The Core Values of Key Club By Cleo Chiu

The core values of Key Club are leadership, character building, caring, and inclusiveness. Good leadership helps the club run smoothly, our members build character through volunteering at different events and organizations, and they care for the community. However, the most important value of all is inclusiveness, because it is the key to accomplishing our goals as a club, and it is crucial to serving our community.

I think that our goal as a club is not only to serve our community but to help every one of our officers and members grow, but we cannot do so without inclusiveness. To be inclusive is to invite people to discuss our decisions, join our activities, and most importantly, take action with us. Before joining Key Club, I did not understand how important it was to make others feel welcome. I misunderstood being nice and friendly as a way to include others. I remember being a freshman in Key Club, and I did not want to go to a lot of events because I did not really know the people there, and I felt like I wasn’t needed, and I was unimportant.

The officers helped me do what I was supposed to do, but I was often uncomfortable. But then one time, an officer reached out to me and called me over, asking me to help her out with something. Instantaneously I felt better. I realized that it was reaching out, talking to the members who were there, asking them about their week or their day, that really made them feel welcome. The inclusiveness of Key Club taught me to show others compassion and to reach out.

We all need to be included to make the community a better place. That is why we have scientists and engineers and politicians and teachers and policemen and animal caretakers and policymakers. We are all different. Together, we really can change the world. If we all put down our thoughts about how great we are and our abilities to solve problems on our own, we can experience so many different things in this world, we can explore the different solutions, the different approaches, and the different aspects of the one thing we try to tackle. I believe that attempting to include others is the key to helping others. Only when we put down ourselves can we truly recognize the needs of others.