RMH: Birth of My Love of Service

What exactly spawned my love of service to others and to the community? When I look back on all the events that could have possibly contributed to my love of giving back to others, one event stands clear in my mind as being the most influential: Ronald McDonald House. As a member of National Honor Society in high school, we organized ourselves under four main pillars that guided our activities day in and out, one of which being Service, which rather dominated the organization as a whole. An annual activity for our organization was to prepare a giant meal for families of patients in Nationwide Children’s Hospital, organized at a nearby building, the Ronald McDonald House.

 

Besides teaching me necessary leadership skills in organizing an event and executing it, this event was mainly dedicated to the idea of volunteering and all the positives that can be pulled from something like volunteering. Going into this event, I had expected something rather similar to other events I had worked with in the past; just another volunteering opportunity to look good on a resume, and another opportunity to market myself to others. I remember going into high school with the advice from others that volunteering helps you find yourself and feel good helping others, and up to this point I had a vague sense of what this feeling was, but I was not overly convinced with the past advice I had received.

 

When we first arrived, I had this preconceived notion from before. “Just another volunteering opportunity”, I remember thinking to myself. I could not have been more wrong. As we started preparing the meal for all the residents; however, the faces of my colleagues were brightly lit, as bright as the faces of children on Christmas morning. I was baffled, for I did not know the exact cause of their ecstasy. My confusion came rather intense, as I became frustrated for my lack of insight in that moment.

 

My friend, another member of NHS caught wind of my frustration, and inquired on that frustration, and when I told him what was frustrating me, he explained me the simple fact I was missing: “Their faces are insight into the wonderful feeling of service they are experiencing… We are about to serve hundreds of people, and help them through a harsh time in their lives… We are going to do this for no charge, except to feel good ourselves… I find myself surprised every time I volunteer by the level of gratitude those we serve show us, and that is why I know exactly why they are smiling”.

 

Essentially, what I learned that night was exactly what my friend had explained to me; however, I will not explain the rest of the details from that night due to sheer length that would be. But this event taught me a lot about my present life that I will continue to adapt to my future. The spirit of service will be forever ignited as a result of that night, and that is very important to me because one of my firmest beliefs is that those who have the time to volunteer should volunteer to those in need, because giving is one of the greatest qualities in life. Some have still not discovered this important fact, and the fact that I have will make me more desirable to future employers over those who have not. Volunteering at Ronald McDonald House taught me service and sparked my love for giving to others, and I will remember that for the rest of my life. While this event did push me outside of my comfort zone learning this important quality of myself, I do not regret a second of it because I am a better person now.

 

 

The Mood Elevator: A Leadership Retreat

 

When most people recall the most influential experience in their lives, they may recall something from early youth, or something in adolescence that ultimately changed their way of living their life entirely: something that may have led to their successes and their acceptance into a four year university like The Ohio State University. I have had many defining experiences in my life; however, I have never had one as defining as the event I had the privilege of experiencing just two weeks ago.

Being selected as a member of BuckeyeThon General Body was ultimately a leadership role that held the wide long-term goal of helping to contribute funds for reasearch to help end pediatric cancer. Before I could even begin to make an effort towards this goal, I would have to go to a ‘new members retreat’ to be introduced further to the organization and meet members of the staff. I had nothing more to expect, yet I pulled more from that weekend than I have in any other such retreat or leadership experience.

The event focused mainly on the concept of taking responsbility for your personality and leadership type. It circled around the idea of four different personality types and how they contribute to a team and have all different traits and skills that they can bring to the table when tackling a common goal. I learned through a very extensive survey that I possessed a more informal, easy-going personality type. This personality type is one that helps me to connect with others easy and make sure that everyone on the team is comfortable and that all of their needs are met throughout the mission process. Too much of a high-stress environment or anything that nears hostile can pose a serious issue can ultimately break a team apart, and my ultimate role as a leader with this personality type is to make sure that everyone is able to be happy and that they can work as efficiently as possible. This was no surprise to me personally, as I already knew this about myself; however, they then split us up and paired us with our common types and I learned that I was not the only one with this personality, which was ultimately contrary to my beliefs (which made me nervous, because I thought people would never understand why I lead the way I do, and be less likely to be able to empathize with me as a result).

