When I hear the word “service”, I usually associate it with the notion of sacrifice. Some may argue that the intention or ulterior motive is usually different for each type of service, but I believe my association remains true when it comes to giving something up ‘to serve’. Sometimes time is given up, and other times energy is given up. In my case, I had to give up my fear of failure. Two years ago, I visited my sister in New York City for my spring break. She told me that I would be volunteering for her school. She works as a math teacher at Kipp Star School in Harlem, which is a charter school for 6th graders to 8th graders. At first, working as a tutor, it was overwhelming, because the kids had just met me and they let it be known that I was a stranger. Either through angry glances or words under their breath, they constantly nagged me. However, I decided to use humor with a couple of the kids that did respect me, and once I won over those kids, I ended up becoming very comfortable as a teaching assistant.