Our nation has been focused as a free-enterprise, capitalist country where each person has the opportunity to improve their financial and social status in life. For years, this system has seemed to work very well. However, recent events have shown that the focus of an individual's own gain has perhaps been carried too far, and more focus needs to be put on the community.

Everyday, there are articles in the news regarding crimes or events that demonstrate the lack of care for others. Occurrences such as Ponzi Schemes and burglaries depict the attitude that these people only care for themselves and disregard the effects on others. One could say that these incidences describe a small amount of the population and do not fairly address the majority, but crime rates have continued to rise in cities around the nation, as well as other foreign countries on the other side of the globe.

I've talked about Students Today Leaders Forever a bit before (check out a video here). Today I'd like to speak specifically to the mission statement. STLFs mission statement is "To reveal leadership through service, relationships, and action." 

Pictured on the left: College students serving in Charleston, SC at an oyster restoration project.

Last year, a few members from my fraternity, including myself, decided that although we do philanthropic events year round, we rarely perform community service through volunteer work. Soon after, we set up a date to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children in Eagan, MN. Feed My Starving Children receives such a large amount of volunteer help that the only time made available for us to come and give support was 2 pm on a Wednesday afternoon. Needless to say, many members of our chapter were unable to help with this service work, either from class, work, or other activities. However, the small group of us that made the trip agreed to do our best job and come in with a friendly and open mind.

Is paying it forward real?  Are people capable of empathy? Does it have an impact? A friend of mine from the University of Minnesota Duluth recently told me a story that made me believe in compassion and that everyone has the capability of feeling and doing it.  

When you pay it forward, the beneficiary is a third party.  My friend had a few ideas including buying coffee for random strangers or classmates and leaving it on their desks before class. She also thought about paying for the orders of people behind her in drive-thrus or restaurants.She really wanted to do this experiment, but did not know where to start or how to come up with the extra money to do such gestures for others.  After all, she is only a poor college student.

I've written about Students Today Leaders Forever a bit before, and while working with STLF and going on Pay It Forward Tours with college and high school students I have had the chance to work with amazing organizations around the country. In his blog Compassion Through Service, Tyler mentioned that individuals can change lives working only 1 to 2 hours per week.

Over the past four years, I have been a part of a group called Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF for short). My involvement with STLF has shaped my college experience and had a profound effect on the way I live my life. STLF is working to create a generation of servant leaders, and I am proud to be a part of this movement. I would like to share a video with you that explains a little about who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

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As a student, it may seem sometimes difficult to donate spare time for work such as charities or community service. If I am not in class, I am studying. If I am not studying, I am at the Recreational Center working to stay fit. If I am not exercising, I am at one of my two jobs. Last, if I am not working, I am catching up on sleep.

As true as this may be for many of us, there are always ways to get involved and share your compassion with others who need it. Many people think that it would not be worth the effort if they can only afford to participate in 1-2 hours per week in service work. On the contrary, those 1-2 hours are all it takes to help change someone’s life.

The most important aspect of compassion is that it is not enough to simply 'be' compassionate; you must act on your feelings as well as beliefs. Our every day lives provide us with new and unique opportunities and outlets for expressing what we feel. Citizens in our society are lucky to live in a democracy that allows us, as individuals, to speak out and rally for what we truly believe in. 

 Mistakes come in many forms and most people either regret these mistakes, try to learn from them, or a combination of both. My thought for today is that people may be focusing on the wrongs they do, or the accidents that happen, rather then moving forward. When people make mistakes it often holds them back from continuing on with their lives. Perhaps it is because others make these things feel so big that we can not get past them.