Giving Back, Receiving More
A traditions as old as man, community service has been a driving force in history. Unlike any other action, doing good for others will most likely not award power, money, land, or most of the superficial goods we hold so dear. Rather, its reward is abstract and omnipresent in the lives of those who dedicate themselves to a higher purpose. One of the first to record these truths was Democritus, a Greek philosopher. Even in ancient times he wrote, “Goodness is not only a matter of action, but dependent upon man’s inner desire. The good man is not one who does good, but one who wants to do good at all times. You can tell the man who rings true from the man who rings false, not by his deeds alone, but also by his desires. Such goodness brings happiness, the ultimate goal of life.” The fact is, service for our peers is a practice that has stood the test of time. From the ancients to our modern lives, there lies a recurring theme: community service is all too enjoyable, rewarding, and enlightening.
As for the former, I have been amazed at how much fun I’ve had while performing community service. I have had the absolute pleasure of meeting people through various activities that would have otherwise been distant. Even when schools, cities, and time would have been diametrically opposed to the conditions of friendship, some of my closest companions were met through the service-based activities we had all chosen to pursue. This was never a driving factor in choosing to give my time and effort to my community. However unintentional this may have been, meeting new people and bonding over a shared cause has been one of the greatest benefits I have seen through community service, one that continues to influence the man I am becoming today.
Outside of friendship, I have also had the ability to experience many different places. Had it not been for mission trips, I may never have been able to see the sights and sounds of our nation’s capital, the people of the Big Easy, or the streets of Harlem. While my travels may seem superfluous at first glance, the lessons I learned from them have continued to reward me to this very day. There is something to be said about the differences between virtual representation and face-to-face communication. Meeting people that truly need help, identifying their problems, forming and implementing solutions: these are skills that take time, effort, and true dedication. These are real life difficulties that affect everyone around us. These are rewards that can never be taught in a classroom. Even the events that take place away from actual works sites can be beneficial. Trips to the Smithsonian and Holocaust museums, Presidential memorials, and war memorials all left me with lasting images and lessons that also have defined who I am as a person. Obviously, the more vacation-like elements of a mission trip, or any community service project, are not the reason I love giving back, or the reason I choose to dedicate myself. Regardless, the opportunities that present themselves through community service are endless. This has been so important in my life, as the trips I have taken around the country have helped me develop communitarian notions that I will never forget.
Through this means, I have become a person who has learned a lot about the world around him, largely due to participation in community service. While going from naïve to only slightly less naïve may seem minimal, it is a transition that I have made and continue to make throughout my time spent volunteering. I cannot lay claim to being wise as a result of my efforts, but in the process, I have begun to understand a lot more about myself and the life that I live. One of the biggest learning curves for me came in the form of the Special Olympics. Being a gifted student with an inordinate amount of energy (the doctors called it ADHD), being thrust into the games was a new environment. Despite the antithetical differences, I happened to love my time spent at the Special Olympics; time I continue to donate year after year. Through my volunteering, I immersed myself into environments I would have never seen before. It has served as a catalyst that continues to inspire me.
I have also learned a lot of lessons that I could have never received from the pages of a book. The enlightenment I have gained through my contributions has truly made more of an impact on my life than any amount of words can show. From a young age, my father (who is the President of our regional United Way and mentally handicap shelter) has instilled upon me a simple quote with a lot of meaning: “The time is always right to do what is right.” Service has taught me what it means to have a sense of morality. True ethics don’t show when you are in front of your superiors. Instead, I have learned that the good people are those who can act humble to those who are inferior to them in some way, shape, or form. Benevolence in the wake of power is a true sign of service; not taking advantage of the weak and destitute even when you have the power to do so.
Service still takes on much different role than simply playing a moral compass. It’s served as an eye-opening opportunity as to my place in the world. I had to learn how large the world was, and how even the smallest effort on my part can go a long way for changing the status quo of someone who may be in a much larger state of destitution. By simply doing the right things, I have chosen to live a life that I feel has experienced a great sense of happiness. I no longer simply do good, but I do it for the right reasons.
Yet this is the paradox of giving back. Altruism may be defined as doing good for no gain, or simply for the sake of doing good itself. However, through my experiences in community service, I have found that no person can truly be altruistic. The friends and people you help will always make volunteering fun. The sense of compassion and empathy one exercises on a daily basis in service to his society is just as rewarding as any monetary compensation. More importantly, one can always exercise lessons learned from community service in day to day life, by maintaining a character that is of the upmost probity. No matter how hard one may try, community service is simply too rewarding and too fulfilling; every person who participates will walk away a better person.
This is why community service is so important to my life. I was instilled with a sense of duty not only from my faith, but from my family, who is involved at almost every level with one organization or another that is dedicated to giving back. As a young child, I was present by association with many of the events that my parents sponsored or attended. Now, it has developed beyond that in so many ways. Because of this upbringing, I have been blessed enough to experience community service by control (my parents) and through free will. As I began to perform community service at my own liberty, I also began to understand how it would irrevocably change my life and the way I live. It has affected my upbringing, my friends, my travels, and has ultimately given me some of the most rewarding and crucial lessons in the process of my maturation. I have learned what it means to do good, and do it for the best reasons. I have learned what it means to act ethically, even when no one is watching. These are lessons that have been mused by the ancient Greeks, and codified in the lamentations of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The fact is, service to others is a time tested practice that will never falter so long as good people are still on this earth. My only hope is that more people will continue to get involved; hopefully to experience the things I have had the opportunity to see, and learn the lessons that I have been so blessed to learn. Looking back, I can conclude in all good conscience that the more I give to my community, the more it gives me in return.
-Stewart Pence
