Bring Out Your Dead

So, I just attended a convention for my fraternity today. I was asked to sit on a panel of distinguished alumni and I facilitated another session.

I need to start with the mind blowing fact that I was on a panel of “distinguished” anything. I guess to a room full of college students, a 35 year old is viewed as old & experienced. This is evidenced by one question we were asked:  “Do you think that you’ve reached your peak of success?”

Wow! I think she was ready to cart me off. I wanted to yell “I’m not dead yet!” But I restrained myself & reframed the question in a more philosophical way. First, I challenged the definition of success. I explained that my definition at 22 is far different that it is now. I also stated that I don’t want to peak because once that happens what is your reason to get out of bed.

From Monty Python's Spamalot

There were other questions too that mostly focused on how to better run their chapters, how to communicate with alumni & other topics.

The best question in my eyes was “How & why do you volunteer?” This question also took me by surprise but in a much more positive sense. The how was easy, but I hadn’t ever really stepped back to ask myself the why. It wasn’t that I didn’t know because the answer flowed easily. It also caused a few students to come talk to me after the session to get more insight. However, answering that question helped me too.

What I told them is that I find it very rewarding. I received a lot from my collegiate fraternity experience & I want to help others to continue to have those positive experiences. There was a table of students from a chapter I helped to found 15 years ago & I commented that it was nice to see that something I did back then led to them being there.

As I inch ever closer to starting down my new career path, this was an important day. I am now almost certain that I’m going to become a teacher. I have a few more meetings this week to help me with a final decision. But, I enjoyed my time speaking in front of a group & I like the energy of the students. I’m not naïve. I know that there is a difference between high school & college kids. And a difference between speaking at a conference vs. conducting a daily lecture. However, I’m ready for the challenge… Because I’m not dead yet!