Why Service?

“WELL WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?!?” my mother shrieked into the phone when I told her I had decided not to apply to graduate school. I was still in college and had just come from a meeting with my advisor who had told me quite bluntly, “Don’t do to grad school just because you don’t know what else to do.” I was stunned. How had I not realized that that was what I was doing? I felt that a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

So when I called my mom with a sense of joyful relief, the panicked scream I got in reaction was not quite what I’d hoped for.

But then, as mothers so often do just when you want to be mad at them, she had made a good point. What was I going to do? Searches for jobs for anthropology majors generally counseled me to use my new-found understanding of human behavior to try to sell people stuff, answer telephones, or try to sell people stuff over the telephone. I found these options uninspiring.

Lucky for me, a different, less talked about option existed: full time service. Admittedly, I stumbled across the Americorps option because I didn’t know what else to do, but that isn’t why I chose it. It takes more than a “why not?” attitude to make a person decide to pack up, leave home and dive head first into a position she might not yet fully understand and pays almost nothing. You have to see a need you think you can meet, a challenge you are excited to overcome, an opportunity that you think will leave you a better and stronger person than you were before.

People have said a lot of very moving things about the value of doing service, but I won’t quote them here. Honestly I don’t feel like my life is that grandiose. Like working people, I sometimes get worn out and have to deal with things I’d rather ignore. Not to mention that I spend too much time on public transit to pretend that service is all about nobility and greatness. But there are more than enough incredible moments to make up for all that.

I get to see the fierce love our volunteers have for their students. I get to be inspired by their dedication and the way they unequivocally reject the idea that somebody else’s children are somebody else’s responsibility. I get to join in the pride a student feels when she reads a book she couldn’t have gotten through at the beginning of the year. I get to work with a Corps of really fun and motivated people who care about a lot of the same things I do.

I guess all that is a little addictive, because here I am in the middle of my second year of service at Generations Incorporated. Sure, we all have days when we look at our stipend check and wish there were a little more left over to buy that cute pair of shoes… but in the end I feel very privileged to be an Americorps member. The trust the staff gives us allows me to challenge myself ad I get far more support in figuring out and preparing for what I want to do with the rest of my life than most entry-level jobs would give me.

Since I can’t stay here forever, that pesky “Well, what are you going to do?” question will come up again soon. For now though, I know that choosing service was the right thing. Let’s just say I’ve never once wished that I had gone the telemarketing route.

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Emily Schlosnagle is an AmeriCorps State Lead at Generations Incorporated. You can e-mail her at ESchlosnagle@GenerationsInc.org.