Stephanie Rogers, junior youth ministry major and service leadership minor, has had a passion for serving since the seventh grade when she participated in her first mission trip to Worton, Maryland. Not knowing what to expect, she took part in an experience that would focus her concentration in serving others.

“I didn’t know what a mission trip entailed, but that really sparked my interest of serving, and then over the years it just progressed to being a part of my life,” Rogers said.

Rogers now serves every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and occasionally Saturdays as well. She serves at West Sides, a youth organization, and Bridge Street Commons, a senior independent living facility.

Each semester, Bonner Scholars are required to have a total of 140 hours of service each semester. When Rogers came to visit Waynesburg overnight as a freshman, the senior she stayed with opened her to opportunities on where to serve as a Bonner.

“My overnight host found out that I was in the Bonner Scholarship Program before I came in, so she had the perfect sites for me,” Rogers said. “I got to know the seniors really well and they helped me figure out what I wanted to do.”

Rogers and the other Bonner Scholars had a checklist going into freshman year and got to explore and discover which specific organization sparked their interest.

“Freshman year is a ‘get your feet wet’ type thing, and the semester after that, you pick a site that you really, really love and you just keep going with that site,” Rogers said.

Rogers said that serving so many hours and juggling schoolwork is a learning curve for her, and throughout the years it has been a struggle from time to time, but rewarding at the end of each semester.

“You have to be very good at time management – I know when I was a freshman I didn’t think it was that bad balancing schoolwork with Bonner hours – second semester, it kind of hit me that I was like ‘oh my gosh, time management is really a thing,’ so balancing all that plus taking care of yourself,” Rogers said.

Rogers added that Adrienne Tharp, coordinator for the Bonner program, taught her that taking time to take care of yourself, intertwined with service and schoolwork, is important.

“We can’t serve others if we can’t serve ourselves first – it’s kind of the motto I live by now,” Rogers said. “The only other problem is I don’t know how to say no sometimes. So, I stress myself out that way, but I just have to remember to schedule in me-time.”

Although, Rogers entered as a youth ministry major and intended to focus on serving the local youth as a Bonner, she ended up finding an interest in serving those of the elderly as well.

“I came in just wanting to work with kids because I am a youth ministry major, but my friends that were seniors when I was a freshman were like ‘you have to try this site, you’ll love it,’ and it was Bridge Street Commons,” Rogers said.

She found desire in serving the elderly at Bridge Street Commons and within her years of service, Rogers expanded her knowledge by understanding both age spectrums.

“I really fell in love with it and I really enjoy working with the senior population,” Rogers said, “it’s just nice to know that I can work with both youth and seniors – when I become a pastor, at least I know I can work with both and understand what both need.”

Rogers encourages others to get out and serve because it could impact their future passions.

“I think everybody should try serving just to ‘get their feet wet’ because you may find out that it’s something you’ll love and want to do for the rest of your life,” Rogers said.

For Rogers, service is a good form of therapy and it has led her to meet people she did not expect to impact her life.

“It’s kind of therapeutic helping out people, and you meet such wonderful people that you never realize would be a part of your life,” Rogers said.

Rogers mentioned that she has met many people through service that has impacted her life.

“I had a lady that I became friends with at Bridge Street Commons, and she made such an impact on my life – my Wednesdays I would go and visit her,” Rogers said. “We would watch old movies together and she would make me dinner, and I never thought that service would bring us together.”

From all of the hours she has spent serving, Rogers has learned the most important lesson with her service hours, and that is to serve yourself first.

“The only thing I’ve really learned along the way is to take care of yourself and serve yourself before you serve others because it’s taken me awhile to actually figure that out, too,” Rogers said.