Word Search: Part I

Tuesday marked the fourth anniversary of my favorite night of the LMU year. Tuesday was All Service Org Night and from an outside perspective, it is really hard to understand the awesomeness that is All-Service Org. Night. First, for my non-LMU friends, a brief overview of service orgs: Imagine if you will, all the best things about a sorority or fraternity (sisterhood/brotherhood, support, retreats, awesome meetings, formals, new members, recruitment, etc.) and none of the worst. Then take that same idea and realize that the soul purpose of these orgs is to do service both on and off-campus and then reflect about it as a group. Yeah, it's pretty damn incredible.

All-Service Org. Night is the kick-off event for the recruitment season. (Again, to compare it to Greek Life, it is more competitive to get into a service org than it is to get into the Greek community. Last year only 39% of applicants were accepted. That is craaaazy!) All of the orgs are there in their finest (they all have these adorably unique sweaters that they wear), they all get three minutes to introduce their org and then they have tables set up all around this huge gym for people to pick up information and start the wooing process.

I'm in the room for recruitment as well. MESA (my incredibly wonderful service community) mirrors the service org process so we have a table, we show up in our shirts, we promote our events, etc. since there are a large number of first-year students in attendance that night. My first service org night was a surprise to say the least! I had no idea what to expect. I just knew that Tom (my counterpart in the Center for Service and Action) told me to be there from 10-11:30pm and try to get people to come to MESA's Open House. So I showed up with a few meager brochures, with no giveaways, no personalized buttons, no current members to help recruit, and basically an "Ugh, I can't believe I have to give up another night for work!" attitude.

Then the presidents of the orgs all got up and gave their speeches. Little did I know not only how those presidents would impact my LMU career, but how much their speeches would change how I thought of students in relation to service. I remember that Jenni West, the president of Marians (an all-female org known for their love of all things feminism) got up and asked the crowd "How many of you think that men and women should be treated the same?" Once every person in the room had their hand up she said "Congratulations. You are all feminists." I remember Heather Prandini got up for Ignatians and began by saying "So I have a tendency to ramble and to tell random stories and now I'm telling a story about how much I ramble. Cool." A month later I would be interviewing her for an RA job, forming a rush crush on her during the RA Selection Process, and eventually hiring her as an RA on my staff for the following year. I remember that Alaina Williams got up to speak for Sursums. She was an RA on AJ's staff that year so I knew of her, but never really interacted with her all that much. I can't remember specifics of her speech, but I remember that she was so lovely, eloquent, reflective, and it was clear that she had a true servant's heart. I find myself today anxiously waiting for her next blog post about her life as a full-time volunteer in New York City and feel like we are more and more like kindred spirits with every phrase and word written all the way from NYC.

The main speech that hit home for me was from Adrian Cuevas who at the time was President of Magis, an all-male service org. I vividly remember the picture that was formed when Adrian took the mic and all 50 members of Magis lined up behind him, clad in black sweaters, white shirts, and gold ties. As Adrian began to deliver his speech, all 50 guys put their arms around each other in a show of solidarity. Adrian spoke of living God's plan for your life as a servant to others. He quoted famous Ignatian scholars with the same ease as some students did with rap lyrics. He urged each person in the room to find what truly made them come alive because what the world needed wasn't charity, but a word full of people who live their passion on a minute-by-minute basis. While it may not be a surprise to most of you, I found myself tearing up at Adrian's words and even more so the incredible energy in the room that night. To see 350+ current members of orgs nod along with Adrian's words and to see another 300+ students who were there to find what service at LMU was all about, it was almost overwhelming.

I had had a really, really rough first semester. New state, first time living in a city, trying to figure out a new job, navigating through the politics of a small campus, all while finding friends and dealing with the most difficult staff known to man, I was really questioning my place on campus. However, at the end of Adrian's speech, I distinctly remember thinking "Yep, this is where I'm meant to be." The level of connectedness in the room that night made it clear that the Universe had a plan for me in this place.