I’m a Professional, Dammit!

In my last post I talked about how people (esp young people) get sucked into the non profit mystique: saving the world one person at a time never taking into consideration that some non profits are horribly run and that we deserve better. However, I have also realized that people tend to down play and ignore the skill and work that is required to take on such a daunting task.

Let me give you an example: doctors spend hundreds of thousands of dollars educating themselves and becoming experts in their field. After becoming doctors they spend anywhere between 4K and 7K keeping up to date on the latest breakthroughs in medicine and their specific field. No one would ever say that the work doctors do is easy or doesnt require knowledge. They are PROFESSIONALS and it is expected that they stay on top of their shit.

Well, people, SO AM I!

I’m not running a “cute little leadership program for kids.” What I do requires me to be on my shit. I’m a budding professional. Non profit work is REAL work that demands excellence and expertise in addition to passion and dedication. I spend my time not just planning my curriculum but also reading about breakthroughs in curriculum development and youth development. I attend conferences, am always buried in a book, and whenever I meet someone who has a job in the non profit sector that I never heard of, I ask questions until they shoo me away. I’ve asked all of my supervisors to give me constructive criticism on how to improve my performance and to share with me their experiences working with young people. I take my job seriously and maintain an open and curious mind. I intend to grow, as all professionals should.

I am utterly annoyed and offended at the assumption that by virtue of working with needy populations that my college degree is somehow worthless or that my work is easy or that I’m doing it until “I find something better to do.” What people fail to realize is that their lives are sustained and enhanced by non profit work. Go to museums? Visit a hospital? Worship at church? Kids enrolled in an after school program? Plan on going to college? Yep, thats all in my domain and I intend to learn as much about it as I can.

And in learning about my field I find that proving its worth is half the battle. I ask: take a step back and think of what your life would be like without colleges, hospitals, museums, churches, community centers, and art programs? Sucks, right? Well then, demand excellence of me and support me–dont doubt me or diminish my value.