How Can I Be at your Service?

I am a service-oriented person. For years I have taken the time to serve through various experiential opportunities such as mission and service trips, volunteering, participating in leadership camps, as well other random activities. My time spent serving others has made me realize more about what causes I am passionate about and the importance of sharing them with others. Through the years, these causes have ranged from homeless to education to immigration. Each experience that I have had has opened my eyes to the needs of many and continuously reminds me the importance of giving back to others. Although at times it seems like the impact that I make on community may be small, the lessons that the community gives me in return is so big. I feel that as time passes these experiences have had more of an affect on me. No matter what though, I am a servant leader and will continue to be one.

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.”

- Robert Greenleaf from his book, The Servant as Leader

An important aspect of being a servant leader is to believe. A leader needs to believe in themselves and what they are capable of doing. They need to have the confidence that they can get people together to act in unity. However, a servant leader needs to believe in the cause that they are working towards. This concept of belief was something I struggled with first coming into Wartburg. Since I was younger, I felt that my opinions did not really matter. I thought that the upperclassmen would be the ones who would share a wealth of knowledge with me and that when my time came, I would be the one to do the same. Sitting and waiting to be inspired did nothing though. After going on a service trip my freshman year, I decided to take the challenge and try to lead a trip on my own. Even though I was nervous about being an underclassman and taking a leadership position, I was able to gain the confidence to believe in myself. I realized that rather than focusing on all of the things that I might be not able to do, I had to focus on the skills that I did possess. Some of my qualities I had were determination and organization. After reassessing who I was then, I came to the realization that I was capable of leading others in service.

INSPIRING OTHERS

I believe that the ability to uplift individuals to serve is essential to building communities through service. The challenge of getting others involved is a task that I thoroughly enjoy. A common drawback would be how easy it is for people to sit back and do nothing for others. However, the results of becoming involved can be so rewarding. A program that I have participated in for a number of years is the High School Leadership Institute (HSLI). During this program, 15-25 high school students come to Wartburg for a week to learn about leadership and then develop a service-learning project to implement in their own communities during their senior year of high school. This was my first interaction with Wartburg as a high school student and I loved the program so much that I continued to participate as a college mentor once my journey at Wartburg started. In the HSLI, one of the lessons that the students learn each year is the importance to encourage others to serve. Based on Kouzes and Posner's chapter "Inspire a Shared Vision" in their book, The Student Leadership Challenge, the students learn the importance to keep in mind people's emotions during service. The chapter highlights the importance of always envisioning the potential of the future. While participants may become frustrated and not feel like their work is of any contribution, the servant leader is the one who remains positive about the work that people are doing and reminds people of the bigger goal that is trying to be reached. 

An example of having to inspire a shared vision was not in a service-based activity but rather while helping create a fundraiser for the Wartburg Ultimate Frisbee Club. The club was in the need of some funds to help us travel to various tournaments around the Midwest for the next year. Suddenly, I was sparked with the idea of hosting a second tournament at Wartburg at the beginning of the fall. It would not only be a way for us to raise money, but then we could give the freshmen an opportunity to learn what tournaments are like without making a huge commitment, allow the returners an opportunity to play for the first time for the season, and we could create an ultimate community with others in the area. A couple of the captains were a little hesitant at my idea. They thought that it would be too hard to get enough people together and that it would be too much effort to try and arrange. Rather than taking "no" as an answer, I made project proposals and talked to all of the contacts that we would need in order to host the tournament. After committing myself to the project and showing that hosting a tournament would not be impossible, the captains finally accepted my want to host a tournament. They then helped with recruitment and some logistics that I delegated to them. I practiced what I preach to the high school students coming to HSLI - to inspire a shared vision. This example is proof to me that I have the ability to bring people together for one cause. This ability can be so helpful in leadership across all the line - in service, in sports, in the workplace, etc.   

