Tori Conklin: Week 1

Hi everyone! Since being accepted as a fellow “Fellow”, I have been so excited to begin our journeys into the world of community service work. I suspect that all of us have been involved with various types of service prior to the fellowship, but I expect our expectations and definitions of service will change drastically in this experience. I, for one, am looking forward to a change in perspective as a result of this process.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a rising junior from Olive Branch, Mississippi—a relatively small town just a little south from our beloved Memphis. Olive Branch considers itself a suburb of Memphis, so I have always had a connection to the city. However, I don’t think I really understood it before coming to Rhodes. Before, Memphis was the place of opportunity only if you were brave enough to explore it (which I rarely was). Rhodes has opened my eyes to the hidden gems of Memphis, but also to the aspects that, as Becky put it on our first day together, “need a little bit of love”. For that reason, I became involved in Lynx Club on campus—a program of Special Olympics of Greater Memphis.

Lynx Club promotes inclusive sports between Rhodes volunteers and Special Olympics athletes as do most programs with Special Olympics (SO). However, in my two years volunteering with Lynx Club and a little over one year leading it, I have come to realize that sports have more to offer than common ground between individuals. Not only does everyone play to their best ability, volunteers and athletes alike, but they present their best and truest selves. SO fosters relationships that extend beyond the basketball court, and in my one week in the SO office, I have seen this sentiment time and time again.

My definition of service before becoming involved with Lynx Club was simply the gift of my time and efforts to promote an agenda for the greater good of one specific group. Lynx Club has transformed my mindset and clearly brought forth the true intentions of service. I look forward to enhancing existing relationships with SO athletes, forging new connections, and understanding the complex web of familial relationships that exist in my service site. SO does not only serve the athletes, but their families as well. It is a support system for times of happiness and strife. Service with SO is not just about planning events and providing opportunities like I thought. I cannot wait to see what other sides to service I can find.

*Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt*