Finding Yourself Through the Service of Others

bye

die empty these are the shocking and

somewhat confusing words i heard back at

a conference in 2015.

die empty what’s that supposed to mean

aren’t we supposed to live life to the

fullest and

doesn’t life sound a bit dull if it’s

empty i had no idea what this speaker

was talking about

until these two words that once confused

me actually began to change my

perspective on life

and the way i live it when thinking of

this meaning

i figured out what the speaker was

trying to say is that we had to live

so much so that for when our time comes

we don’t have anything else left to give

this phrase has lived with me for six

years now and i’d like to tell you about

some things i’ve learned since hearing

that very phrase

after reflecting for so long and after

some of the things i’ve experienced

it is that one of the main ways to find

yourself

who you are and how to become a little

bit happier along the way

is through dedicating a portion of your

time into the service of others

and your community ever since i was

little helping others is always

something that i held dear to my heart

growing up i was always the new kid my

dad’s job required us to move around the

province a bit

so by time i was done grade 7 i had gone

to just over

10 elementary schools that’s crazy right

moving from school to school sometimes

two to three schools in one

school year really forced me out of my

comfort zone

but there were so many cool things that

i wanted to take advantage of

like those little lunchtime clubs where

you can learn about your local animal

shelter

or ones where you could write christmas

cards to the local senior center

unfortunately due to me being a pretty

mobile kid

i never really got to dive into these

opportunities

so instead i took the issue of inclusion

to my liking

and i tried my best to make sure that no

kid felt lonely

on the playground at recess the way i

thought of it was

no one’s a stranger actually they’re

just a friend in waiting so

naturally i would go up to some kids who

looked like they could use a friend

and i would talk to them and after some

conversation

i would usually invite them on the

playground to come play grounders with

my friends and i

because of this i ended up with some

really cool friends along the way

whose names phone numbers and addresses

i kept in a little pink teddy bear

address book that i still have to this

day

and after i moved to the next town i

would call them up

i would be multitasking while spinning

the wheel of wow on my webkinz account

and i would ask them how they’ve been

this may seem pretty minuscule

but it was my way of helping others and

as i grew older

i came to learn of additional meetings

of helping others along the way

in my first year or two of high school i

really took my time adjusting to the new

settings around me

this time around everyone was a new

student

and it was time to explore the new

classes

the new people and the different

extracurricular activities that were

available

i kept that very same mission with me

but i wanted it to be something

different

i wanted it to be something more i

wanted

my high school experience to be one that

was unforgettable

i’m talking high school musical level

so i tried the sports and i discovered

that it wasn’t really right for me

i tried the arts and i enjoyed it

but it didn’t really give me that spark

of passion i was looking for

but then i joined my school’s student

council and leadership

classes and i think that’s really where

my passion

for community engagement and

philanthropy began

i realized that this is something i

really wanted to do

i wanted to help others and i wanted to

learn about the issues

that are happening in the world so from

that point on

i tried really hard to gain some

important experiences within my

community

such as volunteering in a kindergarten

class or leading a group of

students in student council

moving forward past high school and into

university

i joined rotary international which is a

global humanitarian organization

that promotes peacekeeping and community

building

through rotary i got to take part in the

local sassy awards

as a recipient a committee member and

even an emcee down the way

and in 2019 i got to go to guatemala

with my club

where we helped install almost 100

clean burning stoves in the village of

cement rio yolante

i got to see the amazing and impeccable

sustainable development and

economic empowerment that was taking

place in this community

and the rest of the rural guatemalan

highlands as well

i also joined ubc hope which is the ubc

humanitarian organization where that

organization

serves to provide a voice to those who

are marginalized specifically

those in vancouver’s downtown east side

i also became a tutor

at a local high school that has a large

population of vulnerable and at-risk

youth

now these are just some memorable

experiences for me but there were also a

lot of other exciting projects

that i got to take part in that helped

create and drive my passion for helping

others while doing these things

i felt that i had finally found a part

of me

