Having taken stock of her life, fitness writer Suzanne Schlosberg realized that her only charitable deeds included consoling friends after devastating blind dates or updating them on missed episodes of Law and Order. So, she decided to go on a series of volunteer vacations from July of 2000 to January of 2001 in an attempt to make herself useful. She called her adventure Mission Implausible, and with little experience or skills she set out.
Schlosberg started at the Sadler's Midnight Sun Ultra Challenge, a six-day, 267-mile race that is the longest wheelchair event in the world. Volunteers are there to support the riders by carrying their gear, providing them with food, drive the support vehicles and without them the race wouldn't happen. During the event, Schlosberg had several mishaps including a flat tire, backing into RV and a speeding ticket, all of which garnered her the "Spam Award" for the volunteer who provided the most laughs.
Her next adventure was in Papua, New Guinea where she joined five other female volunteers from Habitat for Humanity to build a house. On the trip there Schlosberg lost her luggage, become violently ill on the island ferry and their car got stuck in the mud while driving to the village. The next day, as the local women watched, the group got to work sawing, hammering and planing. Unfortunately, they left two weeks later without completing the home due to heavy rain.
After a long journey home, Schlosberg joined California State Senator Adam Schiff (D) in his bid for Congress. This was a tight race. She spent her first days stapling signs, filing and stuffing envelopes then it was time to take to the phones. She got to spend some time with the candidate accompanying him as he canvassed the neighborhood. Thanks to Schlosberg and every volunteer's hard work, Schiff won the seat.
The next mission was at the Central Washington University Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. They are conducting a study to see if chimps in captivity stay mentally healthy when they have plenty of stimulation. Schlosberg spent several days observing and recording the behavior of the animals while they played with different objects. Although she could see the usefulness of her deeds the whole process was, unfortunately, painfully boring.
Once again, Schlosberg left the country and traveled to Xi'ian China to teach English. She however had no lesson plan and her students ignored her. In an effort to get their attention Schlosberg concentrated on the class' poor pronunciation skills, and invented tongue twisters, teaching them to say "Courtney Thorne-Smith." Her greatest triumph came on her last day when one dedicated student managed to say the actress' name. "I was thrilled."
For her final mission, Schlosberg encouraged people to write in and "Let her know why your organization needs her help!" The winner was Becky Tegeler, who is a teacher at Hartley Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska. She teaches in a poor community where many kids lack a winter coat. Schlosberg's assignment was to teach alongside Tegeler, concentrating on reading and writing skills. Although initially the children were terrified that they would be writing through their lunch hour, their guest teacher proved to be not as mean as they imagined. They gave her the highest score possible on the "Do-Good" meter.
Looking back, Schlosberg feels her most useful mission was in Alaska. "It really took every single volunteer to get that wheelchair race going every day." For anyone who would like to attempt their own "M:I," she recommends thoroughly researching your destinations by calling previous volunteers. Except for the last one, Schlosberg found all of her assignments on the web. Now that she has done making herself useful Schlosberg is back to her day job. "I'm through being useful for a while!" 