TCL - Rule #3 - Serving Helps you Grow

As a freshman, I am not even sure I came to the majority of the Interact meetings; I had joined a club without even fully being aware of the implications. I do remember the sponsoring teacher’s genuine love for service and the look on his face that always said, “Come one guys, I promise you, this is fun!” I believe that is why I began to serve. Without really acknowledging what I was getting myself into, I kept signing up for events, and getting my mom to drive me. Of course she never objected, because I was doing a noble thing, right? It was not until a year or two after that I realized how community service was affecting my life. When I got my driver’s license, it became my job to drive myself to the venues and be on time (I am rarely on time to anything). Without my mother, I had to take full responsibility for each event, but it also gave me the chance to go to exactly which projects I wanted to. I have worked on Kennesaw Mountain to restore the trails (which meant learning how to use a pick-axe and using the muscles I’ve never had), I have watched over children, worked at registration tables for non-profit events, participated in six eagle scout projects and done sandwich drives in our own cafeteria.
As I became more involved, I started to become more genuinely helpful and willing to put others first. I have learned how to talk to adults professionally, how to write the perfect formal e-mail, and how to contact people efficiently. I am no longer intimidated by any conversation because service has increased my people skills, confidence, and ability to perform several various tasks. My organizational skills shot up, although I’d have a melt-down if I ever lost my planner, and I noticed that I have become generally more successful when planning events. 
 My all-time favorite experience has been serving at the Extension. Extension is a facility that strives to enable a transformation that empowers chemically dependent homeless men and women to become sober, accountable member of society and to serve as a recovery resource for the community. Every month I went with a group from my school to prepare and serve a meal for them. I love the feeling of providing a meal for someone who needs it, and seeing the smile on their faces as they receive and consume it. Meeting the men at the facility and serving the foods helped me to realize how much the problem I walked into the door with doesn’t matter. One of my girlfriends snapped at me today? Try being homeless and addicted to drugs with nowhere to turn. A highly trained staff including certified counselors works daily with the men to help them find jobs, beat addiction, and put the pieces of their lives back together. Brian McNair, Board Chair said, “Not all make it, but a lot of them do, and when they do their lives are changed forever, and the lives of their families are changed, and our community is changed.  We’re not just talking about the hope of 67 men and women; we’re talking about the hope of their families, the kids who just want their mommy or daddy back in their lives, the mothers and fathers who have been through so much who simply want the peace of knowing their son or daughter is going to be okay.  Giving to The Extension is about supporting families and the community as a whole.  It’s not about a problem—it’s about a solution.”

I guess service really gives me an opportunity to be genuinely proud of myself, and realize how happy I am with the life I was given because I am so blessed. Without the constant reminder of how much I have and how much I am able to give others, I would forget. Next year at Tampa, the honors program will require me to do a certain number of hours each semester, but it will be a piece of cake. Not many people fully understand that they get as much out of serving as the people who are receiving the service, but it is a great lesson that I have learned.