How did volunteering
affect the way you
think about your career?
Dani Clark Scano,
L'Arche, Rome, Italy
Living with the handicapped showed me how
absolutely competitive I had become after years in a formal school setting- not
to mention years in a society where achievements are equated with a person’s
value. I began to realize that I was caught up in the idea of a perfect career
and I was focused on what I had to do to get there (the right graduate school,
the best internship). Once I got to graduate school I saw everything with very
different eyes, and even though I can admit that I have since been tempted to be
competitive, all I have to do to remind myself of what’s important is think of
my time in community and the joys of simple living. If I’m so focused on where
I want or “need” to be then I am missing what’s right in front of me!
Living with the handicapped showed me how
absolutely competitive I had become after years in a formal school setting- not
to mention years in a society where achievements are equated with a person’s
value. I began to realize that I was caught up in the idea of a perfect career
and I was focused on what I had to do to get there (the right graduate school,
the best internship). Once I got to graduate school I saw everything with very
different eyes, and even though I can admit that I have since been tempted to be
competitive, all I have to do to remind myself of what’s important is think of
my time in community and the joys of simple living. If I’m so focused on where
I want or “need” to be then I am missing what’s right in front of me!
