The past few weeks have been pretty uneventful, however that is soon to change as our dates for service learning are approaching. The past week I have solicited 2 businesses, both Sweets in the Waterford Lakes Town Center and Sprinkles in Winter Park. Our group held a meeting on March 27 after class to catch up and discuss further options. We have decided to create a forum with speakers to promote Equal Pay Day and advertise our upcoming bake sale for the same event. Our meeting lasted one hour and the visits to and from the bakeries took 1 1/2 hours. I have also proceeded to get a formal letter to my boss at Hard Rock Cafe so that we can receive the cookie donations for our bake sale. Contact with our community partner was limited to a one hour NOW meeting on Thursday. Friday, March 30 I will be chaperoning and volunteering for the LOL day from 8am to 2pm.
While completing these tasks, I have realized that we all have the potential to be a leader. I feel that I am enacting my own definition of leadership by taking part in hands-on experience to make a difference in the lives of children. I have the feeling that after chaperoning on Friday that I will have an even better understanding and feeling of satisfaction, as for now it is kind of just necessary ground work. Participating in something that I believe in and can get behind leaves me with a sense of importance. It's like Wilson notes in her book when speaking of the importance of finding a woman whose values you can get behind and supporting her. I feel I am getting behind a group of women whose values I can support and I am helping along the way. If not now, when? As stated by Susan Estrich, "Raise your hands. Raise your voice. Be ambitious. Don't take no for an answer. The world would be a better place if more women were running it, and so long as that is true, then ambition in women should be celebrated as a gift to all of us" (Wilson, 55).
This service learning project has not only left me with the good feelings of satisfaction and giving back, but has allowed me to view my life in a different manner altogether. I have began to see myself as a young adult, not just a "college kid", who is able to have a voice and get involved to make real changes happen. It has showed me how to take charge of things that I want to see change and prepared me to take steps to make those changes. I am glad to be a part of this project and know that there is only more to come.
Wilson, Marie: Closing the Leadership Gap; Add Women, Change Everything. London: Penguin, 2006. Print
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