Written by Zoe Engels, Contributing Writer and Editor
It may sound cheesy and cliché but I’ll say it anyways: Writing for SODA has positively changed my life. Let me tell you why.
I first joined SODA back in 2018 as an eager undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis who was looking for an internship opportunity. In my weekly meetings with SODA’s founder, Sara Royf (née Miller), and through the work I did in between, I developed new skills and fostered old ones.
Zoe as a SODA National intern with the SODA at WashU team and the then-new SODA National team
Namely, I applied and developed my ever-growing passion for writing by helping create SODA’s social media posts, edit documents, and more. I learned about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into running an organ donation nonprofit, down to how to create process maps, which admittedly didn’t spark my fancy as much as the writing side of things but I was still excited to evolve my skill-set and spread my wings.
After the internship, I spent several months as SODA’s volunteer Director of Marketing, a position I was reluctant to leave when I departed for my study abroad experience.
What I learned from SODA in that time would have a profound impact on my life, personally and professionally. First and foremost, I registered to be an organ donor at my local DMV. In Eastern European cultures like the one in which I was raised, talking about things that presume your death (like deceased donation) are taboo and can be perceived as jinxing death, so I’d previously never considered organ donation. It might seem like a weird choice for an anti-death-chatting gal to intern at an organ donation nonprofit, but I’ve also always been a self-proclaimed nerd who likes learning new things, and discussing things I know nothing about excites me.
SODA helped me break that taboo; I didn’t want to be held back from the opportunity to help save lives in the future, and I was no longer afraid to talk about organ, eye, and tissue donation—a key aspect of SODA’s work and why students’ roles in their chapters are so central to their communities. We shouldn’t be afraid to talk about these things just because they’re uncomfortable or a bit scary! The more we talk about it, the less uncomfortable and scary it all becomes.
I learned, too, that the need for transplantation is more common than we might realize—or at least more common than I’d realized. More than 103,000 people are currently on the waiting list for an organ, but 17 people die each day waiting for an organ.
Armed with my new knowledge of those stark numbers and optimistic about the fact that one donor can save up to eight lives and enhance 75 more, I wanted to continue writing and talking about organ donation. It’s like I’d opened up Pandora’s box (in a good way!) when I joined SODA, and having realized just how important it is to have these conversations, the floodgates of discussing organ, eye, and tissue donation opened for me.
In February 2022, while pursuing my MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing at Columbia University, I was approached with the opportunity to rejoin SODA’s team as a freelance writer and editor, and I couldn’t wait to get back to working with the incredible, hard-working team of inspirational women. I also was thrilled (though I can’t say I was surprised!) to see how much SODA had grown since 2019.
SODA is now on track to reach 100 chapters, and I’ve written nearly 50 blog posts for the website. It’s an honor to do work that I love (writing and editing never get old) while making a positive impact. I’ve gotten to hone my craft while meeting incredible people, including SODA’s chapter leaders, chapter advisors, board members, volunteers and OPO partners alongside organ, eye, and tissue donors and recipients like Robert Chelsea and Mark and Lynn Scotch. I never would have met them otherwise—never would have gotten to hear and help share their stories.
The organization has helped me realize, too, just how fulfilling it is to be able to do what you love while making a difference. So, thank you to each and every person who reads our posts, engages with us on social media, and helps spread the word about the life-saving impact of organ, eye, and tissue donation. And thank you to everyone who’s shared their story with me for a blog post and to the incredible team at SODA. You all continue to inspire me.
Here’s to all the blogs, stories, learning, and growth to come!
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