Seth Van Dyke

Art Kanehara
Comm 1010-42
11/29/15
Interview Assignment
Ever since I can remember I have loved helping people. I have always
enjoyed sharing my life experiences with others and hoping they would learn
from my mistakes and my successes. For my interview I decided to interview
one of my close friends. We met when I moved down to Salt Lake City earlier
this year. We are actively involved in the motorcycle community and that's
where our friendship started. I always wondered what he did for a living
because I noticed he's really good with people and has a lot of time to do
cool activities. The first time I heard what my friend does for a living I heard
he was a priest for a Methodist church. I asked him what his actual job is and
he is a peer leader for a church. The church is called the Park City
Community Church. It's located at 4501 Utah 224 Park City, UT 84098. He
advises mostly teenagers and helps them with their trials and issues. He also
plans trips and activities where there are opportunities to serve and help the
community. He's a relaxed Californian so he loves to talk and talk. I have
always been told I should help the youth because I am good at relating to
younger peers and putting things in a way they can understand. I believe I
inherited a bit of this passion from my mother. She is the director of a
successful preschool and youth summer camp and I have always been

involved in helping her. I really enjoy those opportunities so I've always

looked for jobs that could allow me to do that.
Q: What is your name?
A: Mark Weaver
Q: How old are you?
A: 34
Q: Where do you work?
A: Park City Community Church
4501 Utah 224Park City, UT 84098
Q: What is the most fulfilling part of your job?
A: I would have to say the most fulfilling part about my job is building
relationships with teenagers and seeing positive changes made in their lives
as a result of those relationships. I know when I was younger and when I was
in high school I started to get into parties, substance abuse, and making
some decision that were kind of destructive. But I didn't have anyone to look
up to or to talk to about that and I just followed my friends and did what
they did and followed the crowd. I learned the hard way from a lot of my
mistakes. I learned through a lot of consequences. I really like to be open
with kids about all the bad decisions I've made and I like to have them feel
comfortable with me sharing what's going on in their lives. I can help them
think through their choices and sometimes you really see some light bulbs go
off and some Aha! moments. These kids really are inspired and want to
make some positive changes in their lives and decide that it's better to help
other people then to live selfishly. That's a reward in itself, where you feel
that kids are looking up to you and think you're really cool for whatever
reason it could be. Its really rewarding to know you're doing something
positive with your time. It's nice to be apart of something other than
society and taking advantage of other people and get ahead of everyone in
a selfish way. It's a very rewarding job.
Q: What benefits come form your job?
A: It is a really good salary with lots of benefits. There is a lot of freedom
that comes with this job. My wife has a job and she gets in trouble if she goes
in 5 minutes late. When I come in two hours late no one notices. I love that
there is freedom and it is a highly relational job. My job is just hanging out
with teenagers and I get the chance to plan awesome activities that I would
want to do even when Im not working. I recently got back from a 3 week trip
to Costa Rica and got to do a lot of humanitarian work. We also did a lot of
surfing and community service. I get to go snowboarding with them

whenever I want and go to haunted houses and stuff like that. Its my job to
plan all sorts of fun events. Its just a fun job and so that is really beneficial.
Also just to have a position of authority is cool. Its nice to have a say and be
respected. I love leading and helping to run an organization. Its rewarding
that I get to work a job that I get to be creative and come up with really fun
ideas for people and more specifically kids to do. I love seeing other people
having a good time, enjoying the ideas I come up with and seeing a project
come together. Especially when it enriches others relationships and lets them
have fun. Its a satisfying job.
Q: What communication skills are necessary for your job?
A: Thats the primary area of my job actually. Honestly I had no idea I was
going to go into youth ministry but I ended up getting my degree in
communications in college. I had no idea how much that degree would apply
now. First of all I teach every Sunday and sometimes I preach in front of the
church. so my public speaking experience really paid off. Where I learned to
write speeches that were meaningful and inspiring and persuasive. I learned
to stand in front of a group and not choke and be too nervous and preach. My
whole job is just communicating. Interpersonal communicating with students,
just sitting around in a circle and getting them talking about their lives and
not just doing all the talking. But facilitating constructive communication
where I ask open ended questions that really engage the students in deep
thought and processing out their decision making in their lives. Healthy
communication is a big part of my job and get to be open and honest and
transparent with students. Telling things about my personal life and just
about my philosophies , my morals, things like that. They also get to share
what they feel and believe . I try to foster a really safe environment for
effective and healthy communication so its not just surface level like hey,
hows the weather, what cars and sports are you into right now . We actually
get to talk about our feelings and our emotions and process those out in a
community that feels safe . There is also a lot of organizational
communication. This is a Methodist church, so there is a committee for
everything. There is a whole hierarchy within and an administrative counsel.
There is a youth committee. We get together and have meetings frequently,
at least once a month where we talk about how the ministry is going and
how we can improve attendance as an organization. So we brainstorm ideas
together. I cant think of any aspect of my job thats not communication
oriented.
Q: Do you get the chance to travel a lot for work?
A: Yes, especially on mission trips and service projects. We even get to do a
lot of recreational trips. Well take kids and even sometimes leaders on trips.

