Izzy’s reflections on her “Compass the City” work

By Izzy Marvin

I was excited to come back to Seattle to work with Cindy distributing the Christian Science Monitor again. As my time here this summer has progressed, I’ve been able to see personal growth in many aspects. The more outreach experience and training experience I built up, the more I deeply understood the project goals and how to achieve them.

I was able to increase my knowledge in what kind of businesses are the most receptive to sample copies and receiving gift subscriptions. Some trends I noticed were the smaller the business the more likely they are to accept free sample copies or free gift subscriptions. I also noticed that the larger a company or franchise is, the less likely they will be to accept gift subscriptions due to policies set in place, but they will still accept free sample copies.

Throughout this summer, I was able to train many people, more than last year. I think that the experiences I had last summer training people helped me this summer to train people again but this year going into it, I had more of an idea of how to talk to different kinds of people for them to understand the project, and my processes in the simplest way possible.

This summer was especially unique from last summer because during the first five weeks of the outreach project. Since I am an upcoming senior, I needed to complete an internship. Cindy and I worked together to create a plan in which I was able to complete the requirements for my internship while still participating in the regular outreach work. Each week I completed a write up of what I had accomplished that week, what I learned, any challenges and anything upcoming I was excited for. Since I am majoring in business, I held focus on more of the business aspects within the outreach project. I am very blessed to have worked on this outreach project again and complete my internship at the same time. I was able to learn many valuable skills I will take with me into the future.

In addition to the amazing new skills, I learned and application of previous knowledge, being in Seattle again and meeting new people and working with them has opened many doors for me. I am very appreciative of how much my skills and work ethic have been appreciated. I have always worked very hard to achieve my goals and accomplish the most I can, and it has been very rewarding for others to see that as well.

I thank this project for opening connections I would have never had before. Since I was able to train and work with so many new people, I was able to make more relationships and connections than I could imagine. I worked with a man named David Mathew who I reached out to looking for work after I completed this outreach work this summer and he was able to give me a position at his firm in Dallas, Texas! I am so grateful and excited to go to Dallas to work with David. My position will be assisting with a business retreat and business conference as well as interacting with the individuals attending and organizing the events. I will be able apply the social skills I have learned in my outreach position in my new upcoming job. I truly feel that the variety in experiences, encounters, interactions, and different types of people have prepared me for success in Dallas.

Something that was different this summer compared to last summer was my living situation. Last summer I lived in the Asher House with other people in the house, but this year I lived in an apartment by myself. Although I have been living at college on my own for the past 2 and a half years, living in an apartment alone is completely different because there is no one else around. With that being said, I learned many new skills and was also able to improve previous skills. Some skills I learned and were able to improve were how to budget properly, personal safety skills, self-sufficiency, time management, meal planning, how to cook for one person, grocery shopping, and how to balance personal aspects of life and work.

As many of you might know, at the beginning of the summer I was working with Bella Sison. Bella and I were working together every day for the first six weeks of this project, meaning I had a consistent partner. When Bella first arrived, I was able to train her on the basics of the project such as how to place gift subscriptions, how to give pitches, and how to keep track of data. After the initial training I gave Bella, she became a pro, and our dynamic was amazing. Together we split roles between us so outreach would progress smoothly. I oversaw person-to-person interactions, which included asking individuals in businesses and organizations if they would like free sample copies of the Monitor as well as persuasion skills in order to receive gift subscriptions. I also took pictures of businesses that agreed to gift subscriptions. Once any gift subscriptions were placed, Bella oversaw writing the company name, employee name that agreed to the gift subscription, and the address of the location down in a shared document. Both Bella and I would also take photos and videos through the day in order to capture our working conditions and experiences.

As the first six weeks passed, it was time for Bella to leave and head home, this meant I still had four weeks in Seattle participating in the outreach project without her! This led to many changes in the project. Since I no longer had a consistent day-to-day partner, Cindy and I searched for volunteers to assist in the outreach project. Within the last four weeks of this project, I worked with many new people who had no idea how the project worked. I oversaw introducing each of them to the project as well as training them on the systems in place and how to complete outreach work. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with new people, but it did have its challenges at times. Unlike before when I had a consistent work partner, I was in charge of organizing all of the outreach information such as the photo and videos, company information, and geographical locations visited. Another challenge was training people that held different levels of knowledge about the project. When training others on anything, it is important to remember each person learns in different ways and at their own pace. I found that at the beginning of working with each new person I would start off explaining the systems and projects the same way and as time progressed with each person, I was able to decipher how to explain and teach them the best way they would understand. I think this was a very good experience for me because when I am in my main business career someday it will be important to have the knowledge on how to work and talk with different kinds of people with different strengths and knowledge.

One of the most important aspects of this project is the metaphysical and spiritual side of it. Although we are not advertising Christian Science while distributing the monitor, I used Christian Science every single day. My personal engagement with Christian Science and church has grown and this is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there are many challenges within this outreach project. Workdays may seem long and tiring, interactions with individuals throughout the day may be frustrating, or I may have scary experiences. The only way I was able to conquer these challenges was to practice Christian Science and have my head clear with the Truth. I noticed things would seem harder when I needed to put a little bit of extra work in and have a moment with God and the Truth. Through this summer I have worked with multiple practitioners to work on personal challenges and work challenges. For me, being in an environment where I am surrounded by Love and fellow Christian Scientists has helped me progress in my spirituality a lot. Since I have been around like-minded people, if I was having any challenges, I was able to talk them out or look to others for further guidance which was very beneficial for me. The second thing that really assisted in the growth in church and Christian Science was a health issue I had this past year. Although I had been going through really hard times, I was surrounded by the Truth and encouragement. I learned that Christian Science and my faith in God and the Truth was the only way to live. I was shown that if I know the Truth, it shall set me free. From anything. It might sound odd, but I am now grateful for this difficult past year because it completely shifted my thinking, and I was able to break through previous blockages. I will forever be grateful for the community and Love here in Seattle as well as from my family and friends at home and school.