An epitaph

My attendance at one of the last Interact events of the year has really cemented my feelings on the club in general, something that can be roughly defined as "best of intentions but sloppy execution." Considering the horrible things I'm about to say, most of it hyperbole to get my points across, I do feel that the energy and funds of the club could really be diverted into something that would actually make a dent in the problems of the world.

My first problem with Interact is the disingenuous of it all. Despite claims that everyone's in to "help and make a difference in the world," I think it's mostly double-faced and appalling. The kids that make up Interact's main demographic consist of overachievers hoping to pad their college resume for when applications roll around. They may claim that what they really want to do is help, but I being one of these typical members, I can honestly say that what I'm doing isn't going to help the world at all, it's just something for me to put on my college app, which I did. The people I know through Interact and RYLA, I never actually see a determination to continue their work after high school. No, they may bill it as a way to make a difference, but deep down, we all know that we're in it for the little prestige it affords us.

This segues into my main beef with Interact and Rotary in general; the notion that people can "make a difference." Now, please don't get me wrong. I think giving water filters to the destitute in the Dominican Republic is just fine. It makes a difference in their every day lives, on an entirely micro scale. My problem is that it's all so counterproductive. A good example is Project Corazon. Rotary has a bunch of kids going to Mexico every year to build houses. What strikes me is that the money that is required sending them to San Diego, getting a hotel, and, in my case, going to fancy restaurants and movie theaters, could've been used to hire some skilled laborers to do the job, instead of a bunch of unskilled kids who wouldn't know physical labor if it bit them several times in the nipples. It's just to make the kids feel good, make them feel as though they've accomplished something, at the expense of actual work being done. I'm to understand that last year's International Project consisted of a group of teenagers going down to Panama to paint schools, afterwards getting shit-faced because there's no drinking age down there. It makes no sense to me; all these funds that are being raised through the charity events and fundraisers are simply being squandered because someone decided it was more important to make kids feel good about themselves instead of actually doing something. Use the money to invest in education, perhaps? Donate it to a cancer research organization? The possibilities, seriously, are endless, but people would rather make tiny strides and feel good about themselves, than take potential leaps, which, in my mind, is very sad.

I would honestly like to know the naivete that dominates the governing bodies of Interact. A lot of these kids are really cool (and mind-blowingly attractive, I might add), but the delusion that you're going into the annals of history as a great humanitarian by painting a school green is just embarrassing. I also know that your footsoldiers aren't seriously into this kind of thing, which is sad because people do need to get involved. They need to help. But they shouldn't do it because they get rewarded for it. They should do it because it's the right thing to do. And at the moment, the wrong thing to do is to waste the vast sums of money that could be utilized for so much more.

That's all I have to say on the subject. I joined Interact because I thought I could put it on my college app and have some fun with whatever the events were. But from an outsider's perspective, it's glaringly obvious that it's remarkably inefficient. And that saddens me because it could very well not be.

PS. The only student organizations that aren't lying out their teeth are the ones that promote self-enlightenment, like JSA, debate, or some sort of writing program. That stuff sharpens your wits, but it's a shame JSA is the equivalent of a horseshit bullet right between the eyes.