Last January, Notre Dame’s Computer Science for Good Club was in a dilemma. The president who had been in charge during the fall semester was studying abroad in the spring, and the person who had been in line to take over could no longer step into the role due to some unforeseen circumstances.
For those unaware, the CS4Good club focuses on providing CS students at Notre Dame with valuable career experience and a sense of community by developing technical projects for various nonprofits in the South Bend area. We build websites, internal tools, and carry out hands-on service projects across the region all for free.
So, to fill the vacant position, the president approached me. I had been serving on the board at the time as a social media manager and had been a project member the year prior to that.
The mission of CS4Good always resonated with me, but as much as I believed in it, my first reaction was apprehension.
Will it take too much effort?
Is it worth my time?
Am I the right person for the job?
Those were some of my thoughts as I mulled over what decision I would make. As I’m sure you’ve already inferred from the title of this post, I said yes. And, by stepping in for the spring, I also committed to serving as president for the following academic year.
The ensuing spring semester was a bit slower for the club due to the leadership change. I did my best to manage ongoing projects and take inventory as I geared up for the real challenge, a full year in charge.
That prospect of full responsibility really scared me, and still does a bit. I’ve spent a lot of time preparing for the next year. From setting up club infrastructure to managing community outreach, I’ve done my best to position us for success.
This summer, I’ve been interning full time at a software company down in Georgia called Kahua. It’s been a wonderful experience, but it turns out working full time is quite the commitment (who would have thought😂)! I found myself lacking energy to put towards CS4Good after work.
One day in the office, I found myself sitting in an intern session with Ralph Barsi, the VP of Revenue Growth at Kahua. His main topic was the importance of building your professional brand, but he also shared a wealth of other wisdom for navigating our young careers and lives.
Among the many topics he discussed, one really caught my attention. It was something he referred to as the “servant mindset.” With CS4Good, a lot of my thoughts had been directed towards what it can do for me. Sure, it will look good on my resume and it will be a great opportunity to grow my leadership and technical abilities. But, I’m starting to believe that motivation is incomplete.
CS4Good is not something that revolves around me. Taking a moment to slow down and be mindful of what I’m doing and who I’m doing it for can be a great source of motivation. I tend to place a bunch of pressure on myself to be perfect or do everything on my own, but that servant mindset helps take some pressure off.
Ultimately, it’s about serving others. It’s about serving underclassmen (or any student really) in the Computer Science department at ND and giving them experience and community. It’s about using my passion for computer science and software development to serve nonprofits in need.
Instead of trying to live up to the unrealistic expectations in my head, I can focus on what others can get from the experience. If I can deliver one successful project for a nonprofit or give one CS underclassman a positive experience, that’s a win.
- Kirby
P.S. Thanks for taking the time to read. Huge shoutout to Ralph for sharing advice with us interns and taking the time to meet with me one-on-one after!
