Kartik Rustagi

 It all started three years ago, when me and my father were watching a documentary about Satya Nadella, an Indian-born American who came to the United States with nothing but vivid dreams and aspirations, dream of gaining infinite knowledge, dream of making his family proud of him, and today we know him as the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft. I told my father that I want to live my dream, I want to travel the world and see places that no one can imagine even their wildest imagination, and from that juncture there was no looking back. I started preparing for my SAT exam and toiled day and night to become capable enough for receive an education from a prestigious university like Virginia Tech. I find myself really fortunate that I could be a part of this family, family of people not related by blood, but by common goals, ambitions and stories. But the one thing that I can't afford to miss in this monologue is the role of SERVE in my college life. Being a single parent I spent most of the time with my grandparents while my father used to earn our bread. They were not so educated that I could learn complicated subjects and theories from them but they did raise me with this notion that they had in life. A notion that clearly stated that your life is not completely yours, the people who love you unconditionally and the society you live in have a certain right on you, for they have given you the strength and the courage to be who you are today. I can never fail to remember this lesson and that’s why I chose SERVE as my Learning and Living Community, to give back to the society and do my bit to fix the mess that my people have created.  

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I recall that I came to America on the evening of 15th August and was petrified about living alone in a place where I am a stranger to everyone, I decided to embrace this opportunity and live it to the fullest. So the next morning, I was found helping young students like me move in by being a Hokie Helper. Being a Hokie Helper was an experience that I will never forget my entire life, for that is the time when you meet people who are exactly in your shoe right now. They don’t only pack clothes and utilities in those big suitcases, but a lot of memories and goals are packed in those cases. And that’s when I realized that they are as eager to know as I am. I met hundreds of students and parents in the span of those two days of service and that experience actually killed my fear of being lonely forever. Gradually all my SERVE mates moved in and I can't define how delighted I was to know the people that I am gonna spend the next year with. Each and every person in the hallway differed from one another due to various reasons but was united by one common cause, and that was to stand for the truth and fight for it. It has been four months now and it seems that I have knows my peers since childhood, it feels like we were raised together because we do share homogeneous ideas and conceptions about life. We have become a part of each others' life now, and now this is my family.  

To give a vivid perspective of the changes that I witness in myself in the passage of these four months I would like to state my ideology of social service and why people should do it before I came to Tech. Back in my country, I used to engage myself in social service and volunteerism just so because it would enhance my resume.  

 

 

I am not proud to admit that I understood social service as an obligation and undertook it purely because I was required to do so. I used to work in an NGO in India where we used to package stationary which was supplied to rural areas, I believe that the major reason why I could not connect with social service deeply and honestly was because I never got a chance to meet the people I was helping, I never got a chance to comprehend their emotions and empathize with their pain. Joining SERVE gave me an opportunity to connect with people and for the first time I was asked to keep the people I am helping above than the work that I am doing for them. I have learned that it is very easy to donate x amount of money to an organization and claim that you contributed to the social welfare of the society but unfortunately that’s not the kind of help that our society wants. After interacting with people of various background, facing problems completely different from the last one, I discerned that only love and empathy can fix their plight. After going to service trips to places like Floyd, Radford, Christiansburg, Roanoke and West Virginia, I stopped doing them as an obligation or favor towards the society because I had witnessed the birth of 'willingness' to contribute to the society and walk on the path of righteousness. Believe me, going place and meeting people that you never expected meet will give you memories and experiences that will change your life forever, I mean there is no way you can't feel good about your life after knowing that you made a difference, after knowing that you tried and did your bit. Now when I look at myself in the pictures taken on those trips, I feel proud to say that I am a part of SERVE 

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In the last four months, other than service trips, we also spent a considerate amount of time on self contemplation and reflection which turned out to be revelation for me and maybe others too. We discussed what we wanted from the class and what we are willing to give it, we examined the pros and cons of volunteerism and shared a dialogue on what differentiates an 'active citizen' from an ordinary citizen. Technically speaking, the difference between the two terms is just one word but if we go in depth, that one word carries a lot of meaning to it. Most of us, which may include me as well, spend their life in complete our dreams and aspirations and in this pursuit we forget who were the ones that made us capable enough to start this pursuit on the first place. Citizenship can be defined in simple words as the status of belonging to a place or state and representing its nationality but 'active' citizenship is something that carries a very deep meaning in it. I comprehend it as the state where we not only belong and represent the country that we live in, but also take equal part in the amelioration of its welfare and contribute to the society by engaging ourselves in volunteer work and community service. Many people carry this notion that people who represent their state and themselves at political frontiers are the ones who can be termed as active citizens only, but no, Active citizenship can be as small as a campaign to clean up your street or as big as educating young people about democratic values, skills and participation. Active citizenship not only gives us a chance to contribute to the society, but also gives us an opportunity to connect with the people we live with at a deeper level and understand their problems which not only makes us an active citizen, but an active human being too. 

