Life lessons from service learning
Lily completed her service learning project by working in the community at Southwark Stars, a disability football team in Southwark, London, whose website says:
“Since 2018 we have been playing and winning with our hearts. Kept running by Louis Wickett-Padgham‘s passion for coaching and devotion to helping those less represented, we believe that the strength of a community lies in the diversity of its voices. We welcome both adult female and male players into our team. Hoping that they will find the appreciation they deserve.”
Lily worked with the lead coaches, Emily and Luis, to coach football. She said, “I would help run practice sessions, and I was also a supportive figure that players could confide in.”
“The greatest impact I had was not that I was coaching and teaching about football, it was that I was a supportive, positive, consistent figure in these players’ lives; the social impact and connection to their community is far more important to them. As I participated in more practices, I saw how the players opened up to me and felt they could trust me. I pushed players I worked with towards success, and although I had to be adaptable while coaching, I never was ‘easy’ on them or oversimplified things for them. The end goal is for individuals to become more independent, set up for success outside of the field, and I made sure to establish these boundaries.”
“In the future I have dreamed of becoming a powerful, influential woman working in a Finance and Computer Science related job, money-driven, and becoming the wealthiest and most respected in these male dominated fields. While I still have these goals, volunteering at Southwark Stars has made me realize that I need to enjoy my journey to the top and the successes along the way. I have realized that in a split-second, my life directory could be changed and I need to appreciate what I have at this given moment and not always long for more. A player has made the most powerful impact on my life, and not long ago, at once he had everything taken from him. He is powerful to me because of his positivity. I will take messages I have learned with me into the future. Having power and being influential is not about status, rather your mind-set and your appreciation for where you are currently on your journey.”
