“What should I do with my life?” is a pressing question for all college students. If this is something you’ve been wrestling with lately, there’s a man in Binford Hall who can help you find the answer. Frank Massey is the Guilford Initiative on Faith and Practice (IFP) gifts- discernment coordinator. IFP, a five-year program funded by the Lily Endowment, Inc., seeks to integrate faith and vocation into the campus environment. Massey’s role is to help students discover their personal gifts and strengths.
His job consists of assisting students in the process of learning about themselves. By becoming familiar with who they are, students can have a clarified vision about what direction they should go with their college careers.
“I’m here to help students find what it is they feel called to do,” Massey said.
Massey works with students to better incorporate life purpose into their time here at Guilford as well as their future endeavors.
“At Guilford, Frank has continued to make significant contributions through encouraging students exploring possible religious vocations, helping in the discernment process as students explore their leadings, quietly using his healing abilities, teaching Quaker spirituality, and providing counsel,” Max Carter, director of the Friends Center, Campus Ministry coordinator and friend of Massey for 30 years, said in an E-mail.
Born in Goldsboro, N.C., Massey was raised a Quaker. He studied at Earlham College, where he received a Master’s of Divinity from the Earlham School of Religion. For 17 years, he worked as the general secretary for the Baltimore Yearly Meeting but left to come to Guilford in fall 2005.
While the majority of Massey’s work in Baltimore was administrative, some of it involved counseling.
“I found I could help people see what they were good at,” Massey said. “I’ve always been told that I’m good at discernment.”
Since coming to Guilford, Massey has worked with students in finding their own passions and how to tailor their major and career plans accordingly.
“Too often we come to college to get a degree in order to get a job,” Massey said. “I tell students not to get locked into looking for one particular job. (Instead), look for experiences and doors will open.”
Massey himself has changed career paths. He has both an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in engineering from North Carolina State University. He originally wanted to do engineering work overseas, but because it was unsafe for his family to live abroad, he pursued faith and vocation instead.
When talking with students about their own goals and aspirations, Massey stated that the most significant thing he can do is listen.
“I ask questions,” Massey said. “It’s important for the students to do the talking.”
By allowing students to talk about themselves, he can recognize patterns in their lives. These patterns can stem from classes, extracurricular activities, emotions and personal experiences.
“We are formed by the people we encounter,” Massey said. “We should look at our experiences and ask, ‘How does that form me and what do I need to be involved with?'”
“The work that I’m doing with (Frank) now has helped me to become more focused and determined in becoming the best person that I can be,” said junior Melissa Guilfoyle. “He has been a tremendous support as well as an inspiration.”
Above all else, Massey invites students who come speak to him to share their life stories. While students from different backgrounds talk to him for various reasons, Massey said that he has seen a common trait in students at Guilford: “the deep hunger to change the world.”
“In Quaker terms, Frank is a ‘weighty Friend,'” Carter said. “His wise guidance and deep experience in the world offer wonderful resources for the campus. And, besides, with his long, grey beard, he offers the appearance that I am doing twice as much on campus as I really am!