As a service scholar for BJM, our orientation was to attend a panel.

At first, I was disappointed because it had nothing to do with the type of service that I was doing, but I realized that I was wrong and I learned a lot from it.

The panel had 4 different speakers who introduced themselves not by their position but by what their communities are. The one that stood out the most to me was the person who was part of a program that sent books to prisoners and created a publication composed of works written by the prisoners who are part of the program. This is because it just started off as a small favor of sending books to a few prisoners, but then it became a larger program and even a publication. It connected people from different places and helped them know that they are not going through their journey alone.

There were a couple of things I took away most from this workshop and wrote down. The first was to really listen to others because you may never know what you find. I say this because that was how the prison program started. The panelist had listened and paid attention to the man he had sent books to in prison and now there is a program for those who love to read but do not have the access. The second was step out of your comfort zone because you never know what you may find, especially if it is for something you are passionate about. Another panelist was working with a group that she could not personally identify with, but found ways to make it work and be respectful towards the group because she was passionate about it and believed she could help. The third and final thing I took away was no matter how long or short you are helping an organization or participating in a service, you are still making a change.