作为一名国际学生，与别人很不同于的是，我去年在圣费利克斯中心做志愿者。我非常钦佩对我生命有过影响的人。去年在多伦多的时候，我的教育学硕士预备课程的老师，也是我在加拿大教育旅程的启蒙老师，她给了我巨大的影响。她总是告诫我，如果我想让别人给我全面的承诺，那么首先我必须赢得他们的信任,通过灵活的关系，并为身边的人提供支持。这是我在多伦多开始志愿服务的原因。我现在爱德华王子岛大学教育硕士一年级的学生，而且我仍然是个志愿者。
两个原则
我生活的两个原则是“仆人式领导力” (Stone, Russell & Patterson, 2004)和“双赢”(Covey, 2013)。当我在做领导或者与他人合作时，拥有这些原则对我来说是非常重要的。
“仆人式领导力” (Stone et al., 2004)是一种使团队贡献更积极，构建更好的组织，并最终创建一个更具关怀的世界的领导哲学。我去年在圣费利克斯中心的第一个每周课外项目的任务就是学习“仆人式领导力” (Stone et al., 2004)。我和我的同伴在社会中遇到了许多挑战。例如，我们救助的流浪者有时候会抱怨食物，或是我们监督的孩子在户外活动结束后不愿回到我们的中心。有时候我的朋友会取笑我，说我在做免费的工作,但这并不能影响我做社会服务的决心。
在中心建立的信任和友谊在很大程度上激励我完成为流浪者和孩子们的服务。这些服务灌输给了我非凡的职业道德，也使我更加了解自己。
“双赢”是我生活的第二个原则。它是在人际互动中基于协议和强调互惠(Covey, 2013)。从我在圣费利克斯中心的志愿活动经历中，我深刻理解了“双赢”的概念。当时，我每周都要和不同的人在厨房做志愿者。作为一名国际留学生，我对许多英语词汇并不熟悉。有一天，一名志愿者让我递给他一个盖子，但我不知道他在说什么，当时我对我的知识匮乏感到十分尴尬。然而，我的同伴非常耐心和并且愉快地为我解释我不懂的单词的意思。最终，我的厨房和食品相关术语的词汇量得到了非常大的扩充。这些经历增加了我与当地人合作的信心。我衷心感谢ICEAP和圣费利克斯中心能给我这些学习并且实践的机会。
参考文献
Covey, S. (2013). The seven habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Pub.
Stone, G. A., Russell, R. F., & Patterson, K. (2004). Transformational versus servant leadership: A difference in leader focus. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 25(4), 349–361.
Being an international student, I experienced volunteering at St. Felix Centre last year quite differently from others. I very much admire influential individuals in my life. When I was in Toronto last year, my Pre-M.Ed. instructor—the first teacher in my Canadian educational journey—influenced every minute of my life. She would always advise me that that if I wanted people to give me full commitment, then I first mustearn their trust, adopt a flexible relationship style, and provide support for the people around me. That is the reason I began volunteering in Toronto. I am now a first year Master of Education student at the University of Prince Edward Island, and I am still volunteering.
Two Principles
Two principles that I try to live by are “servant leadership” (Stone, Russell & Patterson, 2004) and “win-win” (Covey, 2013). It is important for me to have these values when I am leading or working with others.
“Servant leadership” (Stone et al., 2004) is a leadership philosophy that supports positive team contribution, constructs better organizations, and ultimately creates a more caring world. I practiced “servant leadership” (Stone et al., 2004) as my first personal mission statement on a weekly basis in the afterschool program at St. Felix Centre last year. My peers and I encountered many challenges in the community. For example, the homeless people that we fed sometimes complained about the food, or the children that we supervised did not want to go back to our Centre at the end of their outdoor activity. Sometimes my friends would tease me saying that I was doing free work, but that did not affect my determination to serve my community.
The trustworthiness and friendship that I established at the Centre immensely motivated and encouraged me to accomplish the shared tasks of serving the homeless and playing with children. These contributions taught me more about myself and also instilled exceptional work ethics.
“Win-win” is the second principle that I live by. It is based on agreement and emphasizes the mutual benefits in human interactions (Covey, 2013). From my own experience practicing this philosophy in volunteering at St. Felix Centre, I gained a deep understanding of the “win-win concept”. At that time, I was volunteering in the kitchen with different people every week. As an international student, I was not quite familiar with many English words. On one particular day a volunteer asked me to pass him a lid, but I had no idea what he was saying. I was utterly embarrassed at my lack of knowledge. However, my peers were remarkably patient with me and gladly explained the meaning of words I did not understand. As a result, I built an extensive vocabulary of kitchen and food related terms. This experience increased my confidence to work with Canadians. I am greatly appreciative of ICEAP and St. Felix Centre for all the opportunities, lessons and experiences that I have gained from them.
References
Covey, S. (2013). The seven habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Pub.
Stone, G. A., Russell, R. F., & Patterson, K. (2004). Transformational versus servant leadership: A difference in leader focus. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 25(4), 349–361.
