Pictured: Lauren Schlau & Brenda Wiewel with USC Rotaract Club. Photo by Veerali Juthani.

It’s been a while since I was on the USC campus, my grad school alma mater. I saw a lot had changed when I visited on Tuesday evening February 19 to meet with the USC Rotaract Club through an invite from LA5 member and Rotaract/Rotary liaison Brenda Wiewel.

I wasn’t really sure how to address the club, but we settled into an engaging conversation – me about my career path, lessons learned and still learning and my attraction to and involvement in Rotary.

Honestly I was more interested in who each of the members are, what they are studying, their passions, and their commitment to devoting precious time to Rotaract. Hearing their responses to my questions, I found all of them to be engaging, very smart, friendly, motivated and with varied interests. Our future is in good hands with this group!

When I asked how many were from a family with a Rotary member, I was surprised that only a few were – which means that most of these students are in Rotaract on their own volition! When I asked why they joined, one young man said, “I could do community service on my own but it makes all the difference with a group committed to doing it together.” I couldn't have said it better than that!

When I concluded, I said, “I likely got more from you than you did from me.” It was truly inspiring and a pleasure to have been there that evening.  Hopefully, USC Rotaract and LA5 will have many more occasions to share enjoyable and inspiring times together.