service Anonymous

Last summer, one of the service events that I helped to organize was a Special Olympics showcase. I was paired up with a fifty-six year old lady named Anne, who has autism and a leg injury. In basketball, Anne kept missing the hoop. Every time she missed, I offered to take a break. However, Anne shook her head and took every miss as an opportunity to improve. She analyzed the distance of the hoop from her hands, aimed the ball into the net, and lunged towards her target with the ball in her hands.

Miss.

Miss.

Miss.

Tired and disheartened, I turned away. Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched scream and quickly turned around. I saw pure joy on Anne’s face as she finally made the ball into the basket. While I got joy from more materialistic things such as a new purse or an “A” on a test, Anne’s joy was different. Her happiness was simple and sweet and came from something more ordinary. Anne taught me that even if I missed my goal on the first twenty tries, I could eventually achieve it, even if it took 100 attempts.

As a five-year member, Publicity Coordinator, President, and now officer team Advisor of the largest service club on campus, Interact, I’ve learned about planning biweekly service events, finding monthly fundraisers to...