I knew I would want to blog about this absolutely immediately. I just knew it.

It’s a Thursday night, and I’m enjoying a livestream of TEDxVirginiaTech with a mug of hot chocolate. (I almost never blog about things immediately – I let my ideas marinate. Not this time. That’s how serious this is). If you’re not familiar with TED or the TEDx brand – you definitely aren’t a regular reader of HESONWHEELS. But here’s some information on that so you know why Elizabeth was on this stage, sharing this great ideas with an audience that I had planned to be a part of.

Tonight was TEDxVirginiaTech’s fourth year. To learn more about this year’s speakers, click here.

If you don’t want to read this whole post (and you very well should), I’ll tell you that it’s led by this idea that she shared during her talk. I completely, whole-heartedly agree with Elizabeth when she said: consider how you can make service your own in your life and your everyday decisions.

I really tuned into Elizabeth’s talk when she said, “why is service something that needs to be seen? It’s about the impact you make and not how much time you spend doing it and how many people see you.”

I couldn’t have agreed more. It’s what I speak about, as a motivational speaker, ALL of the time. ALLLLLL of the time.

You know, I wish I could call Elizabeth a good friend, but I can’t. So it’s kind of strange that I’m writing a whole blog post about her talk. Oh well.

In fact, the first time I truly remember interacting with Elizabeth, was when I was a graduate student and she was an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech. But she has always stuck out to me. We became mutual Instagram followers and then mutual Twitter followers and through mutual real-life friends, I realized that Elizabeth, many years my junior, held a lot of the same values that I did when it came to service. And that’s a very, VERY easy way to gain my attention as a new friend.

I was particularly intrigued because those ideas about service, for her, were founded in her experience in 4-H. We’ll come back to that. 

When I found out she was giving a talk, I was ecstatic. There are few other students that I would hand-pick to get up on that TEDx stage. As a former TEDxVirginiaTech speaker, former TEDxVT steering committee member, and current alumni that comes back to campus often, I say that very seriously!

I was so ecstatic that I decide to message her on Facebook, and ask: “What inspired you to give a talk?” I’m always curious what motivates folks to get up on that TED stage and share what are always unique and sometimes very personal ideations.

She said, “I grew up in 4-H and have found a love for speaking … It’s about how service is measured by how people see it/how much time you put into it here as a “task” but it’s really more of a feeling, and I don’t think many people see that here. Plus I get to tie in Ut Prosim so I’m stoked about that.”

In her talk, she said “it’s a feeling of inclusion – welcoming, comforting, caring.”

She continued, “service is synonymous with love. It’s about the impact you make. It could be being a good friend, treating people with respect…but it is not limited to these examples. It’s about the purpose, not just the actual act. It’s how you make it a part of your everyday life. Your decisions.”

Elizabeth’s musings about service really touched me in a way that few other TEDx talks, TED talks, mentors, advice-givers, lectures, presentations, keynotes, or books has before. Maybe becuase it’s so closely tied into Virginia Tech’s Ut Prosim, which as you probably already know I deeply value, but also becuase it’s so matter of fact. Like any good speech or talk, it’s a message that can be received and essentially adapted into whatever the person receiving that message wants. It’s applicable. It’s diverse. Simply put, service is a message that is inclusive, all in and of itself. You don’t need money. You just need time, heart, and compassion. And, even in our busy lives, we may want to act like we don’t have that but we do. That’s why I think that Elizabeth’s talk was truly remarkable. 

I’m almost certain that her talk is totally going to be on the front page of the 4-H website and used at 4-H professional development conferences some day.

Thanks for spreading such fantastic ideals about service, Elizabeth! Or, Elizabeth!