MTP 34: Shelly Meyers Part 2, on The Multiverse as a Metaphor for Spiritual Reality, Helping Students Engage in the Real World, Emotional Intelligence, Grief, Teaching and Parenting

Shelly is a Professor of Education at Voorhees University. She discusses the complexities of student engagement in a world of virtual interactions. She emphasizes the importance of teaching interpersonal skills, coping with grief in educational settings, and the dual realities of the physical and spiritual worlds. Shelly also shares practical advice for young adults and parents, as well as insights for Christian professors navigating their influence on campus.

Read about Shelly: https://meettheprof.com/view/professors/entry/shelly-meyers/

Email Shelly: shellymeyersedd@gmail.com

Book references:
The Six Conversations, by Heather Holleman, https://amzn.to/4dKtHht

The Anxious Generation, by by Jonathan Haidt, https://amzn.to/3YsaNq2

Watch Meet The Prof on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@MeetTheProfOfficial/videos

Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/meet-the-prof-with-shane-and-spence/id1733311320

Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6kizp6klascdMj1nqaj6LD

Find over 500 Christian Professors on MeetTheProf.com:
https://meettheprof.com/

Get free resources for answering questions about God at:
https://www.everystudent.com/

College students, follow us on Instagram and send us a question(s) for Christian professors by DM here:
https://www.instagram.com/meettheprofofficial/

If you’d like to financially support our Faculty Commons ministry, you can do so online at https://give.cru.org/0424344

Transcript

Shelly Meyers Part 2 Transcript:

Shane:  

Welcome to Meet the Prof. Hey there, my name is Shane, and my friend Spence Hackney and I take questions from college students and ask them to Christian professors to encourage Christ-centered conversations on the college campus. And we're so glad that you joined us. Thank you for listening in here. And now you'll get to hear part two of my interview with Shelly Meyers.  

Shelly is a professor of education at Voorhees University, and it is a joy to get to introduce you to her. And before we get started, if you'd please click on like or subscribe or follow wherever you're listening to the podcast. And if you want to watch this and see what these professors look like, we're on YouTube. You can look us up and meet the prof. So let's jump in. Here's part two of my interview with Shelly Meyers.  

Shane:  

Right, well, I have a question for you about the students that you work with and the multiverse. And I don't know much except that a couple Christmases ago, my kids got me and my mom chipped in for an Oculus. So I love playing games on the Oculus.  

Shelly Meyers:  

Yeah, sure. It's kind of funny because this whole concept was a convergence of an idea from multiple places. So one, the whole multiverse from the Marvel series and all of that, like my husband and my son are very into all of that, and my daughter and I kind of engage where we want to. But that whole concept is where this comes from. But I read *Distracted Generation,* and the author talks about how Gen X was the generation that became helicopters. And we've over-parented in the physical world and under-parented in the virtual world.  

Most of what our students, our kids are dealing with, is actually happening in that virtual world and social media. So that concept really is attributed to the work in that book. While reading that, we were going over some church passages, and there are all these elements of angels showing up and prayer. And it became so blatantly obvious that we have the spiritual world happening at the same time.  

We have the virtual world, the physical world, and the spiritual world. So our students, all of us, whether we realize it or acknowledge it or not, it's happening. In what ways are we engaging with each of these things and how are we allocating time to acknowledging that they are happening? This is so important in working with students right now, especially the incoming freshman class. They lost many friends, loved ones, and had a developmental disruption. They missed out on learning how to make real friends or engage in the physical world.  

Shane:  

Is that right?  

Shelly Meyers:  

Yes, they don't know how to engage in conversation, which is why I love Heather Holleman's work. I'm using a lot of her work because those same students are going to become teachers. And if they don't know how to engage in conversation, they're not going to stay in the field. So we did a year-long study of her *Six Conversations* work, teaching people how to ask good questions to develop warm connections.  

In the virtual world, you have threaded conversations and time to think. But face to face, you have to respond faster. Many of our students don't know how to do that. They don't know how to engage a stranger or ask for help; they revert to Googling it. We must intentionally help them engage.  

Shane:  

Yeah.  

Shelly Meyers:  

We also need to teach them how to pray, what it means, and what is happening in the spiritual world. We need to refer to the Bible and teach them where these things are located. Navigating these different environments is much bigger than the classroom.  

