Step 1
You have time, energy, and other resources (money, clothes, books) to spare. Someone asks you to volunteer your time or donate your resources. You don't have anything else to do that day, so you decide to give a little, and you feel good about this unselfish act.

Step 2
You learn a little about the person or community your gifts are benefitting. You begin to ask them what they need, rather than giving whatever is easiest to give. Service becomes more difficult but also more rewarding.

Step 3
You learn more about the context of the situation or community you are serving. You begin to understand what created the need, and you redirect your energy toward this root problem rather than treating the symptoms.

Step 4
You see how the problem you are addressing connects to the larger social, political, and economic climate. Discovering the magnitude of the world's needs can be overwhelming and even disheartening. Usually, this leads you to expand your focus to address more issues.

Step 5
You realize how you and your actions contribute to the very problems you wish to solve. This is the hardest part of service. What began as a chance to pat yourself on the back for being so selfless has turned into a self-indictment, or at least a self-examination. Service will never again be a Saturday afternoon event, an item on your to-do list, or a bag of used clothing. It's you, and the way you live, and the choices you make from breakfast to bedtime. It's where you shop, what you buy, how you treat the environment, how you treat your neighbor, your friend, and the mentally disabled man who takes your ticket at the movie theatre. It's a constant balancing act, a struggle to decide how much money to send to the Humane Society and how much to Children's Miracle Network. Will you serve the environment by purchasing the recyclable containers or support your community by purchasing something made by a local artisan? Will you arrive late to a Habitat home build because you stopped to help a woman whose car broke down? Will you advocate against child labor while knowing that the child would starve without his paycheck? It's totally overwhelming, and all you can do is try your best.

As I approach a career in social services, I must acknowledge the complexity of the choices I've made. By choosing a career path that will earn less money, I've reduced the amount of money I can donate. By choosing a job that doesn't require evening and weekend commitments, I've increased the amount of time I can spend volunteering. If I choose to study social problems in grad school, I will postpone full-time service, but I will better understand my work when I graduate.

My experiences at WashU, both as a student and as a staff member in the Community Service office, have taught me that no one choice is the right choice. Service is an everyday process of evolution, an unending search for a better way, a better world.

Tabitha Knerr
Class of 2003
Washington University in St. Louis