Bill’s journey reveals the importance of living a life of service to others while leading with kindness. A lifelong reader thanks to his English Teacher mom, Bill loves a good non-fiction book and seeing how things evolve and change over both a short and a long period of time. He experienced the power of change himself when he got his undergraduate degree at BGSU. At the start of his freshmen year, Bill was shy, withdrawn, and had doubts about his major & career after an introductory level class. Instead of suffering in silence, Bill utilized the resources and opportunities on campus to design his way forward.  

His transformation began when he found a flyer to volunteer at The Link (a 24/7 crisis hotline). Knowing he was a good listener, he took the opportunity at The Link to help others. There, he discovered his love of service, a wealth of resources around Bowling Green, and a new perspective on what college meant for him. By learning to help others on the crisis hotline, he learned to help himself. From there on, Bill took opportunity after opportunity at Bowling Green; he started 2 student groups, served as the president of 3 groups, and won “Volunteer of the Year” from 3 different community organizations. He also found a major that was in alignment with his values and would help him pursue careers of serving others while fighting for causes that he believed in. 

This led Bill to finding a career at the Toledo Zoo where he helped push the boundaries of what a zoo-based volunteer program could be through innovative programming. One of his proudest achievements is the ZOOTeen Volunteer Program where he was able to mentor hundreds of teen volunteers. He appreciated the opportunity to help teens learn about themselves while being of service to others, whether that be directly with animals or community outreach to Toledo citizens. The volunteers were able to feel more confident in themselves while having the chance to explore the world around them. Bill now wants to work directly with students at BGSU to continue helping people better themselves and highlighting doorways & resources they might not know even exist. In coaching sessions with Bill, he hopes you will find a deeper confidence in yourself, access to resources you may not know about, and the idea that you can use college to grow into the person you want to be.  

One of Bill’s favorite Life Design tools is the Mind Map, because it gives students the chance to throw ideas out there and build upon them. A Mind Map is like a fertile ground where you get to plant seeds that may spark transformative ideas. It’s a foundation of possibilities that can help you jet pack your way into the future. Bill loved doing Mind Maps at the Toledo Zoo and sees the value of doing it with students at BGSU.   

If you have the opportunity to work with Bill in the classroom, you can expect a welcoming, participative space where everyone feels safe enough to share ideas and not be concerned with judgments or other impediments. In a coaching session, you can also expect Bill to be a supportive listener who is intrigued to hear your story and help you find your path forward.  

If there is one piece of advice Bill could give to college students, it would be to truly explore the student organizations and service opportunities you have at BGSU. The activities you partake in may provide some insights into different career and major interests, but ultimately, they will truly expand your social and professional network, which can empower you to hone lifelong skills that will serve you well on your journey.

Words to Live By: 

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

-- Maria Robinson, Author