 

 

Being an international student I had a lot of options while making the choice of my dream college and I was caught in a conundrum. After tons of research, I realized that every college has something to offer that the next one doesn’t, but I chose Virginia Tech for a well defined reason. After reading its history and aspects, I learned that Tech has always kept the spirit of serving others above than academic excellence and sports. The moto 'Ut Prosim', which translates into "That I May Serve" says a lot about the people and college in itself. This was the only college which offered a concept like Learning and Living Community, SERVE along with various other communities that emphasize on different interests and agendas. But I realized that out of all the colleges, Tech is the only one that is giving me a chance to embrace my passion and live with the people that share common beliefs and perceptions. After coming here and getting to know the faculty, students and staff, it was pretty evident that 'Ut Prosim' is not just a motto but a way everyone leads their life here. Other than SERVE, I have witnessed so many incidents that proved to me I am not an outsider here and that I am as equal to them as any other American citizen. Belonging to a different community, I dis expect a certain amount of discomfort and struggle in living here but the people here actually made me felt like home and now when I look back at my choice, I feel fortunate that I chose Tech as my dream college. To encourage this moto and maintain the spirit of serving others, I never leave an opportunity to help a person who needs, the help can be as simple as carrying their stuff for them, offering a seat, opening doors or offering help in general. I also share my experiences of SERVE LLC proudly with my peers who are not a part of SERVE to make them aware about the noble work that is being done around them. 

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In the class, our instructor, Ms.Cotrupi introduced us to various elements and aspects of service to give us a broader view of volunteerism as a subject. We talked about how 'social change' affects our society and I could not agree more. We learned its various subsets or as the '7 Cs' which include “Consciousness of Self”, meaning the necessity of standing for what you believe and your values no matter what may the circumstances be. The second C was "Congruence" which demands every active citizen to stay honest and true to his/her value system and morals by doing deed that satisfies his passion and interest, followed by the “Controversy with Civility” which signifies the importance of courtesy in times of conflict between people within a community or from different ones, as an active citizen it is our obligation to make efforts to resolve the conflict or initiate the process of solving the conflict.  

The next thing I want to put under the spotlight it 'volunteerism', which is the most misunderstood one. Volunteerism states that rather than concentrating on the 'quantity' of the work being done, give attention to the 'quality' of work you are doing. One thing I realized in this class was that any service undertaken by the perception of a favor to someone or to satisfy person interest is redundant. Volunteerism demands us to complete submerge in the work we are doing and teaches us to expect nothing but love in return. Another major thing I learned was that people tend to offer service only at situations which reward them the most. Thus it is important for us to undertake any kind of service selflessly.  

 

 

The last but not the least, I would like to talk about 'community'. The biggest challenge that we are facing today is the unwillingness to embrace other opinions and cultures. Community is a place where people of various diversities live together and respect each other for who they are. Many students in the class shared their idea of an ideal community and I presented the idea of a community where we appreciate the efforts of every person to contribute to the everyone equally and respect what the other parties are doing. But community does not imply only appreciation, it also implies that we stay honest with the people around and help them analyze their actions which might harm the community has a whole. Another pertinent aspect of active citizenship we discussed was the importance of a leader. There are tons of people who carry the characteristics required to become a leader but it take a lot more than knowledge and intelligence to become the 'ideal' leader. An ideal leader according to me is the one who doesn’t lead, but walk behind his people and motivate them to reach the goal, It the job of that leader to make sure that each and every person stays motivated and feels proud about the work that he/she is doing. It is very easy for any head to give commands and ask the people to complete tasks, but it takes courage to take responsibility of all the people and work with them towards a better tomorrow.  

In the end, I am caught up with mixed feelings about this semester. It makes me sad that we are step closer to the end of college life and that my first semester is over. But on the other hand, I am also delighted about the experiences that I had this year and how my choices yielded such good results. I am excited about my upcoming endeavors and couldn’t be happier about the work that I did this year 

 

I am thankful to all my SERVE mates for making this possible and my dearest instructor, Ms. Cotrupi for being such a wonderful person and always understanding our problems, opinions and perceptions. It is amazing how a group of people can change you in a span of few months and take out the best of you. My last thought is that the only difference between all the human in the world is defined by the deeds they do, rest there is no difference between us. Period.