About Me and Why I Chose SERVE
The best decision I have made so far while at Virginia Tech was choosing to be a part of the SERVE Living Learning Community. I stumbled across it when I was deciding which college I wanted to go to. At first I was unsure about the workload and all that goes into being in a living learning community, but God laid it on my heart to join and that feeling did not go away until I accepted the offer of acceptance. I chose to join SERVE for various reasons- to be in a group that I felt I belonged in, to continue my passion of serving others, and to live out Virginia Tech’s motto of Ut Prosim.
I come from Abingdon, Virginia, a small town in southwest Virginia. We are a very close-knit community and I have grown up with the same people my whole life. The entire town is the size of our freshman class. Needless to say, the thought of that is very overwhelming. I have always wanted to attend Virginia Tech, but the size of the college made me a little hesitant. I was so worried that I would not find a group of people that I felt comfortable around and that I could be myself around. But every single one of those thoughts faded the instant I met my fellow SERVErs. Two of my longest best friends chose to attend Virginia Tech too, but we are doing different things and I wanted a group that shared similar interests and likes to mine. I found that group of people within the SERVE living learning community. The sense of family began the second I met them. I love being able to text to the group, “hey who wants to grab lunch today after class?” and almost always there is someone that will go with you, or getting a group together to go play wallyball and relieve some stress. SERVE is not just something that I am apart of- it has become who I am. These are the people that I get to do life with.
One of my greatest joys and passions in life is serving others. The passion began in my church. It started when I volunteered in the tech department. Every Wednesday and Sunday, I ran ProPresenter which was the program for the videos and lyrics for the church services. I have always loved being a “behind the scenes” volunteer when doing my community service. I loved getting to be a big part of the services, but not being the center of attention. My church also instilled the motto that I try to live my life and service by, “love God, love people.” My faith is the most important thing to me and I wholeheartedly believe in putting God and other people before myself. I try to do this through service. Service is a huge part of being a Christian and I love getting the opportunity to participate in it while being in college. My passion for serving is not based solely on my faith but the simple joy of getting to see other people happy and knowing I made a difference.
Another big reason as to why I chose to do SERVE was to participate in Virginia Tech’s motto of Ut Prosim, “that I may serve.” The motto is what the university’s core values and beliefs are surrounded around. There is an inherent energy that anyone on campus and anyone affiliated with Virginia Tech has- serving others through every step of their life. Whether that be holding a door for someone, helping a lost student find their class, volunteering at a local organization, whatever it is, it has become a way of life for Hokies. College is typically just about me and doing everything I can for myself to earn a degree and better myself. But I wanted to be a part of something that is bigger than myself. I needed to feel like I was making a difference in other people’s lives. Sometimes I feel empty after a day of shopping or a fancy dinner because I know that those things will fade. But volunteering my time at a food bank and the feeling of seeing the endless gratitude and smiles on the customers’ faces does not fade. Knowing that I had an impact on people’s lives is far greater than spending money on meaningless things for myself or wasting my time watching TV.
I joined SERVE because I want to be able to serve in a deeper, more meaningful way. I want to learn how to make a greater impact on those around me. I want to be able to change lives and show the love of God to people along the way and learn different ways to do so. I want people to know that they are always loved and cared for despite what others may say. I strive to be the person that people know they can come to in times of struggle and need, or just when they need someone to talk to. If I can make one person smile while serving in this community, all of my work would be worth it.
Other Questions
How can you educate or raise awareness about this group or social issues?
During the SERVE weekend retreat, I had the opportunity to volunteer at Plenty Farms in Floyd, Virginia. Plenty Farms is a self-sustained community farm and food pantry. They are heavily ran off of donations from local farmers, organizations, and the community. A great way to raise awareness is to do a simple food drive for Plenty. The food bank is always in need of items and a food drive would be an easy way for people to learn more about the organization while helping it out. Another great way to raise awareness and educate people would be going to local schools, clubs, or organizations that have a focus on community service and telling them what Plenty is and how they could help. There are lots of service opportunities through Plenty for people of all ages to get involved and help.
Do you see benefits of doing community work? Why or why not?
I see nothing but benefits in doing community work. It is almost impossible, with the exception of a few rare circumstances, that something bad would come out of doing community work. The sole purpose to me of community service is giving your time and effort to a better cause other than yourself. So often in life, we get caught up in our busy lives and don’t take a second to stop and think about other people. We focus on ourselves and don’t even realize what is going on around us. The benefits of community work are far greater than any costs. Doing community work means you get to help needy people and I believe there is not much better than that.
What institutional structures are in place at your site or in the community? How do they effect the people you work with?
In my hometown, the most influential structure on me is my church Highlands Fellowship. It has grown to be a church with over 4,000 in attendance and 6 campuses and is now a huge part of my community. To me it is not just a church, it’s a group of people who want to love on others and have fun all in the name of God. There are numerous outreach and service events that the church puts on and I love to volunteer and be a part of as many as possible. Everyone I am around at these events and those I am serving alongside, have the biggest smiles and hearts full of joy.
At my community here at Virginia Tech, a large institutional structure that I am involved with is VT Engage. They strive to bring together people of all kinds and backgrounds to create partnerships and bonds through service, learning and reflection. VT Engage is for students, communities, and faculty. One of their main goals is to encourage the university’s motto of Ut Prosim. A lot of what SERVE does is led and influenced by the VT Engage program.
What did you do that seemed effective or ineffective in the community?
The volunteer opportunity that had the greatest impact on me was getting to package dog and cat food at the food pantry part of Plenty Farms. It really helped put my service into perspective. One of the main leaders at Plenty explained the project to us before we began. She said that they take bags of dog and cat food to the places that they deliver food and allow the people to take what they need for their pets. One reason why it was impactful to me was because I feel like pets get overlooked a lot in these kinds of situations. I loved that the organization thought just as much about the pets as they did the people. The main reason it was so impactful was because the leader told us that a husband and wife spend their entire Sunday doing what 15 of us volunteers were able to do in half an hour. It was such a good feeling knowing that we alleviated a Sunday of hard work for the couple and really showed me how much of an impact volunteering can have on people.
What are the most difficult or satisfying parts of your work? Why?
The most satisfying part of volunteering for me is seeing the smiles of gratitude and happiness on the faces of the people I served. To me, that is why I serve. To feel like I had an impact on someone’s life. To feel like I am making a difference. Serving is such a fulfilling experience knowing that I did not waste my time on something useless and meaningless, but on something that people will forever be thankful for. It is a feeling that almost nothing else in the world can bring.
How are your values expressed through your community work?
Serving is one of the things that I am most passionate about because it directly lines up with who I am. My faith is the biggest and most important part of me. Serving is a huge part of the Christian faith and I believe that it is a responsibility as a Christian to serve God and other people. To me, it is not just a responsibility. It is a part of who I am. My community work varies in the extent and degree- volunteering at a food bank, babysitting, the tech crew at church, running concession stands. I love learning about new things and social issues and places and I feel like that is evident in my service. My favorite service activity though is volunteering at my church because I believe it has made me who I am today and I love to give back to the church and to God.
Because of service learning, I am…
… learning to become a better person. I do my best to love and respect every single person no matter what they have done or what their situation is. That can be hard though sometimes but I feel like serving is my way of humbling myself and making sure I know that I am not better than anyone else. I understand that I am blessed and don’t deserve what I have, but I wholeheartedly believe that everyone is equal. We all struggle with things in life, it’s just that some people’s struggles and hardships are different than others. Through service learning I hope to learn to love deeper, serve in a more meaningful way, connect with others who I would know how to on my own, and step out of my comfort zone.