Lifelong Learning | amuseofire

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Today is the Millionth Member Celebration of AmeriCorps National Service, celebrating its one millionth member serving communities in need all over this great nation. AmeriCorps engages more than 75,000 Americans in intensive service each year at nonprofits, schools, public agencies, and community and faith-based groups across the country.

When I was 24 years old, I was living in Los Angeles, and feeling miserable about my life and my failed acting career. I was working at a bank, and trying to find acting work, with very little luck. I felt so selfish and unfulfilled, and was volunteering my time at a soup kitchen just to try and at least help someone else — if I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to give back, and finally made the difficult decision to leave Hollywood, and put my acting dreams aside…at least for a bit. I decided that I wanted to live a life of service. Three months later, I enlisted in AmeriCorps National Service, and was assigned to an inner-city high school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The year I served in AmeriCorps was one of the best years of my life. I tutored and mentored at-risk inner city kids, and at the end of the year, I wrote and directed a play with them for my community service project. It dealt with racism, sexism, homophobia, and other social issues. It had a huge impact on the community! Many of my students’ parents had never even seen a play in their lives before! They were incredibly warm, and receptive, and some of those students still tell me how much that moment meant to them. It was unforgettable. It was also the first play I ever directed. It wouldn’t be my last.

The school was so impressed with my service, they hired me to teach English and Theatre the very next year. I went back to school, and earned a second degree in Theatre Education. I went on to teach high school for four more years, and later, I taught at a university. I eventually went on to earn my Master of Fine Arts degree — in Directing — something I had learned to love during my year of service.

AmeriCorps changed my life, folks! And I’m not even exaggerating. I may never have gone back to school, and gone on to a life in education. I may never have discovered my love for directing, and gone on to get my MFA. I may never have had that close contact with the African American community, and learned to love that culture — for all it’s triumphs and challenges. I also made some best friends for life. AmeriCorps gave me the experience and tools I needed to be an educator and director, and to live a life of service. I still teach and direct, and perhaps even more importantly, I am still an active volunteer in my community. I currently volunteer as a Media/ PR/ Marketing Assistant for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, tutor and mentor adult literacy students, and work on several local and state political campaigns. AmeriCorps helps change lives…starting with your own!

If you want to give back, and live a life of service, I would suggest you consider serving in AmeriCorps for 1-2 years. Apply today!

To apply, please go to www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps.

#AmeriCorpsWorks #1of1Million

I’ve come to begrudgingly accept that there may fundamentally be two types of people in the world — those who venture boldly into society driven by a curious and open mind, a compassionate heart, a commitment to lifelong learning, a desire to see the world, an urge to meet new and unique people, be exposed to new cultures, and learn from everyone they meet. These are the goodwill ambassadors of peace, justice, and service to those in most need of our care.

Then there are the rest.

These are the souls who were raised in a way that places little value in education and seeking out facts and verifiable truths in the world. They view society with suspicion, see terror around every corner, and demonize those who are different or challenge their rigid and narrow-minded view of the world. These types are often guided by an inflexible and intolerant belief system and strict ideology. They operate from a place of fear, distrust, willful ignorance, selfishness, racism, bigotry, xenophobia, provincialism, anti-intellectualism, fervent nationalism, aggressive patriotism, an ‘I got mine — don’t expect a thing from me’ attitude, irrational and misguided fears of foreign cultures, a lack of empathy, outright hostility towards science and academia, and a hypocritical condemnation of the values and dissolute lives of those they disapprove of.

Naturally, the world is wide and diverse, and people fall at all different points on this spectrum. And yet, I am convinced humans are raised and/or genetically predisposed to generally fall into one category or another.

John Lennon once sang:

‘You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one.’

I’d rather be naive and idealistic, with the possibility of forging friendships and building lasting peace, then approach the world with fear, aggression, and rabid mistrust. What those in the second category don’t realize is that the very fear and malicious attitude they direct at Muslims and those who are different is the very behavior which breeds enmity and gives rise to radical Islamic terrorism in the first place. People aren’t born terrorists. They learn it. They are driven towards it. And more often than not, we taught it to them. The quickest way to make a terrorist is attack his nation unprovoked, seize his oil and government, and occupy his land for years — taking away his autonomy and ability to self-govern. ISIS didn’t exist until we invaded Iraq. The only weapons of mass destruction there was us. If you want to see more radicalized Muslim attacks in this country, then by all means, threaten the welfare and livelihood of Muslims, and make them feel unwelcome in their own country. It’s remarkable what a little dignity and respect will earn you. And frightening what a little oppression can provoke.

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”