When I say I’m doing a year of service, people assume I’m lost. I’m finishing college and need some time to figure out what I want to do with my life. While a year of service is a good thing to do when young people are figuring out their calling, that is not why I am doing it. I’ve known what I want my career to be since I started applying to colleges. In my head, I was going to hit the ground running after college and work until I couldn’t anymore. That said, I then learned about service in my four years at Iona, which has forced me to put a hold on my plans and follow a calling before I’m distracted by a career.

Starting college, I didn’t know I had a passion for service. I knew I like helping people and volunteering, but I didn’t fully understand what it meant to serve someone. I began to understand service my freshman year when I started going on service project trips through the Office of Mission and Ministry. I went to Abraham House in the Bronx and worked with kids on their homework or I read to them if they were too little to read.

I’ve always worked with kids so it seemed natural that I would do service involving kids. That said, sophomore year I went on my first immersion trip in Baton Rouge, LA, where I put in laminate flooring at a grandmother’s house and got a taste of service work outside of tutoring kids. We installed flooring throughout almost the whole house in just a week. I worked on the laminate with part of the team while another group worked on tiling the kitchen. At the end, we were able to see what we had accomplished – a physical thing that would allow a family to live in the house comfortably. I fully realized the impact of service in Louisiana.

I have had a full schedule my entire time at Iona, so I stopped going on service projects every week after freshman year, but I made myself a presence in the Office of Mission and Ministry. I found myself wanting to serve more and more, finding happiness in the interactions I found both with those I served and those I served with.

Junior year, I went to West Virginia and realized how important creating connections through service is. I found the service of presence when I talked with older people, parents, grandmothers and kids. I found community with the other students I was living with during that week. Positive experiences kept rolling over me, and I felt I was where I belonged. I was among people who valued service and understood the spiritual meaning behind service. Nothing had ever felt so right. I fell in love with service in West Virginia.

As I have had less time to go off campus to do service, I’ve found myself seeking service opportunities within the campus community, in both official and unofficial roles. I have been given the amazing opportunity to lead two different faith-sharing groups, and I offer myself as a safe space for anyone who asks. At Iona, I found the little acts of service we engage in every day.

With all that said, it makes sense to me to take on service outside of college and spend a year in community with the Christian Brothers. All I want now is to go to Texas and work with immigrant families and asylum seekers, serving them in any way that I can. I don’t need to figure out what I want from life. I know how I want to spend my life and I know what my eventual career will be, but this is what I need to do right now. I need to be of service to people who need it before I can follow a career path and get caught up in my own life.