05/24/2017
As a comprehensive Northwestern community, with all our busy lives and individual involvements in academics and extracurriculars, it is easy to be frustrated and lose sight of the positivity that can come out of our campus and its people.
GreekBuild’s Service Spotlight aims to shine a light on members of the Greek community who have done tremendous works of service or philanthropy and truly have made a difference on the campus and beyond.
With that said, our inaugural Service Spotlight is on Alex Samland. Alex is a freshman studying Mechanical Engineering, a brother of Delta Tau Delta, and works with two programs that focus on youth mentoring: Project SOAR, which aims to build one-on-one relationships between a mentor and mentee, and America Reads, which empowers underprivileged youth through education spanning a wide range of subjects from mathematics to English. Rodney Dawan Orr II, president of the Interfraternity Council and fellow brother of Delta Tau Delta, applauded Alex for his dedication to service, mentioning that “I’ve never met anyone more engaged in the community than Alex.”
Alex: “I think the most memorable and enlightening part of the experience for me was understanding the different perspectives and backgrounds that these youth come from. My mentee from Project SOAR, Carlos, comes from a divorced family and lives in a house filled with step-brothers and step-sisters he doesn’t really feel close to. Developing that relationship with him was a way for Carlos to have someone he could really trust and hopefully look up to for guidance.”
The work, at times, especially for America Reads, was tough. There were times during mentoring when teaching became a behavioral management class as students felt forced to go to tutoring by either their grandparents or parents. But Alex persisted, and overall feels like despite these situations, the work he has done has been fulfilling and most importantly, beneficial for the students.
To students interested in or inspired to do community service work, one of Alex’s biggest advice is to “not half commit to anything”. Specifically for his work in tutoring, “It is actually much more detrimental to anyone you are volunteering for to drop out halfway through the year or not give as much as energy as you can as the students will have yet another adult in their life who are not committed to their success. When you’re in it, you’re in it for the long run. And you should be passionate about what you do.”
We applaud Alex's efforts, and encourage everyone to strive for the level of dedication that Alex has continually displayed. If you are part of the Greek community and are inspired to give back to the community while meeting people passionate about service in different chapters, you should join GreekBuild! Contact Nate Gunawan or Sean Finn-Samuels if you are interested.
