Students 2.0

There aren’t any classes in philanthropy.

You can see examples, but it’s not something that you can learn out of a textbook, or teach in the traditional way. For me, philanthropy was an area in my life that lacked development.

When I was 14, just entering high school, I felt that my impact on the world was a small one. Going from class to class, I focused on achieving high grades, and trying to get into my dream college. For recreation during school, I sauntered over to the library to read the new issue of the Atlantic Monthly, or Rolling Stone.

At home it was similar—homework, recreational reading, then surfing, hanging out with friends, etc. But it would be marked by periods of extreme melancholy when I took time to truly penetrate the bubble that I lived in and see all the dark spots in my otherwise perfect world. What was wrong? Feelings of powerlessness flooded my mind. What was I doing? How could I live in a world so centered on my sole existence? It was too easy to get caught up in this day-to-day routine. Why wasn’t anybody doing anything? I asked. Why wasn’t I doing anything?

My own personal experience with service started with that compelling urge to make a positive impact on the world around me. I was also very lucky, because my teachers were the ones who inspired me. My first service experience began with an oceanography class taught by Ricky Grigg (a world-class oceanography professor, and a legendary surfer). After seeing his enthusiasm for our ocean, I decided that I wanted to make sure this precious natural resource stayed healthy. I cleaned my beaches, got involved with a couple Sierra Club projects, and planted some pollution-reducing plants in one of our extremely polluted canals.

Unsure of where the next step would be, I enrolled in an AP Environmental Science class taught by the late Jeremiah Johnson, hoping to learn more about the earth, and potential ways to improve it. I was incredibly lucky to have a teacher who was so passionate about our ability to change convention, and although he is no longer with us, the lessons that he taught me have changed my life. Learning the dynamics of global warming, the negative effects of the mono-cropping and inorganic farming culture, and all of the other hot topics surrounding our environment from a man who actually practiced what he preached was an experience that I would never forget.

With a passion, I seized the day. I found outlets for my feelings of “smallness,” and you could say I’ve been growing ever since. Actively looking for community service projects that I felt I could contribute to, I found a little niche that I could call my own and officially contributed my life as student servant (161 hours of active service projects). Every day I attempt to make small, but important, informed choices, such as taking the bus to school, or eating local organic food.

Most recently I volunteered for a Hawaii organization called Girl Fest, run by Kathy Xian, a womens study professor at the University of Hawaii. Girl Fest’s aim is to prevent violence against women and children through art, film, spoken word, and music. Because I volunteered at this event, learned artists, musicians, filmmakers, and poets taught me about their crafts in ways that a conventional classroom cannot. Inspired by this event, I decided to start planning my own festival, where I hope to incorporate student talent to raise money for Kathy’s organization, Safe-Zone (something that focuses on sex trafficking, as well as domestic violence and rape).

What I have created for myself, this freedom from the four very beautiful but also restrictive walls of my school, has expanded my knowledge exponentially. Before, math was math, writing was writing, geography was geography, art was art, and science was science; now, they are not my focus, but my telescope.

I had to look outside of school to get this satisfaction. Why is that? “Schools, we might say, are mirrors of social beliefs, giving back what citizens put in front of them,” says professor, and Chair of the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University, Neil Postman. If that’s true, then there is no growth, no change. But more importantly, students are deprived of the freedom to explore the world, and form opinions on their own. It takes teachers who are willing to inspire, and encourage education outside of the classrooms to help students find their own service passion. Acceptance of individual thought and ideas is key, and so is the willingness to let go of the rigid rules of conventional teaching.

Students have the potential to institute great change in the world. It’s true that we are the future. Much like we’re speaking up for the silent majority through Students 2.0, we can and should take responsibility for the problems that they see in the world, and go out and make a difference.

A special thanks to Mr. Watson for getting me involved with Students 2.0.