The Beauty of Teamwork
Posted by Abby Taylor at 10/1/2007 9:50 AM and is filed under uncategorized 
October 1, 2007
After a hard week, Saturday is my day of recuperation. I sleep in (sometimes past noon!) and use the rest of the day to catch up on things I didn’t have time for during the week. It’s relaxing to have no obligations, and I cherish the one day I get all to myself. However, this Saturday was not at all like that because I spent the day helping with the 2007 Stillwater Multiple Sclerosis Walk.
After a hard week, Saturday is my day of recuperation. I sleep in (sometimes past noon!) and use the rest of the day to catch up on things I didn’t have time for during the week. It’s relaxing to have no obligations, and I cherish the one day I get all to myself. However, this Saturday was not at all like that because I spent the day helping with the 2007 Stillwater Multiple Sclerosis Walk.
About a month ago, I was asked to help with the MS Walk. Because I helped with the walk last year as part of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) planning team, I was more than happy to help this year as leader of the PRSSA team and volunteer coordinator the day of the walk. During the first committee meeting, I took detailed notes of everything the PRSSA team needed to accomplish:
1. Gather enough donated items to fill 150 goodie bags
2. Provide door prizes for the day of the walk
3. Secure entertainment for walkers
4. Inform the public through newspaper articles, public service announcements and advertisements
5. Form a team of volunteers to help manage the walk
Then, I looked at my calendar and realized everything had to be done in 25 days! I started to panic, but finally convinced myself to stop worrying and start getting things done.
I assembled the team, assigned duties and monitored the members’ progress. This is the first time I had been in charge of an event of this magnitude, and the truth is, I wasn’t entirely sure I could handle it, but you never know what you’re capable of until you try. The great thing about it was that I wasn’t alone; I had a team of people to help me along the way.
Teamwork is sometimes underrated. I know that when one of my professors says “group project” a part of me cringes because it can be difficult to work with other students. Some group members do nothing and others want to do everything, which makes it extremely hard to find the proper balance. However, the MS Walk has cured my aversion to teamwork and enabled me to see how wonderful it can be. I know for a fact that if it were not for my amazing teammates, the walk would not have been the success it was. Each person brought different skills and ideas to the group, and together we were able to accomplish our goals.
It feels great to complete a project like this, not only because we accomplished our goals, but also because we were able to help people along the way. I have always taken my health for granted, and I had never really thought about what it would be like to be diagnosed with a disabling disease. There is no cure for multiple sclerosis, but out of all the people I met at the walk who had been diagnosed with MS, not one of them was bitter or downtrodden. Instead, they were hopeful and optimistic. I’m sure they have moments of despair, but they are not just sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, they are living life. I hope that if I am ever in a similar situation, I can have the same attitude about it. The MS Walk was a truly inspirational event, and I am so glad to have been a part of it.
If you’re interested, this is a video that was made for another MS Walk, and it gives more information about the disease and how it affects people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChUgZcrcsU0
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Part of my PRSSA team and me after stuffing all our goodie bags. |
Look at all the walkers that showed up! |
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These girls made these T-shirts for the walk. They’re so adorable. |
My PRSSA team; I don’t know what I would have done without them. |
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