Why I Serve
As a brother of Alpa Phi Omega, I am often asked the obvious question of “why do you love service?” It is a concept so simple to me, yet an answer so hard to articulate in words. There is the clear joy of helping someone in need, the civic responsibility of giving back to a world which I am privileged to be a part of, and the chance to gain a broader understanding of the community around me. The hardest answer to explain, yet the simplest to say is, the people.
During the first semester of my sophomore year, I signed up for APO’s Salvation Army tutoring. I thought the twice a week commitment sounded like a fun time, and a great way to get some steady service hours. When I first showed up to the center, the director told me she had assigned me a student and would let me know when they came in. I sat on my plastic chair brimming with anticipation. Every time the door opened and a new student walked through, my heart leaped. There was an adorable five-year-old with his batman comic books, a 12 year-old girl running to hug the program director, and a 14 year-old boy obtaining nothing but a science textbook and a bored look on his face. We’d all know I was lying if I said my heart wasn’t already attached to the superhero’s and the sweet hugs. But, when I was called over, I was introduced to Jack*, my biology-book carrying, sulken teenager.
Jack was 13 years old and enrolled in a homeschool based program that let students progress at their own pace, regardless of age. This meant that Jack was three years behind the majority of his friends, and from what I gathered, not a subject he liked to talk about. As I introduced myself to Jack, I scanned for a backpack or an overlooked workbook containing something that wasn’t science. If there is one thing in this world I should never be a tutor for, it is science. English would have been great, even math would have sufficed, but science was the subject of my nightmares. Regardless, Jack needed a tutor, so we opened the book and started working. For two weeks we spent the hour sessions with me talking to myself while Jack gave no interest in doing anything except staring at the clock. The director and I tried everything from pictures, to interactive models to make concepts easier to grasp and the hour be fun for Jack.
The next Tuesday, it was time to go to tutoring and I was honestly dreading it. I wasn’t in the mood and my patience was non-existent. When Jack sat down I gave him two papers, one was my English paper with an A on the top and the other was a chemistry test with a bold red F next to my name. I told Jack that we are good at different things, that it can take a long time to find our strengths, even though our weaknesses always seem to jump out. Jack replied by telling me he had no strengths, that he was dumb and that his friends laughed at him for it. I noticed Jack’s camouflage attire and asked him if knew about animals and hunting. He gave me a look that made it certain he thought I was insane for answering him with such a random question. I then proceeded to ask every question under the sun about animal care so much that he probably questioned my ability to be a tutor. The more I told Jack about how impressed I was with what he knew, the more he would ask questions about what I knew finally prompting his comfort in learning.
During my semester tutoring Jack, we only got through about three chapters. At times it was painful and slow and it was hard to keep patience. But, at the end of the semester Jack could tell me everything there was to tell me about those three chapters. He could explain it in his words and was proud of himself beyond belief. At the end of the semester I learnt that service isn’t about showing up, but about actually caring to make a difference.
Why do I love service? It can be summed up pretty easily; Jack’s self-confidence, his mom’s smile, new friends exchanging Christmas gifts, and of course, a shared hatred of science class.