Leo Zac Wierschem attended the Lions Club International Conference in Hamburg, Germany as a representative of the 2S2 District Leos. At the State Council Meeting in Kerrville, TX on August 3, 2013, he spoke about his experiences there. A transcript of his speech follows:
What does LEOS Stand For?
Leadership – we take the first to step into a situation
Experience – we gain wisdom, knowledge from each experience you gain with LEOS
Opportunity – we grow through every opportunity we get
Service – we learn humility
What does LEOS Club mean to you?
Your getaway from reality? Your way to help others? Or to hang out with friends?
Before the conference, it was something good to put on my resume.
I remember Ate Joy presenting on LEOS, thinking how good this would look for colleges.
Not a bad reason, but at least a reason to get into LEOS.
Any motivation is better than none.
The more people giving service, the more service we can do.
Me as a LEO
I didn’t know where it would take me, but I hoped for something good.
Do service, hang out with people I liked…
I was an officer, but didn’t really take into account how it truly helped the club as a whole.
I always thought they gave awards for pretty much anything.
Diversity
At the conference, there were people from Italy, Germany, Asia, America, Africa, South America, you name it, they were there!
No one cared where you were from. All bonded about service.
Europeans would have bike rides to help raise money. Americans had firework shops to help fund organizations. Some built houses, and have an experience book where successful LEOS clubs in Europe would put all their projects in a book, and categorize them to help new and struggling LEOS Clubs by providing fresh ideas based on the needs of the area they are in.
Potter
When I first met him, he talked about LEOS for two hours straight.
Like the difference between alpha and omega LEO’S clubs, past international presidents…
The fire in him about LEOS kindled a little fire in me, and made me appreciate LEOS as more than just a service organization that looks good on my college resume, but as a group of supporting people that are brought together by service.
A person who truly embodied the mark of Leadership.
Potter was an example of someone that we all strive to be like with regard to each of our own LEOS clubs.
I learned that we need that fire to help each other better. When we help others at such a level, we soon better ourselves.
Me as a LEO after the Lions Club International Conference
I learned that Being a LEO is not only for the service of others.
It brings us as LEOS together as a family.
The fact that thousands of people come together for an event shows how big an impact service can have on people.
Service is more than just an action to help others, it also helps the people that do it.
And that is why we do service, because it is a win-win situation.
As people, we don’t want to lose something, and with the service we do, we don’t, which is why we go back to serving others. And we become leaders as a result of the experience and opportunities that LEOS gives us.
And the community we can help is not limited to our community, but we can reach out to others in other LEOS clubs and help them, as we can grow our community.
How it is going to affect me in the future
I will put more emphasis on the LEOS service, and provide more quality service (mindset, more people helped, etc.)
I will start living out the Principles of LEOS not only during LEOS outreaches and meetings, but in life. Be more open to service I can do by myself, and lead others in doing so, and taking the first step.
In conclusion
As we continue down this path of life, there are tools that we can use to help us get there on the way, and LEOS and Lions Club International will now, after this conference, be one stepping stone to always help me walk down the road of life, and help me give back to the community.