I (Paul Kim) love mentoring undergraduate research. Something about teaching undergraduate students to refine the academic and professional skills normally reserved for their more advanced counterparts, combined with the eagerness and appropriate level of fear that younger students might bring into the first-time experience of joining a research lab, makes the research mentoring experience uniquely rewarding.
My lab recently completed the data analysis and write up for a qualitative study focused on American students’ engagement with Christian virtues emphasized at our institution (courage, faith, hope, justice, love, temperance, and wisdom) and a few Korean constructs (e.g., jeong, approximately defined as “mixed feelings of fondness, caring, bonding, and attachment that develop within interpersonal relationships”1) during a South Korea study abroad.
Those of you who use qualitative methods likely can relate to this – the data analysis process is grueling, requiring the research team to meet regularly for weeks or even months to discuss and extract themes. During this arduous journey, I have found that a learning community emerges, one that is able to dialogue about the research topics at hand (e.g., Christian virtues, Korean culture) but also about the research process itself.
Analiese Bondar, an undergraduate student on my team, was an integral participant in this learning community, from analysis to write up. Below, Analiese shares how she experienced the research process, including how her Christian faith animated the approach and outcome. My hope is that the insights that she shares can serve as one example of how our work as Christian scholars that we invite students into can shape our students’ learning.
PK: We pored over the data for many months! What was the internal process like for you, as we read over the students’ writing and discussed it with one another?
Analiese Bondar (AB): As someone who had wanted to attend the study abroad program but ended up being unable to, I felt as if my heart was especially connected to reading the students’ reflections. As I read through the eyes of the students and coded what they felt, it was as if I was feeling a small piece of the study abroad program with them. As they shared fondly about the interactions at markets or the restaurants that they visited, I was delighted that they had those experiences. As they reflected on the han (approximately defined as “unresolved grief, frustration, loss, or resentment in response to traumatic experience(s)”2) they witnessed at the Comfort Women’s Memorial and other excursions or shared about their homesickness, I felt my heart hurt for and with them.
PK: Among the virtues, which one(s) did students often reflect on? And which one was not as popular, but perhaps we might consider as an opportunity lost, in connection to Christian faith and cross-cultural experiences?
I believe the virtue students often reflected on was love. Love seemed to be a virtue that came easily to them when either feeling it themselves or spotting it in others. They would often discuss and reflect on this virtue alongside the Korean cultural concept of jeong. They would highlight moments where they recognized love in others, whether through camaraderie or acts of service; the students would also then mention jeong in the same or similar settings. It was really fascinating to see how common it was for the students to reflect on the two as almost intertwined together — with the idea that with one comes the other.
On the other hand, one virtue that I think wasn’t as discussed as the others was faith. It was intriguing to read the students’ reflections because, although we were conducting this study looking through a Christian lens, the students who participated didn’t necessarily share the same faith or reflect on the virtue as much as they interacted with others. While some students briefly mentioned the Christian faith and other faiths in their reflections, it wasn’t as commonly focused on overall. I’d be curious to know more about how the virtue of faith was present and recognized throughout this study abroad trip and how the activities on the trip led others to consider their own faith, or the faith of others.
PK: What kind of influence do you think this project had on your Christian faith?
AB: This project has led me to further grasp the significance of virtues, specifically in the Christian context. As a Christian myself, I have enjoyed working with themes that are rooted in Christ. As I interacted more with the data, however, I was given tangible examples of how these virtues can influence and inspire people outside of the Christian religion. I appreciated reading the diverse stories of the students through different lenses. Seeing this led to a deepening of my own faith as I was left to grapple with the question, “What makes my perception of these virtues rooted in Christ?” As I sat more with the reflections, I began to learn how I viewed these virtues in the context of my faith and through a Christ-centered, biblically based lens.
Also, through this study, I was pushed to be more mindful of the virtues when interacting with others and engaging in the world around me. I was inspired by the insights from students as they were asked to seek out these virtues and constructs. I felt urged to do the same in my own life. I’ve noticed that I’ve been motivated to look for examples of faith, hope, love, and temperance as I interact with others. I seek out ways justice can be honored and prioritized throughout my day. I strive to walk in courage and wisdom as I aim to learn more about the world and the people around me. All of this has drawn me closer to God as I am able to learn more about his character and how he calls me to live that out.
PK: Your professors often discuss virtue-spotting (i.e., seeing other people act virtuously) as an important aspect of encouraging students to engage the topic of virtues. In a real sense, the study abroad students who we read about were doing that kind of spotting. But what you seem to be saying is that there is also value in watching and reflecting on others doing virtue-spotting; virtue-spotting spotting, if you will. Does that make sense to you?
AB: Yes! I definitely see that present as I read the students’ reflections. The students explaining what virtues they recognized in other people motivated me to consider the presence of those virtues through the perspective of someone else, rather than my own. I had the opportunity to “step out of myself” and put myself in the students’ shoes. When doing that, I observed things that I might not have personally recognized if it had been me in that situation. In particular, there were moments when some students ventured off by themselves for an activity of their choosing. During that time, the students had the chance to experience something that was fully their own; one that no other study abroad student could speak about. Getting to read those reflections felt extra special to me, since the students were inviting us into a truly personal experience of seeing others act virtuously.
PK: You mentioned that the research topic (virtues) encouraged you to look for those aspects in your everyday life. But how about the research process itself? That is, which virtues were highlighted for you while conducting research?
AB: During the research process itself, I felt wisdom was emphasized. We had to be very detail-oriented as we read closely and considered what should and should not be coded. There was a need for wisdom in our thematic analysis as we considered what themes were present and what common threads we recognized among the students’ reflections. Additionally, the virtue of temperance was particularly tested, I think, in our process of analyzing the qualitative data. There was a need for humility, patience, and self-control as we meticulously worked through the data. We had to read the students’ reflections multiple times, discussing with one another our observations and coming to agreements on what we coded and what themes we agreed upon. It was a sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph process that invited me into practicing the virtues we were analyzing by walking in humility, discernment, and patience. I have grown through this research project, as I intentionally focused on how students searched for virtuous behaviors and engaged Korean constructs in their everyday interactions.
During the months of data analysis, my mind was flooded with memories of memories that weren’t my own yet still cherished. Seeking out ways that an action from a stranger or a statement from a classmate can display constructs such as jeong or virtues like hope has become familiar, creating in me a desire to keep my eyes open for these connections — whether in my own life or in the stories of others.
Analiese Bondar is a 4th-year college student studying cross-cultural psychology at Seattle Pacific University.
This publication was made possible through the support of a grant from Wake Forest University and the Lilly Endowment Inc. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wake Forest University or the Lilly Endowment Inc
