How do I use the privileges I've been given in life to improve the quality of other people's lives?

Hi Morgan,

This is a really thoughtful question, and I think it's great that you want to help people who are less well off than you are. I also think its great that you are introspective enough to wonder how your own life experiences will affect your ability to make an impact. I don't think I can give any high level advice much better than what someone else wrote:

Think of yourself as a "servant" rather than a "savior".

That said, I've had some experience working with and mentoring disadvantaged kids and perhaps I can provide some useful advice. You wrote:

"I sometimes wonder how I can help people who have been through hardships if I have not been through anything even close to the obstacles they have had to overcome. I've now started to wonder how I can connect with people that will not find me worthy of being listened to if I have not had the same experiences."

You sound like you might be wondering about how you will build a personal or emotional connection with the people you are trying to help. It can be great when that happens - I'm still in touch with one young man that I helped mentor back in the 90's - but it's not required. Furthermore, you want to beware of making that an objective in your efforts to help people. Wanting to make connections with people is commendable, but it should not be a motive for trying to help them.

The rules for interacting with people don't change because some of them are more or less disadvantaged than you. Be polite, be respectful, listen, be thoughtful. Don't assume you know their lives better than they do. Basic respect will take you 90% of the distance you want to go.

As you progress in your education and career you will find that often the way you will be helping people will be by giving them the benefit of skills that you have, and which they don't. For example, advice on interviewing, practice interviews, help with coursework, professional mentoring etc. An emotional connection is not required in these cases. You should however, always remain open to the possibility that your advice may not be applicable due to an individual's circumstances. Be prepared for that eventuality and try to work with the person proactively when it arises.

In other areas you may be helping in ways that do not leverage your professional or educational expertise. You might for example, be working at a soup kitchen, volunteering at a shelter, etc. In these cases you show up and do what your co-workers ask you to do. You may or may not build a connection with the people you are helping, but they will have a hot meal, a clean bed, a safe space, etc. Just as you would when starting a new job, don't assume you know more about how the operation is run than the people already there do.

Best of luck to you.

Ed

This is a great question and I think you're on the right path already because you've partially answered your own question with the comment: "...how I can connect with people that will not find me worthy of being listened to if I have not had the same experiences?"

The answer to that question is "you can't." In my experience, the best way to help others is to begin by listening instead of talking. If you take an interest in the lives and experience of others, the concrete ways in which you can help will begin to fall out of those conversations. It is so much more effective to ask "How can I help best?" versus telling someone how you are going to help them, or even worse, telling them what they should do to help themselves.

I can't over-stress how important humility is when it comes to helping others. In many cases, they don't specifically need your help, they mostly need you to not stand in their way. It's best to approach any kind of altruism thinking of yourself as a "servant" rather than a "savior".

If you get involved with a specific community, focus on supporting their ideas instead of evangelizing your own. You'll have a lot of ideas, and that's great. Write them down. Offer them up when asked. But if you want to help a community, don't try to take over. Instead be a resource that they can leverage and view it as a privilege that they find your help valuable and are letting you be a part of their community (at least peripherally).

All that being said, you don't have to run a charity, be an activist, or something else at that level to have an impact. Being kind to, standing up for, and empathetically listening to the people around you can have an enormous impact that most people take for granted.

I know I answered this at a broader level than what you might have been looking for, but I hope this might give you a higher-level view that will help steer you into specific areas where you can help.

Hi Morgan,

Kudos to you for being so thoughtful at such young age and wanting to help the "less-privileged".

As for your question, I personally feel that there are 3 kinds of support you can provide

1. Emotional Support
2. Physical Support (e.g. Volunteering at events)
3. Financial Support

As for the emotional support, you are right... you have no control over the kind of impact you can have, but as my fellow advisors mentioned above, don't worry too much about the kind of impact you can create... instead just be there for them. As Chris Dodds mentioned in his answer, sometimes all they need is for you to listen to them, irrespective of whether you have a solution to their problem or not. You might have experienced this yourself in your life, when it is very healing just to share things with your friends/family and well-wishers, no matter how they reciprocate. So just be there, listen to what they have to say. You can worry about finding a solution to their problem later on after identifying what you could do yourself or by identifying how someone in your network or group of friends can contribute. Volunteering at various events is also a good way to contribute. You just have to be there, and there will always be someone to guide you through the task in hand.

Sometimes it may be hard to find time to spend time personally with people in need, as is the case with me and so I chose to help by providing Financial Support by contributing money to various platforms like :

Kiva - where I lend money (crowd-fund) to the poor either for their Education or setting up their small business.

Watsi - where I donate money ( only $5 per month) for healthcare of the needy people in the 3rd world countries.

Unicef - where I donate money (only $10 per month) for the Children in need.

Please note that these financial contributions need not be very big... even $1 from a million good people like you will add up to a million dollars. , and on setting up auto-payment on a monthly recurring basis (after you start your first job) , will only multiply your goodwill.

You wouldn't believe how happy and content you will feel when you receive emails from Watsi with the detail of the patient and the kind of treatment they received from the funds you donated.

In essence, don't worry much whether you can create an impact or not... What matters most is your thoughtfulness! Just be there for the needy... the rest will fall in place by itself.

Cheers!