What I Learned from Career Day

Recently, as part of my work with Little Friends for Peace, I was asked to present as part of a career day at a local elementary school. I found this a tall order, because as a member of a year-long volunteer program, I cannot quite call what I do part of my “career,” and as a twenty-three year-old, it is difficult to imagine what my career will look like. Nonetheless, I took the assignment with joy, because I got to share about the work that I do and how I have learned to take pride in it.

I spoke to three groups of about twenty first graders, and I found it simple to explain what it means to work for Little Friends for Peace in a way that made sense to them. I told them that to be a peace coach is to bring people together, demonstrating with a circle that after five minutes, peace coaches can deepen the connections in a group of people. I showed them that peace coaches can put everyone on the same team, and that teamwork can make it fun to accomplish our goals (we played a class favorite, Zip Zap Zoom). The kids in the classes really responded to a job that almost none of them had heard of before.

This process also helped me to reflect on the purpose of this year in my career journey. Of course, I have only worked with Little Friends for Peace over the past eight months, and I will only be working with them for another three and a half more, but I will be able to carry with me the skills of community building, teamwork, and conflict resolution. As is emphasized by my host organization, we can practice this peace anywhere, even as we part and reunite through our journeys.

I don’t take for granted that this opportunity for growth was afforded to me by a small nonprofit steeped in practiced knowledge from the past several decades. A gap year is not a break from a career, but a cherished part of a lifelong journey to find our calling.

Question for Reflection: How have your experiences with service tied into your professional career?