BEING AN ACTIVE CITIZEN 

When it comes to trying to make a change, there are different levels of commitment that people give to certain causes. With the Orange Corps, the Wartburg Service Trip group, we use The Active Citizen Continuum from Breakaway: The Alternative Break Connection. It shares four various stages that a person might be in when it comes to participation in service: member, volunteer, conscientious citizen, and active citizen. While a member knows there is a problem but chooses to do nothing about it, a volunteer will take their time every once in a while to help provide a temporary solution. There have been many times where I have just been a volunteer by giving my time at places such as Habitat for Humanity of the Northeast Iowa Foodbank. The conscientious citizen takes everything a step further by volunteering in certain situations, but analyzing the situation and trying to find out what the root causes are. Participating in service trips is reflective of being a conscientious citizen. For instance, when I went down to Waterloo and my group worked with the Hospitality House that houses homeless people in the daytime, we not only got to know the people who used the services, but we analyzed the governmental and societal structures that force them to stay in their current situation. In terms of homelessness, we talked about selfishness, the large gaps between classes, the lack of availability of transportation, and the difficulty to make a living on minimum wage. Taking an opportunity to be on a service trip and analyze each situation really encourages students to take a step further and become an active citizen. An active citizen tries to fight for justice for the community. They not only give their time to volunteer and learn about the root causes, but they are the ones sharing information about the issue and trying to get others to be passionate as well. 

Courtesy of Breakaway: The Alternative Break Connection
http://alternativebreaks.org/active_citizen_continuum.asp

The stage of being an active citizen is where I would like to be. Unfortunately, as the case is with many people, the lack of time can really be a burden. However, I want to be an active citizen in my future that fights for what they believe in and doesn't give up even when faced with adversity. Fortunately, in sociology, the equivalent of an active citizen is a public sociologist. These people work in a specific community and focus on the issues within that community. Their work usually is not as well known as professional sociologists who spend their time researching and writing papers. Public sociologists are more focused on the needs of their people being served first. I hope that in my future I can help work with immigrants as a type of public sociologist. I would love to work with the immigrant communities and educate people on the adversities that immigrant families have to go through - whether they are legal or not. I was inspired when I took a service trip to Corpus Christi, Texas where we worked at Bokenkamp Children Shelter that houses unaccompanied minors who crossed the US border. Listening to their stories about the separation of their family and how they would do anything to be reunited again warmed my heart and made me hopeful that in the future, I can try and help immigrants get better treatment. At this point, I can only keep on reading about some of the issues and continue trying to volunteer. Someday though I am sure that I can cross the line from being a conscientious citizen and figure out how my passion can make a difference.

FINAL CALL FOR LAST THOUGHTS

Sometimes I feel like I am behind - that there are so many people doing good things and that I am not doing enough. No, I haven't made my own not-for-profit organization and I have not raised thousands of dollars for a specific cause. As my teachers are constantly reminding me though, it's not quantity that matters, it's quality. By taking the time to share what I am passionate about with others is enough. Plus, help does not have to come in big gestures but in small steps. An example of a small step I took is what I decided to do upon turning twenty-one. Rather than asking for gifts for my birthday, I wanted people to give gifts for my birthday. Specifically, what I wanted is for people to donate to certain causes that I chose rather than getting gifts. I didn't want anything and I knew that there were plenty people out in the world who needed something more than I did. I signed myself up for an account with www.charitybirthday.com and chose three great organizations for people to donate to: Donors Choose, FEED, and Charity:Water. Then, I was not only sharing the word about certain causes, but people were willing to give to them because of my passion to help certain organizations. It was a simple step that helped make a change!

Being a servant leader is taking the strength to say that others needs are more important than your own. Whether it's volunteering at a homeless shelter, doing a service trip, or fundraising money, being a servant leader is standing up to the world and helping others face reality. Ultimately, thanks to my experiences at Wartburg, being a servant leader is part of me and always will be.

So. How can I be at your service?