The Donelan Office’s Director, Michelle Sterk Barrett, offered the following remarks at Burncoat High School’s National Honor Society induction on March 30th.<\/p>\n
Thank you for the very kind introduction, Stephanie, and thank you to Ms. Suprenant and Mr. Foley for the opportunity to be here with you tonight.\u00a0 Congratulations to each of you for achieving at the level that has enabled you to be inducted into the National Honor Society on this very special evening.\u00a0\u00a0 Your induction into NHS is a testament to your hard work, perseverance, and strong character.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a testament to the fact that you are fortunate to have been graced with noteworthy talents and skills that have gotten you to this moment. Whether you are naturally brilliant or simply a hard worker who perseveres through academic challenges until you succeed, you have something remarkable to offer our world.\u00a0 I hope you will view your gifts and talents in exactly that way\u2014as something remarkable to be generously shared with the world.<\/p>\n
In looking at the National Honor Society\u2019s \u00a0website it describes itself as \u201cthe nation’s premier organization established to recognize outstanding high school students. More than just an honor roll, NHS serves to recognize those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, service, leadership, and character.\u201d While all four of the NHS goals are important, I would like to focus on one particular aspect of the NHS vision: service.<\/p>\n
As \u00a0someone who has worked over 20 years in the field of service-learning, I\u2019ve spent much time thinking about the questions that surround service.\u00a0 Questions such as: What motivates one to serve?\u00a0 What exactly is service? How can one serve well? \u00a0I\u2019d like to spend the next few minutes sharing my thoughts and reflections related to those questions.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen many motivations for service.\u00a0 Often it begins as a requirement expected by one\u2019s high school, one\u2019s church, or one\u2019s parents.\u00a0 It may sometimes continue because of the benefits it can provide in the college admissions process or by the experience it can add to a newly developing resume.\u00a0 While the initial motives may not be entirely selfless, I\u2019ve witnessed people powerfully impacted by service\u2014regardless of their initial motivation.
\nOne of the many reasons why I think service can be so powerful is because of the way in which it has the potential to restore humanity to all involved\u2014both the person who might have initially been thought of as the \u201cclient\u201d to be served and the person who might have initially been thought of as the volunteer doing the service.<\/p>\n
In a world that can be so isolating and individualistic\u2026one in which we often interact with people via screens as much as we do in person\u2026 service can heal and can show us a more authentic and meaningful path through life.\u00a0 It can show us how interconnected we all our to one another as human beings.\u00a0 It can help us learn how to give love and receive love better.<\/p>\n
Dr. Bren\u00e9 Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, wrote a book entitled The Gifts of Imperfection<\/em>, in which she discusses how recent research in biology and neuroscience demonstrates that we are hardwired for connection and that we have an innate need for this.\u00a0 She points out, however, that the messages we are sent about what it means to be successful in our society often do not reinforce this importance of connectedness. \u00a0On the contrary, these messages regularly emphasize the importance of individual self-sufficiency and this can eventually lead all of us to increased separation and isolation from one another.<\/p>\n I think these messages about what it means to be successful have become particularly warped in the way they have been conveyed to your generation.\u00a0 At the time Ms. Suprenant was taking my class, I was reading a book by William Deresiewicz called Excellent Sheep<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s a former professor at Yale who writes a thought-provoking cultural critique of the way in which young adults are being raised to believe that their value is in their accomplishments: grades, test scores, trophies, and other measurable outcomes or credentials. He says that from this vantage point, \u201cThe purpose of life becomes the accumulation of gold stars.\u201d (p. 16).<\/p>\n Both of these authors point out how the culture in which young adults are currently being raised contrasts sharply with what researchers point out we innately desire as human beings.\u00a0 It leads us to see others as the competition and our individual success as primary. Ultimately, service stops being something that we go out and do elsewhere, but becomes a habit, a way of life, something that is so central to one\u2019s being that it is integrated with every action and every choice one makes.\u00a0 This way in which service can be integrated into everyday life is illustrated so clearly by parents and guardians as they do not go somewhere else to do service, but do it consistently through preparing meals, changing diapers, assisting with homework, driving to activities, etc.