This presentation, from Patrick Arsenault, is about having the right mindset when it comes to assisting others. It takes into consideration respect and differences by recognizing that one size does not fit all. It empowers participants to draw on their unique expertise to help others, but to also make sure to develop the soft skills needed to serve others. One of the final recommendations is to encourage students to engage in service based education and community involvement. This presentation is adapted from: https://studentaffairscollective.org/learn-difference-helping-serving/ (by Patrick Arsenault in the Student Affairs Collective).

1. HELPINGVS SERVING
In Student Affairs
By: Patrick Arsenault

2. Having the right mindset
• When collaborating with others, it’s important to reflect on what is expected of us
and what role we should play.
• Being respectful of diversity, difference, and others requires to go beyond helping
to “serve”

3. HelpingVS Serving
Helping:
Use advanced knowledge in a field to
produce an outcome that will be
meaningful to others
• Providing a product, service and
expertise
• Mostly in a professional setting
• Requires “hard” skills
• The helper has dominance over
the individual being helped and
is considered the expert.
Serving:
Learn from the individual and his/her
situation to better understand how you
can be of assistance in collaboratively
solving a problem.
• Listen and ask questions to understand
how you can be of assistance
• Can happen in all settings, but especially
in community involvement
• Requires “soft” skills
• All individuals are on the same level and
the expert is the individual requiring
assistance.

4. What does it mean to serve?
Serve Don’t Help…
“Mizzou Alternative Break trips are service trips.
There is a subtle, but crucial difference between
helping someone and serving someone. We don’t go
on these trips to help poor, sick and helpless people.
We go to humbly serve them. We share our gifts with
them and they share their gifts with us. It’s a two way
street on an equal plane, an exchange between two
groups of people that brings positive change to
everyone” (Mizzou Alternative Breaks, 2017)

5. HelpingVS Serving
• “A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and
restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others” (Jimmy Carter).
• “Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up.” (Jesse Jackson).
• “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the
care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease
(Thomas Edison).
• “Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it”
(John D. Rockefeller).
• “A good listener is one who helps us overhear ourselves.” (Yahia Lababidi)
Guess which quotes are closer to helping and serving.

6. Why is learning the difference between
helping and serving is important when
working with a diverse population
• International students and other individuals that identify with a minority group are
often in situations where they can use assistance.That may be for a plethora of
reasons including cultural differences, language barriers, lack of information, and
so forth.
• At times, you may be able to use your expertise to help them, but in other
situations, you really need to let them tell you how you can be of assistance.

7. Group Activity
Create a fictional persona based on the following criteriaStep 1
• Visible minority
• Someone you would interact with at Grenfell or in Corner Brook
Imagine a problematic situation that could affect this individualStep 2
• Describe what the issue is
• Describe who the main stakeholders are
• Describe what is the desired outcome
Within your group, identify :Step 3
• Individuals that would be better positioned to help/serve
• Adapted strategies to help and serve the individual
• What would change based on whether you helped or served in the process and outcome.

8. In a nutshell…
“Young professionals
should be equipped to
make a difference in
organizations by helping
them and their
constituents, but they
should also be willing to
serve. They should be
able to pause and listen to
their needs and
expectations and let them
show them what they
need and teach them how
they can be of assistance”
(Arsenault, 2017)

9. QUESTIONS
Patrick Arsenault. M.Ed., M.Sc.
International Student Programming Coordinator
Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland
parsenault@grenfell.mun.ca
www.patrickarsenault.com
* This presentation is adapted from: Students Should Learn the Difference Between Helping and Serving by Patrick Arsenault