As the COVID-19 pandemic threatens American lives and disrupts daily routines, we continue to see front-line public servants step forward to battle the virus with persistence. Given the increasingly polarized COVID environment, the natural inclination is to ask: what is motivating these public servants to persevere in their work despite the chaotic circumstances of this pandemic? For many public servants, the public service vocation is their reason – the collective ethos that binds public servants together in creating a purpose-driven and action-oriented life. This essay encourages public service educators to adopt vocation as a motivational lens in their classrooms to help students understand the true meaning of public service work. Vocation is not a new concept for public service that simply emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic; rather, the pandemic serves as a focusing event to remind scholars and students that the public service vocation is at the heart of our field.
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