I think suffering is a part of life.
Mike Harper:We just talked about this on Sunday at church.
Mike Harper:Suffering is a thing that you kind of have to walk through sadness.
Mike Harper:The psalms are real, right.
Mike Harper:And living a life where you have sadness and not joy all the time, joy is definitely a part of it.
Mike Harper:But walking through sadness and suffering definitely makes life come more clear, leadership more formed.
Mike Harper:It's kind of the crucible in many ways that we're formed and shaped by many of these things.
Mike Harper:But I think that's what I try to get them to see, and it's hard because experience teaches us so much.
Mike Harper:Right.
Mike Harper:And they haven't experienced a lot at the high school level, but trying to get them to see that at least there's a way to look at life and to encounter those things when they do come that you can have some sort of perspective about it.
Heidi Sturm:You're listening to the higher ed, higher purpose podcast.
Heidi Sturm:So, Mike, I'm trying to think how long I've known you.
Heidi Sturm:I think it might have been almost nine years since you first started working at Trinity.
Mike Harper:Yes.
Heidi Sturm:And I know you have worn many different hats over those years talking about changes in administration.
Heidi Sturm:I think you filled one of those roles for a while while the school was looking for an administrator.
Heidi Sturm:And still you were involved with naccap.
Heidi Sturm:You were running the christian college fair.
Heidi Sturm:Tell us a little bit about the role of coordinating a christian college fair.
Heidi Sturm:How did you first get involved in doing that?
Heidi Sturm:Because I think that was our first introduction.
Mike Harper:Sure.
Mike Harper:Yeah, it was.
Mike Harper:Sometimes you can't choose the things that you do, right.
Mike Harper:You kind of, you kind of walk into them.
Mike Harper:So one of the great things about me stepping into this position is that my predecessor had already started a relationship with NACAP, and I've been the benefactor of her initiation.
Mike Harper:And so her name is Shelley Small.
Mike Harper:She was our previous college counselor.
Mike Harper:And so she had said, look, you know, our Wichita area doesn't have a christian college fair.
Mike Harper:We have to continually either decide to go up to Kansas City or down to Oklahoma City, and we have to figure out how to get our students to go do these things.
Mike Harper:And she valued that.
Mike Harper:I mean, she saw the importance of at least continuing to put in front of our students the value of Christian higher ed.
Mike Harper:And so she wanted to do that.
Mike Harper:And she, I think for the first couple years she did that.
Mike Harper:She did that trek.
Mike Harper:Right.
Mike Harper:She took students to those places.
Mike Harper:And the more she had talked with Natcap a little bit, she said, look, look, we're the biggest game in town.
Mike Harper:Let's make our site one of those places that hosts a christian college fair.
Mike Harper:So she had already did it the year prior, I think a year prior to me coming.
Mike Harper:And so I basically just kind of stepped in.
Mike Harper:And this is one of my job descriptions.
Mike Harper:So that was, that's my, that was my introduction.
Mike Harper:I mean, not my introduction in that cap, but at least running a fair, that was definitely one of those things I had to do.
Heidi Sturm:And since then, I mean, obviously the fair, but you've also stepped up into leadership roles.
Heidi Sturm:You're now one of our board members.
Heidi Sturm:What sparked your interest in being part of the board?
Mike Harper:You guys have done the video from the national conference.
Mike Harper:I think many of them talked about this, that I've been given so much as a part of NACAPP.
Mike Harper:I think it's only fair that I try to serve in some way that helps to prolong that, to help to reinvest in that.
Mike Harper:And if I can help in the leadership of that, I think that's a small amount of payback for what I've been given, honestly, professional development wise, just lots of opportunities to grow in the position that I'm in, even though it was one of my job requirements that I follow through on the certification process that has already been set up by nat gap.
Mike Harper:I'm so glad that I did it.
Mike Harper:I mean, just formative in helping me to be a good college counselor.
Mike Harper:And so I've benefited from that training for the last eight years.
Mike Harper:And so for me, it was like, this is a great opportunity to gain leadership and experience, but more motivated out of the fact that this is a great organization that has helped me.
Mike Harper:I want to try to help other people do the same thing, experience the same things I have, honestly.
Heidi Sturm:So you did the counselor certification program.
Heidi Sturm:What would you tell other counselors that are thinking about doing the program, those.
Mike Harper:Who are seasoned and experienced?
Mike Harper:I think you're still going to benefit from some of these things.
Mike Harper:But if you're definitely an average person who's not done a lot or definitely if you're new, I would try to figure out a way to make it work.
Mike Harper:I would definitely talk to your administration.
Mike Harper:I would ask anybody that's able to maybe even raise funds that, you know, does a good job of that at your school and figure out a way to get this funded for you as well.
Mike Harper:I know that we offer scholarships for it as well, seek those out of, but if that's still an issue, definitely figure out a way to make it work.
Mike Harper:That's what I would say.
Mike Harper:I think that it is one of the most, it's been one of the most crucial pieces of at least setting up a foundation or a framework for me to do the work that I do.
Mike Harper:And I don't know.
Mike Harper:I mean, particularly in christian high schools across the country, there's so many that need something like this.
