Becoming a Better Together Coach—a student ambassador for the Interfaith Youth Core’s flagship interfaith service campaign—has been a goal of mine since my freshman year at Georgetown. Having attended IFYC’s inaugural Interfaith Leadership Institute in October 2010, I wanted to join an extraordinary legacy of building bridges across religious (and non-religious) divides exemplified by leaders like Mrs. Valarie Kaur, Dr. Eboo Patel, and Mr. Chris Stedman. It took almost three years for me to realize this goal, but last week, I officially joined the newest class of Better Together Coaches after the completion of a 5-day training module directed by IFYC staff.
Although I believe I have gained many of the skills expected of the position—such as the ability to articulate my personal story in the context of the larger interfaith movement—my most treasured experiences involved interacting with the other coaches outside of our training. In the process, I gained a new respect for various other religious traditions and reflected on my own commitment to service.
After one particularly long day of training, all of the coaches went to eat Chicago’s signature deep-dish pizza. The dinner was a great bonding experience, and we traded contact information while discussing mundane topics like the name of Kim Kardashian’s new baby. Having underestimated the portion sizes, we were content to leave an especially large tip for the waiter and leave. But then, a few of us had a unique idea: why not take the extra pizza and distribute it to some of the needy in a nearby neighborhood? It seemed such an obvious and simple good deed, but none of us had even considered this just a few days before. Personally, I had nonchalantly wasted a significant portion of my lunch that same day without thinking twice; however, the experience of storytelling about our personal motivations for service that we had done in that day’s training caused me to think about doing good in everyday situations.
As we walked to the neighborhood in the dark, I began to get worried. Years of living in Washington, DC had conditioned me to be wary of unlit areas; I casually mentioned that the neighborhood was unsafe, and that it would be a bad idea for a few college students to go there alone. However, many of my fellow coaches felt none of these concerns and continued to push on towards a group of men experiencing homelessness. As we got closer, they looked at us strangely, as if to ask why a group of privileged college students were in their neighborhood. But as one coach quietly said, “We had some extra pizza. Do you want some?” their expressions completely changed. One said, “I was having a terrible day, but now I know that tonight will be better. Thank you!” Another asked us, “What motivated you all to do this?” Suddenly, I was reminded of the Quran verse, “Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see[its effects]” (99:7). The gratitude on their faces was worth (many times over) the trek. We even had a chance for impromptu interfaith dialogue as a man wearing a crucifix asked about the Hebrew letters written on one coach’s shirt, and then discovered that he had the same name as the coach despite their religious differences.
As we walked home, I realized the true potential of interfaith relationships. I am a devout Muslim, and personally believe in the truth of my religion; however, as the most skeptical coach about our idea to distribute the food, I was ashamed to see that other non-Muslim student leaders were more committed to the Islamic principle of service than I was.
By participating in Better Together Coach week, I gained much more than I could have hoped for. In addition to interfaith leadership skills, I gained a newfound appreciation for other religions and re-evaluated my own commitment to service. While safety is obviously important, I believe that I should have been more willing to at least try to make a positive difference rather than looking for cop outs. Distributing that pizza may have been a small, atom-size act of good, but I can already feel its effects: as I move forward in coaching interfaith service campaigns around the country, I will strive to find more outlets for service in everyday situations. I keep trying to recreate that experience of Coach Week and the interfaith dialogue that it prompted. In the process, I hope to live up to the example of my fellow Better Together Coaches and attempt to “be the change that I would like to see in the world.”
After one particularly long day of training, all of the coaches went to eat Chicago’s signature deep-dish pizza. The dinner was a great bonding experience, and we traded contact information while discussing mundane topics like the name of Kim Kardashian’s new baby. Having underestimated the portion sizes, we were content to leave an especially large tip for the waiter and leave. But then, a few of us had a unique idea: why not take the extra pizza and distribute it to some of the needy in a nearby neighborhood? It seemed such an obvious and simple good deed, but none of us had even considered this just a few days before. Personally, I had nonchalantly wasted a significant portion of my lunch that same day without thinking twice; however, the experience of storytelling about our personal motivations for service that we had done in that day’s training caused me to think about doing good in everyday situations.
As we walked to the neighborhood in the dark, I began to get worried. Years of living in Washington, DC had conditioned me to be wary of unlit areas; I casually mentioned that the neighborhood was unsafe, and that it would be a bad idea for a few college students to go there alone. However, many of my fellow coaches felt none of these concerns and continued to push on towards a group of men experiencing homelessness. As we got closer, they looked at us strangely, as if to ask why a group of privileged college students were in their neighborhood. But as one coach quietly said, “We had some extra pizza. Do you want some?” their expressions completely changed. One said, “I was having a terrible day, but now I know that tonight will be better. Thank you!” Another asked us, “What motivated you all to do this?” Suddenly, I was reminded of the Quran verse, “Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see[its effects]” (99:7). The gratitude on their faces was worth (many times over) the trek. We even had a chance for impromptu interfaith dialogue as a man wearing a crucifix asked about the Hebrew letters written on one coach’s shirt, and then discovered that he had the same name as the coach despite their religious differences.
As we walked home, I realized the true potential of interfaith relationships. I am a devout Muslim, and personally believe in the truth of my religion; however, as the most skeptical coach about our idea to distribute the food, I was ashamed to see that other non-Muslim student leaders were more committed to the Islamic principle of service than I was.
By participating in Better Together Coach week, I gained much more than I could have hoped for. In addition to interfaith leadership skills, I gained a newfound appreciation for other religions and re-evaluated my own commitment to service. While safety is obviously important, I believe that I should have been more willing to at least try to make a positive difference rather than looking for cop outs. Distributing that pizza may have been a small, atom-size act of good, but I can already feel its effects: as I move forward in coaching interfaith service campaigns around the country, I will strive to find more outlets for service in everyday situations. I keep trying to recreate that experience of Coach Week and the interfaith dialogue that it prompted. In the process, I hope to live up to the example of my fellow Better Together Coaches and attempt to “be the change that I would like to see in the world.”
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