Sometimes out of the state and out of the country. Sometimes Ill go to
conferences, a couple weeks ago I got to go to Kansas City for a big Christian
leadership conference.
Q: What is your salary?
A: I make $62,000 a year.
Q: Do you make enough money in your opinion to live a fulfilling and ideal
lifestyle you desire?
A: Thats a tough question. I live in Park City but compared to the rest of
the world yes. I have a truck and a nice condo and a motorcycle and I pay all
of our bills. I am able to pay for my wifes minivan. The cost of living in Park
City is so high that I only have a 2 bedroom condo and I have 2 kids. A boy
and a girl that share a room. Thats not going to last forever. I pay like $500
more for rent than when I paid for a 3 bedroom house in California. Park city
just has a ridiculously high cost of living. So my wife is working nights at a
hotel just so we can make sure to have enough money for groceries and
things like that once we have all our bills paid. That isnt ideal for now but
before she never had to work and I preferred that. I am usually left alone at
nights with the kids and thats hard at times. I really cant complain. I make
the top end of what youth pastors make. I live a pretty comfortable life. I do
a lot of recreational activities and have time to have a lot of fun. No matter
how much I make it seems a little bit more money would be a lot more
helpful. I used to make about $40,000 but now I make $22,000 more than
that. I still feel like I live paycheck to paycheck just because personally Im
not the most responsible person when it comes to finances. I open a lot of
credit cards and then max them out. I dont have very good money
management skills but I definitely make enough to live a satisfying life. I
have no complaints. If I really cracked down on my spending and got out of
some credit card debt I would be totally fine with money and my wife would
most likely not have to work. Its just hard to live in a culture where you can
get what you want now but pay later.
Q: What schooling have you completed?
A: My undergrad was communications at Purdue University which isn't really
relevant but I went to seminary and got a Masters in Theological Studies at
Anderson University.
The interview went better than expected. Mark answered all my questions
with exactness and even answered my other questions before I asked them.
Mark is very passionate about his job and he loves to talk about it. Hence

the reason his answers are so long. After performing the interview Mark
showed me around the facility where he works. On one half of the building
there is a church with a chapel and a couple administrative offices. The back
of the chapel overlooks the Canyons resort and it is a breathtaking view. The
other side includes a large gym and commons room. There are also
classrooms full of couches and comfy chairs where class is held. I learned a
lot from this interview. I would love to pursue my career in youth advising
and maybe even therapy. Mark told me you don't need to get a lot of
education to get a job doing what he does. He said all you need is to have
the right connections, which is ironic because that is what this assignment is
somewhat about. One thing I leaned through doing the interview is I
wouldn't necessarily want to work for a church related organization. I
interviewed with the church after the interview and they loved me. They told
me I would be perfect to be Marks assistant and eventually take over his job
in the next couple months. They later discussed in a large committee about
me to propose I work at the church. The end result was they didn't find it
fitting for a Mormon to teach their kids about life and to try and open kids
minds to the idea of Christianity. So there seems to be some political issues
in church related organizations and it seems it would have some restrictions
inthe ways you could educate the youth. I am actively trying to find a job
dealing with youth advising. I think it would be so much fun. My interview
with Mark sparked my interest even more and I would love to find a position
with the amount of freedom and salary his job contains.

Interview Questions:
1. What past jobs have you had with helping the youth?
2. What kind of education do you have to be a peer advisor?
3. Have you ever planned or held an activity for a large group? If so what?
If not, what are some of your future ideas?
4. What experiences have you had in your life that could benefit the
youth in our organization?
5. What are some of your hobbies and skills you can contribute and
implement in this job?