Heart Longings of Gen Z Students Today
By: Brittany Norris
If you check out what songs held the Billboard number one spots this year, you’ll find lyrics like
Late one night
You dug me out of my grave and
Saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia (Ophelia)
or
I'm done hidin', now I'm shinin'
Like I'm born to be
We dreamin' hard, we came so far
Now I believe
We're goin' up, up, up
It's our moment
You know together we're glowin'
Gonna be, gonna be golden
or
In this world, concrete flowers grow
Heartache, she only doin' what she know
Weekends, get it poppin' on the low
Better days comin' for sure
If this world were—
If it was up to me
These songs have great beats, some interesting lyricism, and pop culture standing, but they also showcase the heart longings of Gen Z college students today. They feature grandiose rescue by someone who loves you deeply, embracing your true self and experiencing belonging and success in community, and even a jaded sort of hope for what is to come and how we can be a part of making it happen. Step foot on a college campus and you’ll experience, in word and deed, a strange mix of societal nihilism alongside a pursuit of identity, belonging, and purpose- which can only surface from a deeper hope for something greater.
Identity, Belonging, and Purpose
According to Business Insider, Gen Z is the first truly digital generation- some call them digital natives- having grown up under the microscope of social media and with unfettered internet access in the palm of their hands. While this access opens up countless opportunities, it also opened Pandora’s box with increased rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicide. College students today are inundated with messaging to pursue the ‘greatest’ thing: their authentic truth and happiness.
What does that even mean? Society doesn’t offer a firm answer so college students are left to craft an answer on their own. An answer grounded in their identity- individually and collectively- and grounded in the purpose of their life. But those aren’t simply answered either. ‘Who am I?’ used to encompass familial norms, cultural background, personal interests and pursuits. Now, college students often feel like they have to rewind even further back to the basics that were once a given: ‘What’s my gender? What’s my sexuality?’ Floundering in those foundational questions, college students then look for cues from their favorite influencer or the current trends to figure out the building blocks of their identity.
Loudly proclaiming what they’ve achieved, who they’re voting for, who they’re cheering for, who they follow and who follows them back, students are desperately calling out for a place to belong. Paralyzed by being perceived outside of a carefully constructed online identity, Gen Z is accessible 24/7 globally through technology at the expense of interpersonal connection. They’re called the ‘Loneliest Generation.’ The college students I encounter at EKU and Berea know this. Countless men and women try different methods of limiting their screentime or getting off certain social media platforms and trading it out for a meal or game night with friends. Even these attempts at belonging can feel risky though- ‘Do I even really like spending my time like this? What if there’s something more fun I could be doing? Are these the people I want to hang out with?” A face-to-face interaction cannot be curated the way an online one often can, filtered through a chosen identity the circumstance calls for.
Finding their identity, finding a community to belong to, all of those- rife with risk and changing like waves on the sea- leads to, or so students long for, a greater purpose. Sometimes the pursuit is academic achievement, career advancement, financial stability, finding the right person to settle down with and creating the dream family, the list goes on. But in face of bleak realities (economically, overall global well-being, education to career pipeline, breakdown of the family unit, etc), even the purpose they set their identity and belonging on often leaves students and graduates unsatisfied and searching for more. When reckoning with this, is it really all just vanity?
We’re Not All That Different
If even Solomon battled with thoughts of futility, is it a wonder college students wrestle with their tangled webs of unmet heart longings and dissatisfaction? Could the same not be said for any generation? Whether labeled a member of the Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, or Gen Z, that transitional age of 18-22 leads to questions of identity, belonging in society, and purpose. Sure, it’s taken different shades- perhaps as pursuing a legacy in light of what previous generations endured or seeking stability and control in changing times or meaningful work and progression of society- but they’re all shades of the same colors. ‘This is who I am, this is who I belong with, this is why I exist.’ We’re not so different and neither are our heart longings. The refrain repeats: ‘identity, belonging, purpose.’
The Best Invitation
Why have we all felt this way through the ages? That’s the beauty of these heart longings. No matter the generation crafting their own answers and fulfillment to these longings, they exist because we’ve been created with them. Created to long for a greater identity, belonging, and purpose. Every human bears His image- a foundation of breathtaking beauty and worth. But we’re made for even more. We’re made to belong in the most intimate relationship to and with our Creator.
An invitation has been imparted to each of us and it doesn’t matter how many followers on Instagram we have, how successful our career, or how picturesque our life. The Savior beckons to us with an offer of the most intrinsically profound identity, belonging, and purpose. What is true of the believer? We have been given the right to be called His children (John 1:12), made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5), sealed by His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), redeemed and called His (Isaiah 43:1), and bought with a price to glorify God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This is where Gen Z college students can find the answer for their heart longings. This is where you can find satisfaction as well. Come, let us glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Brittany Norris is a member of Covenant Community Church and has served on staff with Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) at EKU and Berea College for 13 years.
