When Bradford Goodridge was younger, he didn’t know what he wanted to do when he grew up, but he knew what kind of person he wanted to be. In 6th grade, Goodridge’s church announced that they had received a new associate pastor. This pastor quickly acclimated to the new church and immediately treated the children, including Goodridge, like friends, without belittling them or looking down on them. Goodridge appreciated his genuineness, saying, “He was the type of person to like… just walk into the cafeteria, sit with students, get to know them, eat with them, come out to the playground… he would invite me and my sister to come to his office. We played Uno.” Goodridge took to heart the way his pastor treated him, and he knew that he wanted to be the kind of person who made others feel the same way the pastor made him feel.
His goal to be a good influence and role model to younger kids naturally evolved into pursuing a career in teaching and counseling. Goodridge attended Southern Adventist University, and as part of his junior year as a theology major, he took a trip to India. His teacher, who had taken his class to India, expressed disappointment in the class size, saying that he wouldn’t have taken the class at all if he had known how small the group would be. Goodridge marked this—and other oddities of his teacher—as “red flags,” reflecting on how teachers and adults' actions have large impacts on younger people.
So, previously wanting to be a pastor, Goodridge felt lost. As he was filling out the applications for senior year, he knew that he didn’t belong only teaching in a church, emphasizing, “That doesn’t feel like me.” But, as he was considering his hazy future, he thought back to the past. He recalled the associate pastor who made him feel welcome and encouraged, leading him to research school counseling. He realized that he could make the same impact he felt, and as his profession.
Subsequently, he pursued school counseling, as well as leading a youth group at Crosswalk, a new Adventist church, both involving guiding students through school and life itself. Mirroring his 6th-grade associate pastor, Goodridge’s guide to helping students is a simple one: Be yourself. The easiest way to get a student to feel like they can open up and be themself is to be an example of it. Goodridge says, “When I approach a student, you know, it’s not a technique… if you think you can be trained on it, or there’s some advice, like special tools, there isn’t. If you’re working with kids, you just be yourself and you talk to them in a way that allows them to be themselves. You aren’t speaking down to them.”
I met Bradford at Crosswalk in my 6th-grade year, after moving states, schools, and churches. Bradford is very humble about his talents, but he stands out as an amazing leader. I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, barely know what I want to study, but I do know one thing for certain: When I grow up, I want to be the same kind of person who makes others feel the way Bradford made me feel in 6th grade; I want to be like Mr. Goodridge.
-Cole Hayes