The following is an opinion editorial written by Yuechen Zhao.
© Copyright 2011 Yuechen Zhao. All Rights Reserved.

Why do we live—only to die?

I’m not the first to ask this question, and I’m sure that I won’t be the last. But that does not make the question any less important.

You might be wondering why the title explicitly states that this is an irreligious view. It’s simple: religion offers insights into the purpose. A Christian will say that the purpose is to serve God and spread his word. A die-hard atheist will say that life is meaningless and random, and that it resulted from chance chemical reactions on earth a long time ago .

Only someone with no religion, no belief whatsoever, is truly bothered by such a question. If one knows nothing, how can one know the answer to this baffling question?

First, let me explore some answers previously given, and why they have always been unsatisfactory.

Common Answers

There is no purpose to life. We live to die and, thus, help our species evolve.

This “answer” simply brings up another question: “Why do we evolve?” What’s the point of the existence of our species, if there is no purpose to life? Why should we evolve?

Our life’s purpose is to make the lives of those who come after us better.

Again, this answer begs to be asked another question. “What’s life’s purpose for those who come after us?” To make the lives of those who come after them even better? This reasoning is obviously flawed as there is no end to the cycle. There is no ultimate purpose. Read more…

Maybe your high school requires that you volunteer a certain number of hours before allowing you to graduate. Maybe you’re looking for some experience to write on your resume. Maybe your parents are forcing you to freely give away your time when you can use it to do other things (such as play video games).

But have you thought about why some people volunteer “voluntarily”?

Why do we volunteer, anyway? What’s the point?

It Gives Back to the Community

Think about where we would be without diligent volunteers. The world would have no Wikipedia, making that 2000-word Biology essay that much harder. There would be no annual Red-Cross blood drive, making saving people who need blood impossible. There’d be no parent associations for all sorts of school activities, driving many of those to a halt. Volunteering make a community a better place, for all. In the words of the bard:

How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
~ William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice

You Learn Valuable Skills

Think volunteering is nothing more than you giving? Think again. You are probably receiving more than you give. If you volunteer at your public library, then every interaction with a library patron is another piece of experience of on-the-spot human-to-human interaction. You learn how to deal with strangers. If you volunteer at the nursing home, then every resident you help gives you more insight into their medical condition and Read more…

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin – First Class, was born July or August of 1881 in Mold-on-the-Wold and died June 30, 1997 atop the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts. He was  the late  Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore was a half-blood wizard, the son of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, and the elder brother of Aberforth and Ariana Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore was considered to be the most powerful wizard of his time, and the only one that Lord Voldemort had ever feared. He was most famous for his defeat of Gellert Grindelwald, the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his work on alchemy with Nicolas Flamel.

In life, Albus Dumbledore was a champion of peace and love. A very old man in the 90s, he was documented by J.K. Rowling in a series of books concerning a boy named Harry Potter. His wisdom has been passed through the generations and is very well documented through numerous memorable quotes.

Dumbledore’s Philosophy

“To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself.” - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for Read more…

Whether you need volunteer experience for high school graduation, college admissions, job interviews, or just out of the goodness of your heart (or a combination of the above), you can be sure that volunteer opportunities won’t be difficult to find if you know where to look. Volunteering is an extremely rewarding activity that can teach you about numerous aspects of your community and can add to your marketable experiences.

Check With Your School

Each high school or college almost definitely has some sort of volunteer organization or service bulletin asking for volunteers. These organizations specialize in finding opportunities for volunteer work in the surrounding community. Ask about these organizations and, if possible, join the organization in order to get the most up-to-date information about volunteer opportunities.

Check with Local Community Organizations

Most communities have non-profit organizations that help coordinate the volunteer efforts for that specific community. Examples include companies such as United Way. These organizations organize all sorts of activities such as summer volunteer camps, fundraising walks, and much more. Checking with these organizations will ensure that you find a volunteer opportunity that you’ll love.

