Summer 2010 Update: Our first year of YPI has been a wonderful journey. When the group first came together, we were strangers. Most of us only hung out with people who went to our school or played a sport with us. However, as the year progressed, we all got to know each other and began to work cohesively as we learned how to use our own unique strengths to form a dynamic team.

We started the year with the long process of selecting an issue. At our kick-off retreat, we had a very long list of issues, but after a few months of our monthly meetings, we finally narrowed our long list down to only two issues. Deciding which of these two issues to choose took up the majority of our first year. While it was at times frustrating, we learned to take a step back and listen to others who had opinions different from our own. Most of us were very biased toward "our" issue and let our emotions get in the way of really listening to other members. But when we learned to listen and think critically, we finally reached a consensus and chose our issue: Teen Volunteerism.

We have already learned so much about philanthropy, leadership, and using our strengths to benefit our work and each other. We have had the opportunity to meet many amazing community leaders and gain wisdom and knowledge from them. We are excited about our next two years in YPI.

Why Teen Volunteerism?

Cohort 4 has noticed a problem in the way Tulsa teens view volunteerism. Many schools or clubs that students are involved in require a certain number of volunteer hours. This forces students who want to graduate with honors or stay involved in a club to go around searching for somewhere to give their time helping others. Ideally, students would be excited to get an opportunity to serve their community and be cheerful about completing their volunteer hours. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

According to Dictionary.com, the word volunteer means, to perform a service willingly and without pay. Today’s teens may not get paid to volunteer, but they are definitely not always doing it willingly. YPI wants to do something about that. We want to inject passion back into Tulsa’s teens for volunteerism. That's why Cohort 4 has selected Teen Volunteerism as its topic.

As we enter into our second year, we are working on research and strategy. We are excited about our topic and what we believe we will be able to accomplish with it.