I share the story of my Lions induction often — partly because it’s pretty comical, but mostly because it shaped who I am today.Even though I grew up around Lions, I never realized it was an international organization. To me, it was just the club my parents and all their friends were in. I helped when I could and mostly saw it as time to hang with family. I figured once I was older and settled down, then maybe I’d join.But life doesn’t always go as planned.When I was 19, my dad invited me to a Lions dinner. Free food? Hanging out with my parents and adopted grandparents? Yes, please.What I didn’t know until we pulled up to the venue was that this “Lions dinner” was actually a district convention and my family’s club was hosting it. In the parking lot, my dad threw me a yellow vest and said, “Come on, you’re being inducted.”The evening flew by and was honestly kind of a blur. But I remember leaving excited and feeling like I had a world of possibilities in front of me. Granted, the “voluntold” route isn’t the best recruitment method, and the chaos of the day was wild, but from that moment on, I decided to embrace the experience and say yes to every opportunity I could.Who knew that one day — my induction day — would open the door to a life of adventure, a Lions family that welcomed me and a real way to put good back into the world? Who knew it would help shape my future in such a meaningful way?A decade later, I still get chills when I see new members get inducted. It takes me right back to the moment I became a Lion and to this amazing path I never saw coming.Breanne Liston is a member of the Salina Lions Club in Utah, a Melvin Jones Fellow and holds the Lions International Faculty Development Institute (FDI) Graduate training credential.