State Farm Youth Advisory Board Member Offers Passionate Definition of Service-Learning

Glenn McLaurin, a member of State Farm's Youth Advisory Board from Garner, North Carolina presented the following definition of service-learning at a recent gathering of service-learning leaders:

"I could stand up here and give you the standardized, State Farm-approved, one-size-fits-all definition of service-learning, and then explain how the Youth Advisory Board funds projects which fit inside those constraints. Service-learning can certainly be studied in an academic sense, and the quantifiable benefits associated with its practice are, in truth, extraordinary.

But if that was the explanation I provided, I would completely fail to impress upon you the real impact of service-learning - the impact each and every Board member has felt, and the impact the communities in which we fund projects feel.

Service-learning is, at its heart, a lifestyle. The best projects are those that capture and leverage the innate curiosity we feel when we look at an issue and take pause, setting aside our personal worries and pondering what can be done to relieve the problem.

Service-learning is an intensive exploration of that moment. The projects we aim to fund challenge the participants to dig deep into the heart of the problem, to educate themselves and others on what contributes to struggles faced by ordinary people on a daily basis. With that understanding comes passion and inspiration, the driving force behind lasting, systemic change.

And this is why youth are crucial to the success of service-learning. They aren't afraid to ask why, to think outside the box. It is easy to look at a community problem and just see an interference in our daily life, but to direct young people to the issue, with the energy and the spirit."

Learn more about Glenn here: http://www.statefarmyab.com/profile.php?name=Gmclaurin

About the State Farm Youth Advisory Board:
Thirty students, ages 17-20, from across the United States and Canada comprise the State Farm® Youth Advisory Board. They are charged with helping State Farm design and implement a $5 million-a-year signature service-learning initiative to address issues important to State Farm and communities across the United States and Canada. Members of this distinguished youth board play a critical leadership role in creating and overseeing the initiative that will address five community issues chosen by the board. The 2008-2009 State Farm Youth Advisory Board chose financial education, access to higher education/closing the achievement gap, disaster preparedness, teen driver safety and environmental responsibility to address through a competitive grant process. Learn more at: http://www.statefarmyab.com