“Dig Deeper” -Sam Vaghar, MCN Co Founder

By ewbexec

“Dig Deeper” -Sam Vaghar

It’s only fitting that we end our MCC 2011 features on the man who started it all, Sam Vaghar. At 25, Vaghar has already spread the Millennium Campus Network to include more than 20 campuses in Boston, New York, D.C., and Chicago since its founding in 2007. By gathering already established student chapters to meet on common ground, Vaghar has created an incredible opportunity for student leaders to network, collaborate, and learn from their peers. In events like the Millennium Campus Conference, its blatantly obvious that these groups are seeking fellowship among others who are struggling to end poverty and accomplish the Millennium Development Goals.

However, when he spoke to the MCC 2011 attendees on Saturday morning at Harvard he asked for more. “Dig deeper,” he stated. While the desire to do good and make change is crucial to our movement, it’s not enough. Settling for the intention isn’t going to make actual progress. Taking it a step further, maybe we can even think about Sam himself. Rather than joining a non-profit or volunteering at a single place, he thought of a bigger picture. He created a way to contribute to global change by helping other students gain access to each other–something that wasn’t really being done in a consisten manner. The effect that MCN has had on the various projects done by its members is uncountable but undeniable.

“How” -Sam Vaghar

After asking students to “dig deeper”, Sam pushed even harder and asked us to think of the “how”. “How do we get results? How do we measure success? How do we implement?” While Vaghar agreed that these were difficult to answer, they are also necessary pieces of our work. Without taking our “why”–the things that inspire us, that fuel us, that sustain us–a step further to planning out the “how”, our intentions are wasted and forgotten. So, while floating in the land of whys may soothe your conscious, it will not contribute to the tangible development of solutions.