I Serve Because Donna Served

By Rex Yin

I started Servant Year in February at the Free Church of St. John in Kensington. Interestingly, Free Church is located two blocks away from Mastbaum AVTS, the high school I graduate from. I believed this would be the perfect opportunity to serve my high school community and give back to Kensington.

When I transitioned out of my previous role into my current role, I made a new commitment:
“I will serve with unconditional love. I will serve with grit and persistence. I will serve with a goal in mind. I will serve with passion and dedication. I will serve through my vocation. I will serve all.”

One of my role models who cultivated my passion for education is Donna Vernick. I met her when I was in middle school, and maintained a mentoring relationship with her through high school and college. She passed away this past September but she continues to live in memories of the children she served.  Donna was a servant of Christ and everything she did showcased her commitment to be like Christ. She stepped into the community of Logan and Olney, and served children who did not have one or both parents, lacked guidance or direction, experienced trauma, faced language barriers, and more. Despite the challenges she saw in her students ‘ lives, she served us all with unconditional love, grit, persistence, a goal, passion, dedication, and through her vocation as an educator and member of the church.

While my transition was quick, it was pretty smooth and I was enjoying my new position. But when there are highs, there are also lows. Last week I was dealing with a few behavior challenges and I was beginning to reevaluate myself. This past Tuesday morning, I was so frustrated with myself and overwhelmed, and decided I wanted to go for a walk. During my walk, I thought about Donna Vernick. Tears began to well-up, and I remembered the commitment I made.

“I will serve with unconditional love. I will serve with grit and persistence. I will serve with a goal in mind. I will serve with passion and dedication. I will serve through my vocation. I will serve all.”

Just like how Donna Vernick served Logan and Olney, I will to serve Kensington.

I will face challenges. I will face struggles. I will have storms in my life.
But I will also face joys. I will also face moments of happiness. I will face feeling satisfied and fulfilled.

I don’t want to be just like Donna, in fact I don’t think she would like that. Instead, I want to strive to be a servant of Christ. Just like how Donna inspired me, I want to inspire others to be servants of Christ.

Rest in Peace. Rest in Power. Thank you, Mrs. Vernick.

Raksmeymony (Rex) Yin, Out-of-School Time Coordinator & Food Pantry Assistant