Check with Local Non-profits

Of course, you can always find volunteer opportunities on your own, without going through a school or community organization. Call up your local public library, Red Cross, Salvation Army, food bank, or similar organization and ask if they have the need for a volunteer. More often than not, they’d be more than happy to have some (free) help! Many times, you’ll be able to find volunteer opportunities in hospitals and nursing homes as well. Don’t be afraid to ask around!

Check with National and International Non-profits

You don’t have to volunteer strictly within your community. Think global. If you have the ambition, you can apply for a position in the Teach for America corps, which helps give low-income families’ children a great education. Be careful! These volunteer opportunities may require you to travel around the country or world, which is something that not everyone can accept.

Is there a club or organization at your school that you feel is missing? Do you want to start a recycling club because you feel that your school is not “green” enough? Confused about where to start?

Check With Your Administration

Check with the activities director or the principal about starting your club. Most schools allow you start a club, but only if they see merit in the organization. First, set a plan for your organization. What is going to be about? Would you have basic requirements for joining? Do you have a sponsor for your club or organization? (If in high school, most clubs require teacher supervision; if in college, regulations vary.) Why would your club or organization be a valuable addition to the school?

Make sure that you satisfy your administration and get its approval before continuing with your club or organization!

Turn to Your Friends

Your friends watch movies with you, steal your food, and laugh at your jokes. Did you know that they’re also your most fervent supporters? That’s right: your friends should be your first members. Communicate with them about your new organization and encourage them to join. Most of them (hopefully) can’t turn you down.

Choose Good Leadership

Make sure that you choose talented and dedicated people to be leaders in your new organization. Simply giving the VP position to your best friend may not be a good idea if you know that your best friend won’t step up to the plate. Bad leadership will inevitably drive your club into oblivion.

Have a Purpose

Why would people want to join your club? Is it a socially orientated organization? Do you do service? If so, to the greater Read more…

Is your chess club president not doing his job? The student government vice president’s never at meetings? PR Chair of your Save the Children fund disappeared after being elected? Your parents pushing you to take a leadership position? You want one for applying to college or your job interview?

Whatever your reason for running for leadership, you need to make sure that you know what you’re doing.

Are You Sure?

Do you know what a leader is supposed to do? What sorts of responsibilities come with being a leader? If not, you should read Effective Leadership – What’s a Leader? and the rest of the Effective Leadership series. After you’re sure that you want to run for leadership, continue reading.

Before the Campaign

If you’re new to an organization, chances are, you won’t be elected (or are not allowed to run). Unless others have seen you being a successful leader in other organizations, you should do your best to show that you are an integral part of the organization or club. You should pick up your act at least one year before running for the position. Even though you’re not an officer “yet,” being an active and enthusiastic member will elevate your position inside the organization automatically. People will start to trust you, and that is the first step in receiving a leadership position. Many times, officers will ask for volunteers to take temporary leadership positions—you should use these opportunities. If you prove yourself in a temporary position, running for a permanent position will become much easier.

During the Campaign

Use Your Friends

Make sure that you notify your friends that you are running! They are most likely to vote for you, so the more Read more…

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You should also notice much faster speeds and less downtime from now on. Please notify us of all problems immediately!

Cheers!

Steve Jobs Commencement Speech, Stanford University, 2005

In a landmark commencement speech made in 2005 at Stanford University, Steve Jobs made his mark again. His speech was not only special to those graduates, but also to everyone who’s watched or read it. It is one of those rare speeches with a lifespan more than the half an hour it takes to give the address.

Now, you are either being asked to or you have chosen to write a commencement address for your college or high school graduation. Where do you start? Do you fear giving a speech that’s not “good enough”? Let’s explore the secrets to writing a great commencement speech.

Speak About Something Real

As with writing college essays (and just about anything else in life), it absolutely must be real. To you, your audience, your grandmother yelling her head off in the stands… If you cannot read your speech without shuddering with shame at the lies and insincerity, then it probably doesn’t quite fulfill this requirement. Remember, your audience has to sit patiently (in really hot gowns!) for the duration of your speech. If you wouldn’t want to listen to your own speech—imagine what your audience would be going through.

Avoid Cliché (At All Costs!)

