Serving Others

This archived article was written by: Allie Sherman

One of the busiest persons on campus stresses the need for students to be more involved in service to the school and community.
Terry Johnson is the Volunteer Service Coordinator and oversees work done in the SUN Center on USUE’s campus. SUN stands for Serving Utah Network, and Terry is very involved in providing opportunities for students to go out and provide service to others. Terry has a love for serving others.
His parents recently passed away, and he realized his mother and father did a lot of good for him and others, and witnessing that helped him realize this was something he wanted to do.
As a young man, Terry saw himself “living in the mountains as a hermit.” He loves the mountains, but quickly realized he couldn’t imagine not being around people. Terry rarely ever finds himself with nothing to do.
He says there are days when he really doesn’t want to do things, like paperwork, but still finds himself filing nonetheless. It bugs him to not be doing anything physically. A lunch break is rarely ever taken also; he finds it is the easiest time for students to come to him with questions.
Terry spends a lot of time in his office setting up volunteer opportunities for his students. He is on the board of three organizations centered around service, and is involved in at least half a dozen others. When he can, he will spend time doing actual projects with his students. The most satisfying thing Terry does each week is watch his students have a great experience with doing service.
He explains: “… It is just indescribable… In my service learning class, I have my students write a reflection at the end of the semester… Often times, it changes their lives for the better.”
Terry would like to encourage every student on campus to get involved in at least one service project, as it is great for releasing stress and also provides help to those in need. He says: “…And if I can help the students find the joy that I find when serving, I feel like I’ve had a good day.”
Anyone can make a trip to the SUN Center upstairs in the Student Center and sign up as a volunteer for a project whenever they’d like. Also, Terry instructs a Service Learning class that’s purpose is solely to encourage students to be more involved in service around the community. Terry wants the world to know that: “Life is too short to not be kind.”