Y-Serve is a BYU sponsored organization that coordinates and creates student service opportunities on and off campus. I'd like to say that I avoided it before falling in headfirst, but I honestly didn't. I had no idea that such an organization even existed until January.
On January 21st (maybe...I can't remember the exact date), I got a chance to be a group leader for a program at BYU called Sports Hero Day. I was assigned a group of 20 6th grade boys to chaperone as they moved from station to station interacting with athletes from teams that included diving, soccer, baseball, golf, volleyball, track, and football. The boys loved it. I tried to reign them in, but let's be real for a moment. They are 12 year old boys. They love sports. They love people that are really good at the sports they love. Most love BYU. This made it nearly impossible to have any level of real control over them. Luckily I convinced them early on that if they were good for me I would do all I could to get them a chance to interact with the big name athletes. Did I have any way of following through? No, not really. But somehow it happened. My group just happened to consistently be in the right spot at the right time. I chalked it up to coincidence. They thought I was some heavenly being sent down to make their sports dreams come true. Did I try to convince them I wasn't? No, I let them think what they wanted to think and may or may not have accepted their requests for my autograph.
On that January 22nd day (maybe if I switch up the days I'll guess the right one sooner or later) my first moment of impact at BYU happened. At the time I didn't think anything of it. I considered it the best four hours of my time at BYU, but nothing more. However, I did have an incredible experience that involved one of the boys in my group and a few of the athletes. When I went to a reflection activity a week later I shared it and they (the program directors) asked me to write my experience down and email it to them. So I did. I wrote down exactly how the experience was for me and what I was able to witness and sent it in. I didn't think any more of it. That was the end of the line. The last stop on the train.
Now, four months later, almost everything I am currently apart of and the incredible opportunities I have stem from the four hours of service I randomly decided to give. Since submitting my story I have become a program director for Sports Hero Day, Chad Lewis contacted me to include my story in his new book The Power of the Jersey, BYU Magazine also contacted me to include the story in their next issue, I got a position as an intern for BYU Athletic Marketing, and I have met some absolutely incredible people.
I don't share this as a way of boasting or bragging about what has happened. That's not what I'm about. I share it as a way of drawing attention to the idea of moments of impact. They happen when least expected, when we have genuine intentions in the opposite direction of the direction it ends up taking us. I feel extremely privileged to be where I'm at, but none of it was my doing. I consider myself a messenger. I was fortunate enough to witness something truly incredible and I wrote it down. The moment of impact came when I was offered a position as a program director. I could choose to take it and dive into the unknown, or continue on with my freshman year. Accepting the position has opened up so many doors and completely revamped the course I was planning on taking.
Each of us has the potential to have incredible experiences. I think the key to recognizing them when they happen is living in the moment. Engulfing yourself in your work, service, school, or anything really allows you to be more in tune with your actions and, in turn, the consequences good and bad. The age old saying "You get out what you put in" could not be more true. So I challenge whoever may read this to not put in 20% of what you have to offer. Give it all you've got, lay your cards out on the table. What do you have to lose? I know it's easier said than done, but from personal experience I can assure you that putting forth your 100% will bring you and those around you 200% in return.
Chelsea
P.S. I referenced a "story" throughout that was too long to post. If anyone as some random urge to read it let me know and I can email a copy. It would probably provide some insight as to why I wrote what I wrote in this seemingly never ending blog post.
On January 21st (maybe...I can't remember the exact date), I got a chance to be a group leader for a program at BYU called Sports Hero Day. I was assigned a group of 20 6th grade boys to chaperone as they moved from station to station interacting with athletes from teams that included diving, soccer, baseball, golf, volleyball, track, and football. The boys loved it. I tried to reign them in, but let's be real for a moment. They are 12 year old boys. They love sports. They love people that are really good at the sports they love. Most love BYU. This made it nearly impossible to have any level of real control over them. Luckily I convinced them early on that if they were good for me I would do all I could to get them a chance to interact with the big name athletes. Did I have any way of following through? No, not really. But somehow it happened. My group just happened to consistently be in the right spot at the right time. I chalked it up to coincidence. They thought I was some heavenly being sent down to make their sports dreams come true. Did I try to convince them I wasn't? No, I let them think what they wanted to think and may or may not have accepted their requests for my autograph.
On that January 22nd day (maybe if I switch up the days I'll guess the right one sooner or later) my first moment of impact at BYU happened. At the time I didn't think anything of it. I considered it the best four hours of my time at BYU, but nothing more. However, I did have an incredible experience that involved one of the boys in my group and a few of the athletes. When I went to a reflection activity a week later I shared it and they (the program directors) asked me to write my experience down and email it to them. So I did. I wrote down exactly how the experience was for me and what I was able to witness and sent it in. I didn't think any more of it. That was the end of the line. The last stop on the train.
Now, four months later, almost everything I am currently apart of and the incredible opportunities I have stem from the four hours of service I randomly decided to give. Since submitting my story I have become a program director for Sports Hero Day, Chad Lewis contacted me to include my story in his new book The Power of the Jersey, BYU Magazine also contacted me to include the story in their next issue, I got a position as an intern for BYU Athletic Marketing, and I have met some absolutely incredible people.
I don't share this as a way of boasting or bragging about what has happened. That's not what I'm about. I share it as a way of drawing attention to the idea of moments of impact. They happen when least expected, when we have genuine intentions in the opposite direction of the direction it ends up taking us. I feel extremely privileged to be where I'm at, but none of it was my doing. I consider myself a messenger. I was fortunate enough to witness something truly incredible and I wrote it down. The moment of impact came when I was offered a position as a program director. I could choose to take it and dive into the unknown, or continue on with my freshman year. Accepting the position has opened up so many doors and completely revamped the course I was planning on taking.
Each of us has the potential to have incredible experiences. I think the key to recognizing them when they happen is living in the moment. Engulfing yourself in your work, service, school, or anything really allows you to be more in tune with your actions and, in turn, the consequences good and bad. The age old saying "You get out what you put in" could not be more true. So I challenge whoever may read this to not put in 20% of what you have to offer. Give it all you've got, lay your cards out on the table. What do you have to lose? I know it's easier said than done, but from personal experience I can assure you that putting forth your 100% will bring you and those around you 200% in return.
Chelsea
P.S. I referenced a "story" throughout that was too long to post. If anyone as some random urge to read it let me know and I can email a copy. It would probably provide some insight as to why I wrote what I wrote in this seemingly never ending blog post.
