Leaving a Legacy

Time flies when you do something you love. It’s sad to see the end of these amazing three weeks. Over that small time, our team has definitely seen a change in many peoples’ attitudes towards community service. We’ve taken feedback, and used the concept of effectuation to change the current approach towards Friday service time and make it more engaging, based on what we heard at our study break. We’ve “motivated the elephant” through the creation of our SERVice star program, giving the rider a sense of direction: towards reaching their goal of activities participated in.

Now, our primary goal is to leave a legacy-have a tangible packet of information to pass along to the SERV board. This will go alongside the video Brendan discussed in his post, which is more oriented at the general student body than the actual “masterminds” behind the planning of activities. The main contents of our packet will include strategies on deciding Friday service activities-things to keep in mind, especially in terms of student interests. We’ll include the importance of contacting other organizations and clubs on campus, and, eventually, tips on how to get outside organizations involved. If we can continue the projects we’ve started-from the SERVice stars and Friday Service information poster in the dining hall to projects integrated with other clubs-I think we can make community service a part of an Oliner’s typical week.

You may think we’re overly excited about community service (is that even possible?). Yes, three of our FBE team are members of the SERV board, and maybe that does mean we have a bias, but we aren’t permanent parts of the board. I honestly believe that what we’ve changed- in both other students’ minds and our approach towards coming up with Friday service ideas-will be useful to the future members of the board, for at least some extended period of time. The excitement around the SERVice stars and the jump in participation in Friday activities are clear indicators that others besides the members of the SERV board have an interest in community service. It may be the SERV board’s job to offer a helping hand, but, ultimately, getting students outside of the board to lead projects is key to successfully keeping service alive and loved. We’ve created the tools-they just need to be continuously used.