My Story/college

My Story - Hallie Martin

Hallie Martin 
Gustavus Adolphus College

‘My Story’ is not one of a kind, but I would like to think it is unique. I have met so many people and seen so many places that I would not have encountered if it were not for STLF, and that is why it is not one of a kind, because it is not my story, it is our story. I share this story with every teenager, every adult, and every community member I have worked with through STLF, and that is what makes it unique. 

Being a chemistry major at Gustavus Adolphus College, my studying pretty much revolves around atoms, molecular structures, and chemical compounds. So, I would like to compare STLF to an enzyme. An enzyme, by definition is ‘a protein that catalyzes or increases the rates of chemical reactions’.  Sounds like an important job, right? It is! Without enzymes, the reactions in our body would not happen at the amazing rate they need to. Although, enzymes are selective to their substrates they only speed up a few reactions out of many of their possibilities, each being important nonetheless. Like this process, STLF is the catalyst to youth leadership in our communities. Without the ‘STLF enzyme’, we as substrates or volunteers would not generate the excitement of youth leadership in volunteering nearly as much! And although STLF only influences a mere fraction of youth to become involved in service, it makes a tremendous difference in the world we live in. Pretty cool! 

For a long time before working with STLF, I had heard from many people all the amazing things that students experienced on Pay It Forward Tours. After all the hype I heard, I was sure STLF was something I wanted to be a part of. So, I decided to put this desire intoaction after being proposed the opportunity to lead a bus of high school students from the Fargo Moorhead area on a fun, service filled trip through the intriguing land of North Dakota! Of all places to take a tour, I was convinced this would be the least exciting. I was happily proven wrong when the tour was more fun than I could have ever imagined. Proven wrong, I found that although the final destination of a tour may be a selling point on a poster, what really makes the trip so amazing are the students on the bus, the people in the cities and communities that are changed by these students, and the realization that youth can make such a tremendous difference. Seeing the students realize this for themselves is something that is truly unique. I am thankful to have had another opportunity to lead a bus from Duluth Central High School with the destination of Kansas City, Missouri. I am also pursuing an STLF chapter at Gustavus Adolphus College with hopes of kicking off the chapter on campus the fall of 2010! 

A German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being." STLF does just that through the impact on communities by service leadership in youth. Keep paying it forward! 

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