March Forth

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. I love my birthday, of course,and as someone who is 100% Irish, St. Patrick's day holds a very special place in my heart. But March 4th is a unique day. It is not often that a day can command you to do something. March 4th is bold - it tells you to be strong, to March Forth through life.

Many of you know that I am a bit of a "word geek", so years ago when I noticed that today's date could be a bit of a play on words, not only did I get excited, but I also began to challenge myself to follow the command of March 4th.

I'm not just a "word geek", I'm also hopelessly idealistic. March 4th reminds me that I am a part of the bigger picture and that rather than simply taking, I need to also make a contribution to the world around me. I believe that we won't change the world by one person making some huge gesture. The world is only going to become a better place when each of us does many little, but positive things. So with that in mind, on March 4th, I try to "Pay it Forward" (to use a somewhat tired cliche'), and look for areas where I can volunteer or complete "random acts of kindness".

I'd like to challenge you to try to do something today and this week that makes a difference to the people around you. There are so many local non-profit agencies who could use help. Try to find one whose message and purpose you can believe in. Call them up and ask if you can volunteer an hour of your time. I promise that you will be so glad you did.

If you think you can volunteer once or twice and are looking for a local agency that could use a one time (or more) volunteer, remember that the Salvation Army is one block from our campus. They are always looking for volunteers to help prepare and serve meals. Contact information for Laurie Duncan, the volunteer coordinator can be found on their website.

Our local food pantry, WAFER, is always looking for volunteers to stock shelves, package food and interact with clients. I've done a lot of work with this organization, and I know that they love working with our students. I also know that our students have really loved the time they have spent at WAFER. (As a side note, if you speak a second language, Hmong in particular, your abilities to translate for non-native speakers and/or the elders in the Hmong community would help to make their experience feel much more comfortable.)

Place of Grace, our local Catholic Worker house is always looking for volunteers to help prepare and serve meals, clean-up, play with children, talk with guests and provide general hospitality. A listing of activities and volunteer opportunities are listed on their website.

If you could consider a long-term volunteer experience, I would recommend that you think about being a conversation partner for a non-native speaker who is trying to learn English. Our GOAL program works with many refugees and immigrants who want to learn and/or improve their English skills. The most valuable learning tool for these individuals is to have someone with whom they can converse and hold an authentic dialogue. I guarantee you, if you consider volunteering at GOAL, it will be an extremely powerful experience.

Take today's date as a way to look at living your life. Try to march forth and make a positive impact on those around you. Whatever you choose to do, even if it is picking up the trash on your street or simply letting a car into traffic, I am sure you will make someone else's day more positive and in turn will find your own energy becoming more positive as well.