My Influence by 18-year-old Jimmy Thomas

Jimmy Thomas, a current Director, wrote this reflection on Teen Service Week on May 15, 2001 for his AP Literature Class. He was 18 years old and had finished his three years as a teen. He got an A+ on the paper :)

     Teen Service Week is exactly what it says, a week of coming together to do service. This week centers on service to the Chicagoland community, and growth in faith. Teen Service Week, or TSW, greatly influence my life by affirming what is good in me, and challenging me to grow at the same time.

     Teen Service Week played a part in my life for the past three, summers, and will continue to for many summers to come. In these past three years, TSW has directed my life and how I live each day. When I started TSW three years ago, I was just out of freshman year, and was a little kid with a big mouth. Over these years I have turned into a big kid with a big mouth. Teen Service Week leads me on a different course of life, one in which I live my life with full consideration for others as well as myself.

     TSW influences me to do even more community service all year long, instead of just one week every summer. Since my first week I have volunteered in various ways. I served on an Appalachia trip; I solicited donations for Misericordia's Candy Days; I sorted toys at Catholic Charities for their annual toy drive, and last summer I volunteered at the Howard Area Community Center, working with the day care center. TSW has truly motivated me to appreciate what I have been given, and to help those who have not been as blessed as I have been.

     On Teen Service Week, the participants agree to live one week at St. Scholastica, in a community focusing on simple life. During the week, each teenager is assigned to a small group and he or she goes to sites each day. Level I participants go to the same site every day Monday to Friday, and stay with the same group leader. This first level helps participants to become well-acquainted with their sites, and to feel comfortable with the service they are doing. This is very important since Level I participants are usually freshmen or sophomores. Level II participants travel to different sites each day and are accompanied by different adult leaders each day. Level II helps the teens to experience a wide spectrum of volunteer activities that they can get involved in.

     When I first participated in Teen Service Week three years ago, I enrolled with seven of my close friends, just looking to have a good time. All the teens in Our Lady of Victory's youth group participated in TSW just once, and then went on an Appalachia trip for the next three years of high school. Before my first TSW experience, I thought I would follow that same pattern; I never imagined that I would get so much out of it and come back year after year. After that first fabulous experience, I had absolutely no intention of missing TSW the next year; I knew it was a turning point in my life.

     I enjoyed my first year on TSW, for I had an absolutely wonderful time for the entire week. My group leader was Denise Swanson, a kindergarten teacher. She and I share many personality characteristics. A wonderful leader, she knew just the right mix of having fun, helping out, and developing ourselves. Denise would often pose deep and reflective questions to the group while we were driving to our site; they really made the ride much more interesting. My site on that first week was at The Port, a soupl kitchen, day care center, thrift store, food pantry, and women's shelter all rolled into one. At The Port, a great site located on Chicago's south-side, I really experienced charity, and I could see the difference that I was making in the lives of the people. I have never experienced a better feeling that the warm, fuzzy feeling that I got from serving bowls of soup at the soup kitchen, or playing with the children in the day care center.

     These wonderful experiences made me realize that I had to go back to TSW the following year no matter what else was happening. When I signed up for TSW the second year, I expected to have these same great experiences. I was not disappointed. My second year turned out to be even better than my first year in a variety of exciting ways. Primarily, I was a Level II participant and I moved one step higher on the TSW ladder. Secondly, I rekindled friendships from the past year, and made many new friends. My second year I became really close with five other people. As an incredibly close knit group of six, we all came to know each other extremely well. I have never experienced such closeness with a group of people as I was to them; they meant so much to me. Even after TSW, we continued to see each other throughout the summer, even though we lived so far apart.

     Last summer, I participated in Teen Service Week for a third time. I expected this time to be just as great as the past two times had been. I was sadly mistaken though, for a few reasons. First of all, one of my five close friends from the past year, Ed, was not going this year. Secondly, I was in a big fight with Beth, another of the five. When the leaders assigned our groups, Beth and I wound up together. The week went downhill from there. As a Level II participant again, I traveled to different sites every day, and I didn't like any of them. I really didn't feel as if I was helping anyone at any of my sites. One day I did paperwork, another I pulled weeds, and another I helped out a teacher at a school. Every day I hoped that I would do some direct service to those in need, and that I could regain that warm fuzzy feeling from the previous years. Until that Thursday, I did not realize that hope.

     On Thursday of the week, Peg Hanrahan, the Director of the program, helped to make things clear to me. In a question and answer session with the Level II volunteers, Peg explained the week to us in six simple words, "Hey, it's not all about me!" This statement really struck me, and I opened my eyes to see the week with a much different perspective. I realized how selfish I had been been acting, by not fully giving of myself, and by being a negative influence in a positive atmosphere. I realized how many people that I was helping in an indirect way. Although my third Teen Service Week was definitely the most difficult, I grew the most out of the experience. I learned the hard way that they only way to grow is to be in an uncomfortable situation, or to be challenged.

     I have already been on Teen Service Week three times, and I am currently signed up for another one this summer. I feel TSW anchors my life, it provides a basis for the rest of the year. I would like to keep it that way. I hope to continue to participate in TSW in one way or another for as many years as I can. After next year I can become a Peer Minister; after that, I can become a group leader. Teen Service Week will enrich and move my life for many years to come.