If your speech is filled with the generalities from the following list, then it probably is something that everyone has heard 2,438,293,392 times already.

• Guys, we’ve come so far! We made it!
• We’ve grown so much over the past few years. It’s been awesome goin’ to school with you guys.
• We must thank our teachers for helping us grow.
• Freshmen year, we were little guys, not knowing anything about anything. Sophomore year, we took class X with teacher Y and we learned so much. Junior year, Event Z happened at our school and it was cool. Senior year, we applied to college and had a wonderful year!
• We’re going to be so successful with the stuff we learned here. The future’s gonna be awesome.
• We had such a sense of community and I loved this school so much. I hope you did too.
• Here, our paths part. We choose our own lives.
• Etc etc etc

There’s nothing inherently wrong with making these points in your speech. In fact, if you can bring a creative twist to it or put it within a larger, original structure, they may even be effective. However, know that these points are made again and again each year in commencement speeches across Read more…

A leader does not have to be a genius. Rather, he or she must be willing to put forth enough energy to warrant the continued effort of the followers. What does this mean in our talent show example given in Effective Leadership – What’s a Leader?

Notice that you—the leader—didn’t assign any jobs to yourself. This is usually a sign that something’s wrong. In most instances, the leader is the one that will have the most responsibilities, in addition to coordinating the efforts of each of the followers. If the leader completes those tasks well and in a timely fashion, he or she serves as the perfect example of what the followers should strive for. In addition, the leader must instill in the followers how important their individual jobs are, though not to such a hyperbolic extent that the followers don’t feel sincerity. Anything that the leader says or does must be sincere.

In the organization of the talent show, the leader should not try to control every aspect—in fact, it’s not feasible for especially large projects. Rather, tasks and deadlines need to be explained fully so that the people responsible for different tasks can problem-solve for themselves. This Read more…

Though everyone’s leadership style is slightly different, there are generally three classified types of leadership: Laissez-Faire or Passive Leadership, Transactional Leadership, and Transformational Leadership. Each type is described below. Which one do you think you are right now?

Laissez-Faire or Passive Leadership

This type of leader is fairly rare—he or she will probably never be elected. Let’s say that Bob is a laissez-faire leader. In our example of the talent show (as seen in Effective Leadership – What’s a Leader), he will take no action at all. How the talent show ever going to be organized?

Transactional Leadership

This is the type of talent show leader described in Effective Leadership – What’s a Leader? That is, the followers provide the leader with the means to achieve a goal; the leader gives instructions and helps facilitate; and the followers gain some sort of advantage by this transaction. In our case, probably a sense of satisfaction about the success of the talent show. These leaders typically solve problems and are “reactive,” but not “proactive.”

This type of leadership is probably most common, and in fact works fairly well in a work environment. The incentive for the followers to work is pretty significant—money to eat and buy fancy things with (such as iPods). However, in a school environment, many times the incentive (such as the satisfaction of a successful project) is not enough to make people really responsible, and projects fall apart before your very eyes.

Transformational Leadership

This type of leader generally exhibits the following traits:

• Idealized Influence – followers of leader share the leader’s vision and willingness to sacrifice for that goal. The followers “follow” leader’s actions. The leader is dedicated and behaves morally and ethically. A sense of purpose drives everything that is done.
• Intellectual Stimulation – the leader believes in the ability of followers to solve problems and to approach them from different perspectives, and encourages them to do so. The leader believes that the followers are ready to solve “current and future problems.”
• Inspirational Motivation – the leader is very enthusiastic in his goal. He is committed and is confident that his followers will be able to achieve that goal.
• Individualized Consideration – the leader encourages members to achieve to the utmost of their ability and helps them in achieving goals. The leader listens to suggestions and responds to follower’s comments. He or she considers the individual.

In addition to these qualities, the leader must be responsible and organized, and he or she must have enough appeal to motivate followers. Transformational Leadership also tends to be the type that works the best in a school-like environment because no extrinsic “rewards” are given. Instead, followers follow because it gives them an intrinsic satisfaction. Sound like a good idea?

This article is a part of the Effective Leadership series.
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