Anonymous

Lately I find I've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes for both HOBY National and HOBY Maryland.  The kinds of things that most people wil never know happened, just one day they show up and everything is ready for them.  Projects that will never have an official attachment to my name, even if I will know that were the product of my, hopefully good, work.

For the national audience, that has meant a lot of social media projects, working to make sure some internal priority lists stay relevant to the field, and often, simply making my voice heard.  Sometimes it's more a philosophy of, if you make enough noise, people start to listen and others it has been simply going with my gut, but either way I feel like I'm seeing positive impact.  I'm not saying people aren't willing to listen or that I'm trying to push my weight around, simply that sometimes you find you have to convince people of the importance of things, even if they will never understand it; and then you make things happen on your own, because otherwise they just sometimes wouldn't.

At the state level, you could argue some of the things have fallen more so under my job description as LSC -- a catch all for anything that needs to happen -- but I don't tend to think so.  No one pushed forward to get the meeting with MSM and everything that has come from it -- we could have gone on just the same without it.   I didn't have to pick up recruitment, or push for a certain set of schools to participate this year, or include the AIP, or continue with career lunch.  But, if I'm not fighting for these things, who will?

Come seminar weekend, there will be plenty of thank yous, but when it comes to something like use of the new dormitories or dance hall, those are things people won't immediately grasp what it means for the organization, or the work it took to make that happen.   Those are the cornerstones for future growth and impact that have been set now, this year, despite the fact that the ambassadors will never know the difference from what was or could have been.   Those are the things that will keep my staff growing in the years to come, and why I see the ranks of our TA and Junior Facilitators beginning to swell.  It's not the things where people know you did the work that make the event successful -- it's the things that they don't perceive, that simply make their time enjoyable and drama free, that simply leaves them saying at the end, "Wow, I had a lot of fun."  And when they then go home and connect to us on Facebook and stay with us in the long run, they'll never know how much we did this year just to make that happen.

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The HOBY Spirit

Professionally, I had a fairly tough day at work today.  The reasons don't really matter.  What is relevant however in this case is about attitude.

I'm the type of person who tries to give 100% and then some to everything I do.  I've never really figured out how to do less.  Why would you bother with something if you're going to give it anything less than your best?

In my real job, this is sometimes difficult for me.  I am very committed to it, but I work with other professionals who I won't always feel are giving the same.  I don't question their commitment.  I don't question their heart.  I certainly don't question their character.  But I'd be lying if I told you I never questioned if they had the right attitude.

Attitude is so crucial in what it is any person does.  No matter how bad things are, you often have to muster up the inner strength, the fortitude to push through.  You can't simply give up.  You put on your best face, you take your knocks, get up, and "get back on the horse."  When you don't, you potentially let others down.  When you don't, you perhaps even serve as a bad example.

I think the thing I love about HOBY most is how rarely I see bad attitudes.  When my fellow volunteers are working, I could ask them for anything, and I know it's as good as done.  It doesn't matter what needs to be done -- how potentially monotonous, boring, gross, bizarre, or unusual the task is -- people know they are serving a larger purpose and they go out of their way with a smile on their face to help you make it happen.  People are invested in your success.

But, this in turn goes so much further.  Their good attitude makes things better for everyone.  Their enthusiasm and energy carries.  Their smiles and their heart shine for all to see.   It makes everyone around them want to give that much more.

And then, when all is said and done, there are the thank yous.  You'll never struggle to hear people who just want to thank you for the good work you've done.  People genuinely appreciate what you've given, and they make sure you know it.  People respect that you've given your best effort, and they want to make sure it doesn't go unnoticed.

Finding such energy and positivity in the people in your life can be a rare thing.  It is a beacon in what can often be the more difficult and trying days of life.  And it's not just the conference:  these people are there long beyond as friends.  Friends who share this common bond with you, that is known in the vaguest sense only as HOBY, but that is embodied in thoughts, words, and actions that form a bond that anyone would be lucky to find if even only once in their life.  Once that HOBY spirit has filled your soul, it's all you can do but to want a little more.

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Unpaid Hours

Including the recent meeting on Sunday, over the last two days I've spent between 15 and 16 hours on HOBY volunteer work.  Particularly for October, so early in the season, that's a fairly large chunk of time.

These are the moments that at the end of the year I have to remind myself sometimes that people thank me for.  That when they say their thank yous, I can be humble, and be sure my team gets praised as well, but the pat on the back is not a bad thing:  I have worked hard, even when others' projects had not necessarily yet begun, and people want to make sure that you know that work doesn't go unappreciated.

Most of my work these few days was meeting follow up:  writing the committee minutes, sending emails, etc.  But the largest part was organizing our new recruitment drive.  This year, we're asking every high school age alumnus who wants to be on Team Alumni to take on the challenge of helping us recruit.  For each person, they're only being asked five schools, but that can go a long way.  Already, about 20 have taken on the challenge, meaning that's 100 schools that will be called by alumni and encouraged to attend.  To put that in perspective, there are 364 potential schools or programs within the state of Maryland.  Our recruitment goal is 201, and last year we got 180.  Having the alumni contribute for the first time this year will be a big boost for us as I have not had any luck getting someone to take on the task of recruitment director.  It's meant the rest of us have had to split up that task.  But 100 is no small number and certainly nothing to scoff at.  It will have an enormous impact on our efforts if those alumni are successful.

My job as Seminar Chair is to direct others:  that's what the recruitment challenge is all about.   I direct the resources, push them in the right direction, and help the task get to goal.  But, it's the moments like this that I try to remember to also be a role model.  That I cannot ask my team to do what I am not willing to do myself.  That literally thousands of unpaid volunteer hours will be put in by my team and I this year towards accomplishing our task.  We will try to give everyone a "pat on the back," a thank you, and of course, a HOBY Hug.  It's a small token of thanks for all those hours.  But in the end, in order to get there, we must motivate and inspire them, so that the literal hours put in themselves feel like their own intrinsic reward.


I am frequently asked why I do HOBY.  My answer is always the same:  I'm trying to give back to HOBY what it gave to me those years ago when I was an ambassador in 1996.

I learned something a long time ago though:  I already gave that part back.  The "problem" now is that every time I give, HOBY in its intrinsic reward gives a little bit more back to me than I can give to it.  At this rate, I will never catch up.

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Say Thank You

Something we spend a fair amount of time on at HOBY, and I think in a way that is often new to our ambassadors is thank you notes.  The importance of a well-written, thoughtful, and particularly hand-written thank you note says a lot about how you felt about someone else's actions.  Particularly in this day and age of fast-paced, electronic life, taking the time to hand write a thank you note says, "Your actions meant a lot to me -- I don't know if I can repay you -- but I at least wanted to go out of my way to let you know how much I appreciated it."  At HOBY we try and thank everyone:  sponsors, volunteers, speakers.  It doesn't matter how they helped us -- the fact that they helped at all is worth recognizing.

After I had my meeting with Dr. Powell and Mount St. Mary's I made sure I wrote a hand-written thank you.  It didn't take me long, and it cost me all of a stamp to send.  But if nothing else, it helped me even recognize just how appreciative of their time time I truly was.

Who have you said thank you to?  Who have you perhaps forgotten to say thank you to?  Take a moment, brighten their day, and let them know just how much what they did meant to you.

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