Welcome, Friend
Last month I introduced the term R2 (Rotarian v. 2.0), defined as the next generation of Rotarian. This month I’d like to follow up with an example. While youth is not a requirement to earn the R2 label, the energy, openness, and optimism that typically accompany it are. So, I’d like to focus on some of our younger members for a while, and help you get to know them a little better. The first person that comes to mind when thinking about Rotary’s newest, youngest members is Nathan Auerbach.
Most of you will remember Nathan as the 2,000 mile walker from the West Coast Walk, the centennial project which raised over $100,000 for PolioPlus and simultaneously raised awareness across the country for Rotary and its good works. Nathan has also, despite wearing the Rotary pin for just a year, visited more clubs and met with more fellow Rotarians than most of us ever will. That gives him a unique perspective. Not only does he bring a fresh set of eyes with which to view ourselves, but he’s also done a whole lot of viewing. Here’s a bit of what Nathan has to say.
“My experience at the clubs varied. In some clubs, I would sit down next to someone in their seventies, and they would smile warmly and greet me and say, ‘It makes me so happy to have a young person here.’ At other clubs, I could just feel the mistrust. It was like, ‘Who are you, and why do you think you belong here?’ Even today there is often this kind of exclusivity, even after West Coast Walk.
“From my point of view, I had never spent any significant time with people outside my own age group (except for my family). I had to be really open-minded and accept that a lot of clubs have their own traditions. It takes a young person who is open-minded and accepting to get past that initial impression.”
Indeed it does, and it makes me wonder how many R2’s are out there, looking for the opportunity to provide service. And how many have gotten glimpses of a Rotary meeting in a restaurant corner or hotel conference room? And how many have felt welcome?
As always, your comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome.
MW
Most of you will remember Nathan as the 2,000 mile walker from the West Coast Walk, the centennial project which raised over $100,000 for PolioPlus and simultaneously raised awareness across the country for Rotary and its good works. Nathan has also, despite wearing the Rotary pin for just a year, visited more clubs and met with more fellow Rotarians than most of us ever will. That gives him a unique perspective. Not only does he bring a fresh set of eyes with which to view ourselves, but he’s also done a whole lot of viewing. Here’s a bit of what Nathan has to say.
“My experience at the clubs varied. In some clubs, I would sit down next to someone in their seventies, and they would smile warmly and greet me and say, ‘It makes me so happy to have a young person here.’ At other clubs, I could just feel the mistrust. It was like, ‘Who are you, and why do you think you belong here?’ Even today there is often this kind of exclusivity, even after West Coast Walk.
“From my point of view, I had never spent any significant time with people outside my own age group (except for my family). I had to be really open-minded and accept that a lot of clubs have their own traditions. It takes a young person who is open-minded and accepting to get past that initial impression.”
Indeed it does, and it makes me wonder how many R2’s are out there, looking for the opportunity to provide service. And how many have gotten glimpses of a Rotary meeting in a restaurant corner or hotel conference room? And how many have felt welcome?
As always, your comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome.
MW
posted by Michael Wagner at 16:16
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