I have a quote in my email signature that I absolutely love. It goes like this:

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, Because what the world needs is people who have come alive"—Howard Thurman

Growing up, my mom always told me to "follow my passion" as I tried to navigate the difficult decisions of choosing which college to go to, what to major in, what sort of job to pursue after graduating, etc. She told me to follow my passion, because then work would not feel like a chore.

I think that's exactly what Howard Thurman was getting at when he said this, too. What a neat way to word it —what makes you come alive.

For me, I come alive when I am doing something bigger than myself. By that I mean serving others. College offered me many opportunities to serve and find out what makes me come alive the most. In that, I discovered a passion for serving people affected by trauma, specifically sexual and/or intimate partner violence.

Trauma is a scary thing, and the world does not prepare you for it. It is not taught in school how to respond if you are ever in a car accident or house fire. There is no handbook to prepare you for traumas you may face in your life. I think the beauty in trauma comes from the people who step up to help. Think about the NYPD during 9/11, or emergency responders in school shootings - that is brave work that deserves to be praised. Those jobs are not just jobs, they're callings. People must have come alive to do such hard work.

The same can be said for sexual and intimate partner violence. Society teaches us, especially females, to always walk in groups, cover our drinks, carry our keys between our fingers, and to be conscious of what we are wearing so as not to attract the attention of a male who just cannot control himself. But nobody says, "hey if something bad does happen at a party, here are the steps you can take and the resources you can tap into". That's where my job as an advocate comes in.

I get to help people find some glimmer of hope, even in the midst of overwhelming pain. I get to help people make a plan for how life can keep moving forward, even in the midst of the unknown. I get to help people seek justice, even in the midst of a victim-blaming society. I get to help people become survivors, even in the midst of feeling like a victim.

Doing this work makes me come alive. It gives me energy. It helps me remember how good it is to serve others and give rather than receive. It gives me hope in a brighter tomorrow. It fills me.

What makes you come alive? Because whatever it is, like Howard Thurman said, the world needs it. So go do it.