Mike Harper:Like you mentioned, they usually wear a lot of different hats.
Mike Harper:And so a college counselor might not be solely devoted to that particular role.
Mike Harper:And particularly if you're not, this is going to be beneficial for you.
Mike Harper:But even if you are, it's going to be beneficial for you.
Mike Harper:But being able to do a good job, if you wear different hats, it's going to allow you to focus on the essentials and do your job really well if that's only one of your hats.
Mike Harper:And so you're going to be able to do other work better.
Mike Harper:Better because you're completing something that's one of your roles really well.
Mike Harper:And so I think that's a benefit that it just allows you to do that.
Mike Harper:And so I'm, I was formed in shape by it and I do a much better job at it because of that.
Mike Harper:For sure.
Phil Cook:We need to take that excerpt, Heidi, and use that as the promo for the council certification program.
Phil Cook:Mike, that's exactly why we do the program.
Phil Cook:So I'm so pleased that you're doing that.
Phil Cook:We are with Mike Harper, who's director of vocational guidance at Trinity Academy in Wichita, Kansas.
Phil Cook:Mike, you know, I don't know.
Phil Cook:I can sometimes.
Phil Cook:I've been to a church where a pastor will cram a 15 minutes sermon into 45 minutes.
Phil Cook:You know, it's like, okay, when's he gonna.
Phil Cook:When's she or he gonna stop?
Phil Cook:Right?
Phil Cook:So, we work hard at getting this to write about 20 minutes, and our time is almost there now.
Phil Cook:But I've got two questions for you.
Phil Cook:First, the layperson's description of what you're doing in your academic work and your PhD.
Phil Cook:Is there something, how might you describe.
Phil Cook:Cause I don't know that I'm gonna understand what you're saying, but there's somebody out there that would.
Phil Cook:You're studying philosophy, man, that's impressive.
Phil Cook:You do bring such a deep insight, and you're able to see through issues on the board that benefits us so much.
Phil Cook:But just talk a little bit about your academic work, maybe leading up to the PhD.
Phil Cook:But what you're doing in philosophy now, again, the layperson's kind of approach to it.
Mike Harper:I mean, I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to look at our world, particularly look at our culture in America, and know that we have a hard time slowing down and thinking about and reflecting on things very well.
Mike Harper:I think it comes out in our politics.
Mike Harper:I think we are emotionally driven.
Mike Harper:I think many of the issues that we think about today are usually about one or two questions or about one or two questions deep on the things that we think about.
Mike Harper:And so, in particular, I mean, as that, that's avocational for me to do philosophy in that sense.
Mike Harper:And so it's.
Mike Harper:It's not something that is the primary focus of what I'm doing, but it drives a lot of why I do what I do is because I want people to think more deeply.
Mike Harper:And when I.
Mike Harper:When I think that when Jesus says we're supposed to love God with our minds as a commandment, I just think sometimes we don't do a very good job of that.
Mike Harper:We don't take that very seriously.
Mike Harper:And for me, and at least my educational pursuits and philosophy, my own personal faith has grown.
Mike Harper:I mean, you might think that, you know, intellectually, you go to die in your faith a little bit sometimes, but my faith has been renewed by the fact that I pursued my intellect, my mind, a little bit.
Mike Harper:And so I want other people to kind of capture, catch that disease a little bit.
Mike Harper:I want them I want to be an advocate for that, and I want christians to be probably the best thinkers that there are in the world.
Mike Harper:I think Jesus was the smartest.
Mike Harper:Dallas Willard would say this.
Mike Harper:Jesus was the smartest man who ever lived, and we need to worship him like that in the sense not just that he was divine, but he was also truly human as well.
Mike Harper:But he stands as the example for us to grow in our intellect as well.
Mike Harper:And if you read the New Testament and you read it through the lens of someone who thinks, well, you'll realize that he's a smart cookie and there's really not a lot of people like him.
Mike Harper:And so I want people to see Jesus as someone who is extremely intelligent as well.
Mike Harper:And so I want us to follow after him in that way, too.
Mike Harper:So I'm happy for doing the things that I do for the focus of my vocation, but I also want christians to grow in their intellect as well, too.
Mike Harper:And I think that ventures into the vocational guidance that we have as well.
Mike Harper:Getting your college degree, growing in the life of the mind and the thing that God has designed you to do, that's the niche, right?
Mike Harper:You want to think christianly about whatever God has made you to do.
Mike Harper:That's part of what drives me to.
Phil Cook:Well, I had a second question, but I'm not going to ask it now because it's precisely what we're trying to do with christian education.
Phil Cook:You have described it perfectly.
Phil Cook:This is why we do what we do every day, man.
Phil Cook:We're glad to do it with Mike Harper.
Phil Cook:Mike, thanks so much for being a part of this podcast and for your service to christian education and to Natcap.
Phil Cook:We're grateful.
Mike Harper:Thank you so much.
Mike Harper:I appreciate you guys.
Heidi Sturm:Thanks, Mike.
Heidi Sturm:Be sure to join us next time for the higher ed, higher purpose podcast.
