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Rotary International designates eleven months of the year to help clubs develop meeting agendas, projects, or public image campaigns based on these special themes. May is Youth Service Month. This theme which is the newest Avenue of Service is what brought me to Rotary. As a young adult, I understood that I had been given opportunities were not available to all my peers. An Isaac Newton quote is “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” When I coupled that with a value that my parents instilled in me – pay it forward, I knew where a significant portion of my community service would be.
My first experience in youth service started outside of Rotary. Marj and I were invited to judge at a high school speech meet one winter Saturday morning. Since Marj and I had met at a speech meet, we agreed. This event turned into spending each Saturday judging speeches for the rest of the season. Between rounds, the coaches asked us to help with some of the students. When the next season started up, we returned as assistance coaches and judges – an activity we did each winter until we moved away from Minnesota. This experience taught me that a giant need not be an expert and have all the answers. A giant is someone with a little more experience willing to listen, to share knowledge, to provide guidance, and to offer encouragement.
Many of you know that Marj was Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) student and that she was invited to join the Rotary Club that had sponsored her. As one would anticipate, my first Rotary Youth Service project was being a RYE host parent. Over the years, we have hosted four students. Each time, I gained a better understanding of the student’s home country and culture as well as my own.
My second Rotary Youth Service project was Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). At my first RYLA, I was an adult facilitator for a small group grappling with an ethical puzzle. Because the RYLA participants were a mix of local high school students and inbound RYE students, the students learned much about the assumptions that each one of them carried as the group discussed the topic.
When we moved to Georgia, I joined Rotary. I discovered new ways that my club and district were serving youth and young adults. Within weeks of joining, I became active in a multi-district project to help high school students examine their core personal value or ideal through writing an essay. These essays were not evaluated on the traditional metrics of spelling and grammar. Rather, they were evaluated on the amount of self-reflection in the story. These essays changed lives in the students’ communities.
Like our speaker, PDG Haresh Ramchandani, I believe that youth service is the future of Rotary. This belief is not based on a hopeful projection. It is based on Rotary history. Past RI President, Ray Klinginsmith is a Rotary Alumni – having received a Rotary scholarship as young adult. Another example is from the special RYE relationship between St. Paul, Minnesota and Nagasaki, Japan. Without Marj not going to Nagasaki, it is doubtful that she would have joined Rotary and served as Club President in St. Paul. Without Marj joining Rotary, I suspect that I would not be a Rotarian. This RYE relationship brought the student who preceded Marj to Nagasaki by two years to Rotary leadership. Kevin is finishing his year as Club President in Minnesota. Through Youth Service, we can make a difference.