Change in a community is hard to measure…
I’ve been thinking a lot about how a person can change things around themselves. We all want to make big positive changes in our communities and lives but there’s so many different wants and views, even people wanting the same change go about it in differing ways. To answer the question I guess you have to really pick something you want to change and start with something small. Small changes can snowball and eventually become entire movements. Small changes here and there can also inspire others and cause a long chain of small changes that shift a community entirely. Making small changes whether it be in our daily routines/mindset or deciding to advocate or act on something can really cascade outwards and help shape life for the better.
I want to say I’m making a change in my community. I’m coordinator of a program that helps underrepresented and low income students get into the STEM fields. We offer tutoring, college ready courses and even mentor them on projects and lab work. We provide opportunities that these high school students normally wouldn’t receive and it helps them get into college and sets them up for a path towards a career. I’d like to say that is how I make change in my community, but it feels like I’m taking credit for the drive and work our students put into our program. I don’t like looking at numbers or writing up statistics for our program for that reason. I didn’t make a change in these students lives, I just gave them an opportunity showcase their talents and that kind of change and all the benefits that come from it should be seen as their efforts. Maybe that’s part of making a change for your community, giving someone else the tools or chance to change. So when I think about how I change my community I look more into how I can help support my community. Whether a student was having a hard time with a subject and the tutoring helped them pass a test or they discovered a field of science they really enjoy that they didn’t know even existed, that’s how I measure the change I make.
So the really short answer is, I make change by just trying to be supportive.
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Hello Lionel,
Your take on taking the little steps towards achieving something greater is spot on. I also believe that no matter how the change comes about, like you said, whether it be a mind set change or deciding to advocate or act on something, it takes that little step to start making an impact. Although it may seem minuscule, you can really affect another person in so many ways. We want to work towards our bigger goals by starting locally and getting the community involved. Also what you are doing Lionel is definitely a prime example of making a change in your community. I truly admire what you are doing. This is actually very intriguing to me because this is something I’ve been looking to get into and also the type of project I am working on for this program. If you don’t mind sending me over information about your program, that would be awesome! I do have your email, so I will also send you an email and maybe we can chat through there. Keep up the amazing work!