Blog: stories from the field

The Art of the Ask

Cover of Middle Level Learning, May/June 2003, showing a stone lantern and purple irises in the Zen garden, with the headline Service Learning and Social Studies

They Mocked the Lesson. Then They Built an $18,000 Zen Garden.

I learned how to make the ask from a class of eighth graders. It began on the day they mocked my lesson. The day my

Navy ink sketch of a person in a sun hat kneeling with a trowel, growing a row of orange carrots

When to Stop Volunteering: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself

Knowing when to stop volunteering is hard for people who love to serve. I am one of them. Volunteering has given me a great deal.

A black hiking backpack hangs from a moss covered tree stump beside a rocky mountain stream, with its padded hip belt hanging below.

How Does the Bag Know?

A story about asking better questions, told from a nine hour hike in Banff. I used to ask one question before every walk. “What’s the

A hiker seen from behind stands on a rocky shore at the edge of a turquoise mountain lake, wearing a light knit hat, navy puffer coat, and black backpack. Snow covered peaks, forested slopes, and a blue sky reflect in the still water.

No Poles for Me: The Help I Almost Left Behind

A poem about asking for help, written after a first hike to Victoria Glacier. On my very first long hike, from Lake Louise up to

Pen drawing of a woman with a briefcase resting her head against a door marked NO under a Grant Foundation 1 sign, beside an open orange door marked YES under a Grant Foundation 2 sign.

What If “No” Leads to a Better “Yes”?

A $3,500 grant request got a hard no. The same proposal won $35,000 from a second foundation. What a rejection can teach you about the path you chose for your ask, and the story of the 120,000 Tassel Tapestry.

What People Forget When They Make an Ask

What do people forget when they make an ask? Themselves. A volunteer story from MidwestCon in Cincinnati about reciprocity and the small gifts that make a request land.