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Ryan Paugh graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business. After working in corporate communications, freelance writing and reporting, he co-founded 
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One of the hardest parts of being in a startup is trying to figure out where you fit. The business model changes all the time, the kind of work that needs to be done changes all the time, and I am still learning how to find my strengths.
In any stressful business situation, it’s crucial to have a reliable means of escape. Back in the corporate world, I merely had the gym, but now that I’m traveling on a much less stable path, I’ve decided to take things a step further and become a volunteer.
In college, I raised money for kids with cancer through Penn State Dance Marathon (THON), and the feeling it left me with was indescribable. This time around, I didn’t want to raise money, but give my time instead. So I decided to become a tutor.
Last Thursday was my first day at the Lussier Teen Center. I expected to sit down with a teen and a math book and hope I remembered some algebra.
As soon as I walked in the building I thought of my parents and all the grief I must’ve put them through. “How am I going to do anything meaningful here?” I thought. I didn’t even know where to start.
It turns out that the center is a home away from home to some of the kids, and maybe even more of a home than their actual home for others.
The teens had full reign over the décor — walls were plastered with vivid graffiti art end-to-end. There was definitely some talent in that building.
I decided that I was not there to tutor. I was just there to be someone’s friend.
But besides the coordinator, I was the only white guy in the building. So I wondered. Did these kids want some random 24-year-old white guy trying to be their friend?
Then I met one of the regulars, Julius. I think he was 17. We played Soul Caliber on Sega DreamCast and he whooped me five times. Then he let me win.
“You’ve been hustling me this whole time!” he exclaimed. But we both knew full well that he was just giving me a freebie.
Though he’d never had a lesson in his life, Julius played the drums like a pro. I swear. I’ve never seen a kid his age with that much rhythm. When he told me the band instructor at his school has been dodging him for years I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I think he was just too good.
By the end of the 3-hour session, I felt great. And the thing is I didn’t tutor a soul. But it didn’t even matter.
I feel like a lot of people steer clear of great opportunities because they don’t feel like they’ll really make a difference – in terms of both professional life and volunteer life. I myself was questioning my capacity to help that very day. But here in Madison I have learned fast that in business and in volunteering, you need to be flexible in what you are willing to offer in order to make sure you are contributing in the best way possible.
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- 1 Pingback on Dec 7th, 2007 at 7:59 am
- 2 Pingback on Dec 13th, 2007 at 5:31 am
As a young entrepreneur, like Ryan, I have found myself in similar situations all throughout our startup process. When starting a business, you are faced with a variety of different tasks and job titles that may or may not have been foreseen. This is where one starts the process of figuring out where they fit best within their own organization. Another issue that is faced by many young professionals that go into business for themselves is the lack of connection in a new town with a new venture. Our generation has been brought up to fill the role of the social animal. In college, many of us pledged fraternities and were thrown in the mix of gathering as many friends as possible, like collecting baseball cards when we were children. And then one day we graduated, moved to a new town, started a career, and were faced with completely starting a new social life and nurturing ever new relationship we developed. From my experience, which includes operating a startup business thousands of miles away from home, community connection is everything. My philosophy so far has been, “never say no”. Meaning that when in a new town, with new people, while starting a new business, never say no to any opportunity to connect with people you meet or other organizations in the community. Our generation thrives on social connection and it is easy to plug yourself in with the right attitude. I think that it also is great tool for young entrepreneurs as new connections may offer insight into certain strengths and passions that one may have never known existed. As Ryan spearheads putting the puzzle together of what is the generation y psyche, some individual soul searching is needed to most effectively accomplish this. Venturing outside of one’s comfort zone is a vital part of being an entrepreneur. I believe that if you can gather the strength to never say no to new opportunities to connect to new people and organizations you will find the ability to live anywhere and do anything with very little conscious effort. All this being said, just like Ryan has recently discovered, undertaking such tasks as tutoring adolescents or just being there for someone who needs a friend, is very personally rewarding and also a great vehicle for sculpting yourself as an upstanding individual in your community.