Blog Post #2: AH

    Service comes in many different flavors and encompasses a wide range of activities motivated by a variety of feelings and beliefs. While it is hard to come up with a concise definition that does justice to the diversity of actions and the associated emotions that service entails, I believe that at its root, service benefits others. This is not to say that service is a wholly unselfish act as this is usually not the case as everyone has their motivations and despite what they say outwardly, may be driven by hidden gains or future benefits. It is perfectly normal for service to benefit the person performing it but in my eyes such actions are not counted as service unless they additionally benefit others. This may be a small, immediate benefit such as helping someone carry their groceries across the street or a larger, long-lasting ones such as those associated with working at an NGO. Each act of service may mean a lot or a little to different people and thus it is hard to quantify the success of a service act. One can never really tell how many people are affected by his or her actions or how many lives are touched in the process. As such, I would caution against saying one act of service was extremely successful and another wasn’t because even if they didn’t achieve the previously envisioned results, they still may have been meaningful in other ways. 

    Personally, motivation to serve stems from a variety of factors depending on the type of service and what I am dealing with at the moment. In some cases, it is for the common, typically highly-regarded reasons giving back to the community or making the world a better place. Yet in other cases, I turn to service for less glamorous reasons such as to find what I like doing, to interact with people also interested in service, or even because I am bored and want to put my time to use in a beneficial way. For instance, I joined APO (service fraternity) at Cornell for the service opportunities it provided but quickly was motivated to attend service events to experience new things and get to know fellow volunteers better. 

     My experiences with a variety of service have allowed me to develop my understanding of services over the year. This ranges from community service through a local food pantry and Red Cross in high school, Alpha Phi Omega and Biology Service Leaders at Cornell, and medical clinic trips to Trinidad and Peru. I believe that every service experience is unique and means something different to those performing the service and those receiving the benefits of it. This summer I am working at CCZ on a research project involving mining’s effect on poverty and health. I never really considered research as an act of service but after reflecting on this, I have come to realize that it truly is. While research may be performed out of necessity or just to get a publication, quality research does help others by telling them more about the topic and providing analysis that may guide future actions. In our case, our research and recommendations will hopefully help others looking at mining in the North-Western Province and make people think about related issues and possible solutions.