A difference
A few days ago I stopped in Williams Lake, BC while on tour and got chatting with a mountain biker who works for the Boys and Girls Club. Through the last decade or so he has been taking kids on mountain bike rides and getting them hooked on the sport. He invests his time with these kids, he hangs out with them, teaches them, and is real with them. He gets them in to the mountains on camping/bike trips so they can experience Nature. He has fun with them.
He was telling me that he has now been doing this for long enough to see kids that have gone from stealing cars as young lads to being hooked on riding, then on to making decent lives for themselves in the ‘real world’. How cool is that.
Another story the local bike shop owner in Smithers told me was of the ski coach in town; he had run an ski club for years and coached so many young athletes through the years. His title was perhaps ski coach, but in reality, his most important contribution was as a role model. Tragically he passed away from health issues, and at his funeral, they opened the floor up, and 30+ of his former club members came up and gave accounts on how much of a positive difference this man made in their lives.
These two examples are of people who invested their time with youth, and built relationships with them; they are incredible role models even if they don’t think themselves to be.
I endeavor to be a positive role model for the younger generation too, but my method is quite different from above. I tent to interact with large numbers of youth for a very short time. The interaction is often one way (me talking to them) whether it be at a 15 minutes long show, or an hour long school presentation; sometimes I get to know a student or two that help me set up, and again, that is very short lived. Or maybe I go on a mountain bike ride with a school group, and hang out with them for a bit, again, very brief. I am hopeful these brief interactions are inspirational in some way , otherwise I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing; but I’m curious as to whether speaking to large groups of students for shorter periods is as beneficial compared to spending a longer time with just a few individual students. I know the circumstances and values of each approach are unique and both offer positives, but nonetheless I’m curious. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Tags: role model, Ryan Leech, Smithers, Trials of Life
April 8th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Ryan - don’t doubt the impact of your work. Think of David Suzuki as a similar role model: he speaks to large groups of people, if they’re lucky enough to elbow their way through the crowd afterward they may have a few brief minutes in his presence as he signs their book. But his impact is still profound, and so is yours. It’s your message, your passionate (and real) delivery, your talent and dedication that draws (and will continue to attract) people to you as a positive role model. You may find great satisfaction out of branching out to other ways of achieving your vision, but there is still incredible value in your current methodology.