Shane:  

I love how you address two realities: students living so virtually that they're ill-equipped for the material world, and how the virtual world is a metaphor for the spiritual world. How interested are students in learning interpersonal skills?  

Shelly Meyers:  

They want true friendships. They're desperate for engaging, real friendships, not the highlight reels on social media. They don't realize the skills, like active listening, starting a conversation, or being comfortable with silence, especially when a friend is grieving. These are things we must explicitly teach them. Even adults need to relearn these skills.  

Working remotely has helped me empathize with shut-ins in my church or students not leaving their dorms. It forces me to make intentional connections, and I value conversations much more now.  

Shane:  

And you've referred to Heather Holleman, who I love. She was our first interview in the pilot episode. I'll link her book, *The Six Conversations*, in the podcast description.  

Shelly Meyers:  

That's fantastic. One of the things I did was take her conversation questions at the beginning of every class as I took attendance. I'd ask one of her questions, and students had to answer it. Sometimes they'd say, "Can you come back to me?" But it modeled engagement. Later, I heard students using those same questions in other classes.  

Shane:  

That’s great. Can you give us examples of the questions you asked?  

Shelly Meyers:  

One of the best is, "What is the question you wish someone would ask you?" It opens up what someone is excited about. For example, I went on a study abroad trip to Italy, and I wished people would ask me about it. Students would share similar things, and later, they'd ask each other about those topics outside of class.  

Shane:  

That’s so practical. Some college students are now putting their questions on video to ask Christian professors like you. Here’s a question from Jamie Ward, a senior Elementary Ed major at UNCW.  

Jamie Ward:  

How have some of your biggest challenges in life pushed you closer to God, and how did you remain faithful during those times?  

Shelly Meyers:  

Thank you for that question. One of the hardest things in my professional life was losing a student. It made me question everything. It forced me to rely on God's Word and prayer. I had to handle my grief differently to show up for my students and community. Grief is different every time, but having that foundation in scripture and prayer helped me.  

Shane:  

Can you tell us more about dealing with a classroom grieving the loss of a fellow classmate?  

Shelly Meyers:  

You have to be comfortable with the emotion in the room—tears, indifference, anger. You need to listen more than speak and pray silently. Sharing vulnerability and understanding that this is a growing experience for them is important. Seek support yourself, so you're not dealing with secondary trauma.  

Shane:  

That’s good advice. Thank you.  

Shelly Meyers:  

Thank you.  

Shane:  

One of the privileges of this podcast is getting your advice from different angles. Let's jump into a lightning round. What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?  

Shelly Meyers:  

Don’t try to impress anyone. Believe who God says you are.  

Shane:  

What advice would you give to parents sending their kids to college?  

Shelly Meyers:  

Pray them through the struggle. Don’t rescue them.  

Shane:  

How would parents be tempted to rescue their kids when they shouldn’t?  

Shelly Meyers:  

If a class isn't going well, don't call the school or professor. Make them handle it themselves.  

Shane:  

Thank you. What advice would you give Christian professors who want to influence their campus for Christ?  

Shelly Meyers:  

There are ways to present yourself. I put my *Meet the Prof* episode in my Canvas course introduction. Also, plug into Cru or Faculty Commons for guidance.  

Shane:  

What’s your favorite Bible verse?  

Shelly Meyers:  

Isaiah 43:18-19, about God doing a new thing. It’s been significant in my transition after 19 years into a new season.  

Shane:  

What would people be surprised to know about professors?  

Shelly Meyers:  

Students probably don’t realize how much we think about them. Also, professors don’t make much money, especially early career professors.  

Shane:  

Shelly, this has been a joy. Thank you for sharing about your journey. If students want to reach out to you, how can they do that?  

Shelly Meyers:  

My information is on *MeetTheProf.com* and LinkedIn.  

Shane:  

Great. Thank you so much for being on the podcast.  

Shelly Meyers:  

Thank you.  

Shane:  

Well, I am so thankful for Shelly. I'm so glad you got to hear that interview with her, and feel free to reach out. We're putting her email in the description.  

Thank you for tuning in. And if you are a college student, remember you can follow us on Instagram at *meettheprofofficial.*  

We hope this encourages you to have a Christ-centered conversation on your college campus.