it was because of a decision a decision

to get involved throughout my school

years

getting involved deep in my

understanding of what i was learning in

the classroom

it also provided me with real life

outside of the classroom experiences

through these very things

i got to learn about climate change

through environmental initiatives

i got to learn about women’s rights and

political representation

through a club aimed for women in

politics i even got to learn about

education reform in bc

it’s pretty cool right i realized that

these things also help me

decide what i wanted to study in

university and

what i want to pursue a career in in

this case

i’m studying international relations and

security studies

ultimately the foundation in me that i

want to help others

was largely created by the opportunities

that were available to me in school

it is these choices and risks we take

that ultimately help us create the path

we want to see for ourselves once we

walk across the stage because it is

these opportunities

that shape us teach us about

responsibility compassion

how to stay motivated how to develop our

leadership skills

i challenge you to join one club

sports team arts initiative whatever

that may be

if this is something you’ve been

thinking about for a while and just

needed a little bit of a push

here’s your side and if it’s something

that you

haven’t been thinking about much or

haven’t thought about it all then i hope

that this talk provides you with the

insight

and a little bit of motivation to do so

i mean what can go wrong right

you never know unless you try and if

you’re doing one thing and you’re

finding it’s not working out for you

then try something else the most

important thing though

is to never stop trying until you find

that one thing

that makes your heart happy and you’ll

know what i’m talking about

trust me when you know when you figure

this out

you will know so

join that student council try out for

that volleyball team

take part in that local animal

conservation society

whatever it may be i can guarantee you

you’re going to find and meet

like-minded amazing and kind people who

are going to be there for you to support

you on your journey in creating that

path

in this case giving is receiving

one thing i’d like to note about this

process of finding yourself

is that it’s a constant think of these

activities you’re doing

as a bit of a catalyst one that will

help you feel a bit more fulfilled along

the way

you can never simply know enough about

yourself so keep learning

and learn well a quote that comes to

mind actually is one from namjoon kim

he says that there’s no need to live

life based on the standards of others

everyone’s always talking about dreaming

big

but there’s no need to live so fiercely

like that all the time

this quote particularly resonates well

with me and potentially you too

because sometimes when we’re running so

fast in life and

it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all

we’re doing in school we forget to stop

and breathe for a bit so when you feel

down and you’re starting to get

overwhelmed

don’t hesitate to break take a break

because you can get right back up from

where you started

and go from there this reminds me of a

conversation i had with my sister

recently

she’s currently a grade 12 student

graduating this year

and she said something in particular

that really stuck with me

she talked to me about how staying

involved in her school community

has really helped her with managing her

mental health

she feels that it’s crucial for all kids

to have a healthy outlet to go to when

times get tough

and i could not agree with her more i

know that this year things have been

hard

especially with all that’s been going on

in the world but if we can find

one thing that we truly enjoy i think

that it’ll not only help others

but it’ll help ourselves too in the end

another thing that i like to note is

that my experiences

as a young white woman are not fully

representative of

others experiences so me coming up here

and saying just do whatever you can to

get involved

i know it’s not that easy for everyone

but what i do want to say

is that it’s accessible with support

if need be learning about yourself takes

time

it takes critical thinking it takes

meaningful experiences

and you know i’m still young i’m 21

and i have a long way to go and so do

you but if we keep building on that

foundation that we’ve set for ourselves

that are created by the opportunities

available to us

i really do think it has the potential

to make us so much more happy

right so i urge you to reflect to think

about the opportunities in your school

you might just find something you really

enjoy

and if you’re thinking about this and

you’re not thinking of anything right

away in particular

that strikes passion in you start

something for yourself

but overall i encourage you to be

willing

and be curious to learn about yourself

your passions your strengths things

you’d like to work on

and more and you do this through getting

involved in your community

because ultimately one of the main ways

to find yourself

is truly through the service of others

thank you