Then we were presented with the highlight of the retreat: The Mood Elevator. This elevator is characterized by different levels of mood and the levels of which we may experience from day to day. The main point they drove home to all of us was that we are just one personality type, and there are three others that the rest of the population likely falls into. These personality types create ideas that we will not always see reason in, and we may be frustrated in. This frustration can create a wide variety of other progress-impeding moods, which ultimately plague the efficiency of a team working towards a common goal. There is a middle ground that we must work towards when any new idea is presented, and it must be one that is curious and interested. There are many reasons why this is the case (almost too many to list, so we will leave it with that, because I could go on for hours why this is the case), and if we embrace this idea, it can help to foster a diverse team with diverse ideas and help to raise more money to end pediatric cancer.

This was eye-opening to me on many levels because it was a way of looking at a big issue a lot of teams have and provided a reason why some apparently great teams fail at times, even when they might be superior to other teams. Whether this be a team of all superstar athletes, like a basketball team, if they aren’t willing to work efficiently with different personality types or they aren’t able to mesh as well and work to that level of “curious and interested”, then they will not succeed, and that is just a fact.

A majority of the time, some people never reach this insight and have this epiphany, which is what sets me apart from them, because now I have provided myself with a large avenue of access towards being able to better apply my personality to a team, and helping them to succeed. With this new insight, I believe that being adaptable is the most important trait for a team to succeed. Successes will be thrown your way, and more often than not, those successes will be followed by failure, and those failures can be followed with more successes, but being able to adapt, and take a step back and largely evaluate what is going right, and what is going wrong will help to ultimately create more success in the end. You must adapt to different personality types when communicating with others on your team as well, otherwise you can make them uncomfortable and work less efficient. If you adapt and cater their needs (which my personality type largely suits), you can take better steps to creating a better team. It is this experience which I firmly believe will help move us towards our mission of ending pediatric cancer.

A Semester in Review

Walking into college, I could not have even remotely predicted anything that would happen to me, and the changed self I would be a year in. It only took a semester, but I can successfully say that college has changed me and made me a better person.

Before college, and in the application process, I remember having an array of activities, organizations, and leadership positions to place on my application, but I never really believed in anything I was involved with, so, needless to say, they were just ‘things’ on a piece of paper for me. I joined a few organizations inside of my first few weeks, and I was off to another four years of more ‘things’ on a piece of paper.

It did not take me that long to realize that college organizations are much different than those in high school. They give you freedom, they give you decision; essentially, the power is in your hands, and if you hold an executive board position for that organization, you are on a government of sorts. This is everything I had hoped for in an organization, and I was beginning to have a lot of fun being involved. The more power I had, and the more decisions I could help make, the more fun I was having.

This is not like your normal power hungry person, for I was not using this power to help myself succeed solely, I was using these positions and organizations to help others, because I am a man of service, and now in college I can fully embrace that. I like to serve others now, and I have no intention of going back to the limitations that were imposed on me in high school. They held back my vision, and eliminated all of the fun. It became tedious work in high school, but it was a game in college. It was passing the ball outside with my dad and brother. It was playing outside with friends in the rain, or snow. College suited my lifestyle now, and I have every intention of collaborating with others, and dedicating as much time as I can to my organizations to make a difference. All of this has dominated my first semester, and I can only anticipate it soaring from here.

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

  • Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.
  • Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
  • Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
  • Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
  • Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

Hello, and thank you for visiting my page! My name is Mathew Kinnear and I am a current undergraduate student at The Ohio State University. I grew up in Hilliard, Ohio, and I am currently double majoring in Physics and Astrophysics/Astronomy and possess the goal of one day working for NASA or SpaceX. My academic interests primarily include the fields of Math and Science (heavy emphasis on Physics); however, I am also strongly intrigued by Programming and Computer Science.

Music drives me in my free time. Classical music stimulates my mind, as I move from the stages of Weigel Hall playing in The Ohio State Symphony, to embracing the world of Physics with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic guiding me from behind my speaker in my dorm. This is one of the things that truly sets me apart, for while others may throw down the pen in frustration after a lot of difficult (some say impossible) work, I let the moving harmonies guide my mind in a different direction, that (after much effort) leads me towards my goal. Music fuels my determination and ambition in academia.

Here on this ePortfolio, you will find a collection of items that I hold very near and dear to my heart, from enlightening experiences in work, to eye-opening knowledge in academics. My goal of this ePortfolio, while it may be to document my life, will also be to give all of you insight, and to help you learn something new pertaining to some things that are practical to the general body, and new things that you maybe would not have learned in any normal circumstance. Thank you, and have a wonderful day!