Live to Serve
A Period of Enlightenment
I walked into DePaul University as a sheltered, scared, and woefully inexperienced member of society. Having come from a suburban bubble where bigotry and ignorance were normative practices, I knew nothing of people’s differences. My ‘life experiences’ were limited to the tragedies I suffered throughout my childhood and nothing else. That all changed once I broke free from this bubble and stopped living a life where I simply and unquestionably did what was expected of me at all times. The DePaul University community changed me for the better and that all started with the first course I took in my college career.
LSP110: Discover — Chicago Business & Society was my introduction to the Vincentian question “what must be done?”
Discover week’s predication on exploring the culture and history of Chicago’s neighborhoods was the first step in bursting my suburban bubble. If it hadn’t been for this week of exploration, I probably would’ve never stepped foot in Pilsen, Pullman, Chinatown, etc.. I had been warned my whole life that these places were “dangerous” and that they weren’t worth visiting for that reason. Unsurprisingly, everyone was dead wrong. Each neighborhood embodied community-centric thinking and the preservation of culture. Many have tunnel vision that forces them to see the stigmas associated with certain neighborhoods. What they fail to see is the beauty of humanity and culture that each of these neighborhoods exude in excess. Expanding my vision on what it means to be human was an all-important discovery in my Vincentian journey.
The content of the course was heavily derived on the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). I entered DePaul with a very black-and-white, bottom-line-centric viewpoint on how business should be done and the idea of CSR derailed this uninformed ideology. By serving one’s community, the environment, and consumers, corporations and their employees can serve a bigger purpose than making the company money. I discovered that goodness and wellness are a plausible combination for a corporation to embody. My education may have alerted me of the Vincentian mission, but one very special individual inspired me to act on this enlightenment.
January 6, 2016 is the most important day in my Vincentian journey, because it’s the day that Delaney Morrison and I went on our first date. From the outset, she was fixated on challenging me and all of my preconceived notions. She pushed me to discover my purpose and fulfill my potential and for that, I will be forever grateful. Her dedication to service and her continual pursuit of the Vincentian mission is truly a beacon of morality and empathy. Our relationship led to a reinvigoration of my Catholic identity and to become more involved in the DePaul community. I exited my comfort zone and attended numerous Meet Me at the Mission events, which continually allowed me to be more Vincentian in my daily life and reflect on how it could make me a better leader. Luckily for me, Delaney convinced me to become a part of the best team I’ve ever been a part of.
The Vincentian Mission in Action
Becoming a member of the Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation family allowed me to become the leader I felt that I always had the potential to be.
My three years at the Ray have allowed me to grow as a person and become fully immersed in the DePaul community. I have worked three different positions at the Ray and eventually became a Building Manager halfway through my Junior year. Being a Building Manager requires me to balance the well being of the facility with the well being of every human that walks through the doors. On a daily basis, I’m entrusted with developing a welcoming environment for employees, students, and community members alike. My work at the Ray is deeply rooted in inclusivity, personalism, and professionalism.
The thing that makes the Ray special is that work does not feel like work. I am essentially living life with 140 of my closest friends. Every day, every shift, and every second I have been at the Ray have been filled with joy. I work tirelessly to ensure that every generation of new Ray employees have a similar or better experience than I did. I try to accomplish this by volunteering my time to do entry-level position interviews and by stressing the importance of the Ray family to new employees.
My hard-work in the cultivation of a welcoming community has been well documented, as I have been used in numerous community-based advertisements for the Ray. I am on the “Join our staff” posters and I am a model for the Resourcefulness portion of our Core Four principles for customer service. I’ve also been used in less official posters, as seen above. Inside and outside of the Ray, our staff is incredibly close-knit. Every time anyone walks in the Ray, they are guaranteed to see genuineness and happiness. Every shift is a new and fun experience. Outside of our shifts: we have full-staff get togethers, participate on intramural teams, and even sometimes get together and do service.
This year marks the first time in five years that there was a Ray team that participated in Vincentian Service Day.
Vincentian Service Day was an event that escaped my grasp through the first three years of my college career. Therefore, I entered my Senior year knowing that I must participate in VSD to continue my Vincentian journey. I was originally planning on registering with Delaney, but then she had the brilliant idea of getting some of Ray team to serve right alongside us. I spearheaded the operation to get a Ray VSD team together and on very short notice, I was able to get nine people on board.
The actual event was one of most fulfilling in my DePaul career. The Ray team worked alongside the Student Government Association at the Irish American Heritage Center in Mayfair. Our responsibilities were heavily dictated by cleanliness and the tasks were a bit mundane, but the community building aspect of the service was what the experience was rooted in. All of us are very different people from very different places providing service to a place that celebrates a culture that was not predominantly ours. That is the essence of the Vincentian mission.
How the Vincentian Mission Relates to My Mission
My personal mission statement is as follows: Through the values of love, kindness, and strength, I shall persist in leaving the world a better place than I found it. My goal is to serve everyone in my life by providing them with two ears to listen, two hands to present the gifts of life, and one smile to provide hope. I am not looking to change the landscape of the world, but making things brighter for as many people as I can would be worth it. I plan to make the corporate world less about the bottom line and more about the people it is serving.
“What must be done?” are words that will reside in my heart for the rest of my days. My personal life, work life, and daily life will be permanently influenced by the mission that I have a embarked upon over these last four years. Hopefully when it’s all said and done, I will be able to say that I have accomplished my mission.