<\/p>\n One of the most beautiful examples I\u2019ve seen of a person who has integrated service into his whole way of being is Fr. Greg Boyle. He\u2019s a Jesuit priest who lives in the Los Angeles area and runs a non-profit called Homeboy Industries that provides job training to young men and women who have formerly been involved in gangs.\u00a0 He does not frame the work he does as service, but as kinship.\u00a0 He says that kinship is standing with others as equals; not serving the other, but being with the other. Remembering that we belong to each other\u2026 Finding room for those who have been left out rather than judging them as unworthy of being let in.\u00a0 He counters the shame that is so prevalent in the young men and women he works with.\u00a0 Shame that results from believing that they are not worthy of love because of feeling rejected by their parents, their neighborhoods, or their society. \u00a0A shame that he says, \u201cpermeates to the marrow of the soul.\u201d He seeks to love unconditionally in order to restore people\u2019s belief in their own worth and help them to recognize they are valued as human beings.<\/p>\n Please allow me a moment to share a story from his book, Tattoos on the Heart<\/em>, that illustrates the beautiful way in which he serves.\u00a0 He tells the story of an urgent phone call he received at 3 a.m. from one of the youth he worked with: Cesar.\u00a0 Cesar says, \u201cI gotta ask\u00a0 you a question. You know how I\u2019ve always seen you as my father-ever since I was a little kid.\u00a0 Well I hafta ask you a question.\u201d\u00a0 Now Cesar pauses, and the gravity of it all makes his voice waver and crumble as he asks, \u201cHave I\u2026been\u2026your son?”\u00a0 Oh, yes, Fr. Boyle explains.\u00a0 Cesar exhales with a deep sigh of relief as he says, \u201cI thought so.\u201d\u00a0 “Now his voice becomes enmeshed in a cadence of gentle sobbing” (p. 31).\u00a0 Fr. Boyle explains that, “in this early morning call Cesar did not discover that he has a father.\u00a0 He discovered that he is a son worth having\u2026and he felt himself beloved” (p. 31).<\/p>\n Now, we won\u2019t all serve in the exact same way with the exact same population as Fr. Boyle does. But, he does offer us a model worth following in many ways. The way he treats all people as equally worthy of dignity.\u00a0 The way in which he restores connectedness to those who feel disconnected.\u00a0 The way in which he uses his particular unique talents and gifts to live authentically.\u00a0 These are things that each of us can do no matter where we work or where we live.<\/p>\n One of the most important things for you to consider as you look towards the future is how can I serve in my everyday life? It is important that you not think of service as something you do only when you can fit in a planned visit to a non-profit. Service should not be a separate activity done elsewhere, but should be how you choose to live your life in each moment.\u00a0 You serve when you love those around you.\u00a0 You serve when you think of the needs of others as equal to your own.\u00a0 You serve by authentically and confidently sharing who you are with the world rather than trying to be who you think others want you to be. \u00a0You serve by developing your gifts, talents, and academic abilities to their fullest so they can contribute to making our world a better place.<\/p>\n I leave you tonight with two very important questions to ponder: First, how will you continue to live the ideals of the National Honor Society for a lifetime by integrating excellence in scholarship, service, leadership and character in all that you do?\u00a0 Second, how will you become the best possible version of yourself by fully developing and utilizing your unique talents and gifts in service to your family, your neighborhood, and our world?<\/p>\n References Brown, Bren\u00e9. The gifts of imperfection<\/em>. Center City, MN: Hazelton.<\/p>\n Deresiewicz, William. Excellent sheep<\/em>. New York, NY: Free Press.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Donelan Office’s Director, Michelle Sterk Barrett, offered the following remarks at Burncoat High School’s National Honor Society induction on March 30th. Thank you for the very kind introduction, Stephanie, and thank you to Ms. Suprenant and Mr. Foley for the opportunity to be here with you tonight.\u00a0 Congratulations to each of you for achieving … <\/p>\n
\nService, on the other hand, is all about recognizing our interdependence and interconnectedness as humans.\u00a0\u00a0 Service suggests that we should not think individualistically about what is in our own best interest on a path to success, but consider the needs of others as equal to our own.\u00a0 Service asks us to give ourselves away by loving and valuing others in the same way that we want to be valued and loved.\u00a0 The great irony of service is that in choosing to put others first, in choosing to love openly, we often find a path to greater fulfillment, meaning, and purpose for ourselves.<\/p>\n
\nBoyle, Gregory. (2011). Tatoos on the heart: The power of boundless compassion<\/em>.
\nNew York, NY: Free Press.<\/p>\n