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