By Timothy R. Olsen ’09, ’18

When planning this digital edition of the magazine, our team loved the idea of having “Service” be the theme. The holiday season is a wonderful time to reflect, refocus, and recalibrate as we head into a new year, and it’s a time when many acts of service often take place.

Having grown up an Aggie in Cache Valley, spent time at nearly all USU’s Statewide Campuses, and worked for the university for nearly a decade, I know there are many amazing people doing incredible things throughout the USU system. However, it was truly humbling to hear how our Aggie Family is serving others.

From Mozambique to Afghanistan to right here in Utah, our alumni, faculty, staff, and students are making astonishing impacts on the world around them. At a time when so many are divided, it was truly uplifting to learn about the amazing things our Aggie Family is coming together to achieve.

One thing that really stood out to me throughout all these stories is that even though one person may be the catalyst, there’s no way any of the people we talked to could have accomplished what they have on their own. ‘It takes a village,’ as the saying goes, and everyone we spoke with was aware of that — and was all too eager to diminish their contributions and heap praise onto others.

Whether the project is gathering unharvested food, as the Gleaning Team at USU’s Logan campus does, or restoring a national park in a foreign country, as alum Greg Carr has worked hard to do, or building a stronger sense of community by proactively reaching out, as members of USU’s Uintah Basin team have done, it takes many hands to achieve these goals and improve our communities.

As you reflect, refocus, and recalibrate for 2024, what untapped avenues for service exist in your life? Let me know. We can’t wait to write about them.