Gimme, gimme, gimme

It's tough. Coordinating and managing student volunteers is incredibly difficult. I'm not talking about the complaints, tardiness or forgetfulness but the difference of attitude towards service.

Me: What can I give?
Student: What do I get?

I had a student who ended up not participating in a service activity because I grew more and more frustrated. He kept asking me what we were going to eat, what exactly is being served, if we can go get hamburgers, if we can stop before we go there, etc.

I answered his questions as best as I could but in the end, I ignored him. Not the best tactic. I found myself growing angry and resentful. I knew I didn't want to take it out on him, so I stopped talking and waited for him to leave.

Oh the pondering one does after such an occurrence. I really was put in my place when I realized that it is not the students that already volunteer and who's first thoughts are "what can I give?" that I need to be trying to get to serve. Instead, I need to focus on the students like the one who annoyed me. Students like him need experiences like the ones I offer in order to get their feet wet in service and possibly ignite a flame for giving.

How can I expect anyone who doesn't already volunteer to want to if I don't react with patience and understanding? How can I expect anyone to continue to do service in the future if I don't get them (even the pains in the butts) to try it out for the first time?


I can be the bridge or the wall. Though it may not be easy to handle such an opposite view towards service, I need to try my best to intentionally be a bridge.

Day 1 of Karate

I'm teaching a karate course as a class at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center. I teach solo and my class is full of five high school students all brand new to martial arts. I've taught karate, I've taught white belts but I've not taught solo for such a length of time to all white belts.

It's slightly intimidating but today was a 4 on the 1-5 scale. There were kinks and a decent amount of chatter but overall, it went really well.