Criticisms of Volunteering
Before I this semester I had no idea that volunteerism and service can ever be a bad thing or cause more problems than it is trying to fix. I’m thankful that I now understand that volunteering and service is more about just helping people, but about building a deep relationship with them and truly understanding the root problem and what they need to fix it.
“Every person is born into life as a blank page- and every person leaves life as a full book” (Baldwin xi). This quote reminds me of the importance of building your story, having a purpose in life, and leaving a legacy that individuals can look up to. There’s many different ways to do that, but I believe volunteering and providing service to others is a very vital part of that development. However, many argue there can be good and bad volunteering. Some volunteering can hurt the community as they become too reliant on the service of others, but done correctly volunteering can change a community for the better and both the volunteer and the people being served can learn and grow through the experience.
Everyday men and women go to places struggling with violence, disaster, and poverty. They go to the broken inner cities or the rural areas moving backwards and they stay for a day, week, or maybe a month. They try to fix the problem at the surface. They clean up their houses and streets and they provide them with food, but that is just scratching the surface. That will help them for a day or two but to fully understand why those places have the issues that they have, these volunteers need to fully immerse themselves in life in those communities. They need to understand and see if the problems are because of lack of jobs, environment problems, corrupt school systems, or just the culture around the community. Volunteers need to understand the root of the issue before making a game plan on how they are going to solve the problem. Maybe instead of giving a community free meals at a soup kitchen that soup kitchen could host job training for people to have some experience before applying for jobs or have after school programs for at risk youth. The need for a new prospective of volunteerism and service is mentioned in Kretzmann and McKnight’s assets-based community development essay. The essay goes into detail explaining two paths for community service. The first path, the traditional path, is focused on the needs of the community and usually leads to a dead end and not a solution to the problem. The second path begins with a commitment to discovering the community’s assets and what the community had to offer. The second path is usually more successful. In the soup kitchen example, the needs based solution would be the kitchen giving out food, but the asset based solution would be the soup kitchen hosting classes for the people in the community. Illich, who was born in Austria and was a Catholic priest and a social critic, expresses his anger about bad volunteerism and service when he concludes his essays with the statement, “I am here to entreat you to use your money, your status, and your education to travel in Latin America. Come to look, come to climb our mountains, to enjoy our flowers. Come to study. But do not come to help” (Illich 6). He doesn’t think Americans help when they travel to Latin America and other countries to do service because we are not part of the culture. He believes we use needs based volunteering and thinks we do not look at the culture and community as a whole and try to connect with the people to see what they truly need.
In Cole’s Call to Service, he tells the story of a girl whose sister is battling leukemia and how at the hospital her mom met a lady of color from the inner city and her daughter, who was also battling leukemia. The girl’s mother heard that the lady and her daughter do not have a car and have to take multiple busses and switch trains many times to get to the hospital. The girl’s mother befriended the lady and started to pick her up from the city and drive her and her daughter to the hospital for her treatment until she was in remission. The girl’s mother voluntarily went out of her way to drive them to the hospital and through that experience they both benefitted. The lady and her daughter were able to get to the hospital in less time and she would pray for the health of both their daughters. They both gained friendship and support through a difficult time in their life. Cole goes on to say, “In a brief moment of caring we give service an everyday life. For every grand and celebrated project, there are no doubt dozens of quiet movements by one person toward other” (Cole 51). This is an example of good service and volunteerism that happens in a small, unobtrusive way that had a huge impact on these women’s lives and the lives of their families. Both women learned and gained so much from the experience simply because they cared about each other. To make service good and meaningful you should learn and grow because of the work you did. As a volunteer you should make a personal connection with the person you are serving.
Many people are asked when they are volunteering and serving others why they are there. Why did they take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer and help others for no money or repayment? I think Adam Davis put it well in his essay “What we don’t talk about when we don’t talk about Service” when he says, “Why serve? Here are the five reductive answers: (1) we are God’s children; (2) we share the earth; (3) I find myself in you; (4) I win praise by serving you; (5) I suck” (Davis 3). Even though these reasons are very simple, I think everyone who volunteers and serve others identifies with one of these five reasons. Many people volunteer with their church because that’s a strong community they are a part of and they feel that as God’s children that are responsible to give to the less fortunate. Many people serve and might connect with the people they volunteer for. They find themselves in that person and that feel it gives them more of a purpose in life. It is argued that many people serve because they get recognition for it. They might win awards or get covered in the newspaper. This is an example of a time when volunteering can get a bad name, though.
In Block’s (book) he says, “This is not about guilt, it is about accountability,” (Block xi) when talking about seeing towns hurting from poverty and wanting to make a difference in the world. Some people might volunteer because they feel guilty or they think they suck, as Davis put it. Though, others believe since they are living on the same earth and are citizens of the same country that it is not the guilt that someone has less than you but the accountability to help your peers and fellow humans.
The question of why you are there helping others might have been asked if your service or volunteering isn’t productive. If the people you are helping don’t see a greater value in the project you are starting or the service you are providing then they might ask that question. Again, this brings up the point of good and bad service and volunteering. If you are doing a project that just scratches the surface of the problem the people you are supposedly serving are facing they might get frustrated and make a comment like that. But, if you connect with the community and find out what they truly need to fix the root of the problem then the question might never come up. They will see the good you are doing and they will understand that you have a purpose even though you are a strangers in their community.
Volunteering and service help you create your story and fill the pages of your book. Mahatma Gandhi puts it eloquently when he said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Done correctly and volunteering will leave you with memories and friendships that will last a life time. Anne Frank wrote in her diary she was writing while in hiding from the Nazis during World War II, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” After a life time of service and volunteering you’ll be able to look back on your experiences and ask yourself if you see the benefits of your community work and the growth you saw in yourself, and hopefully you can confidently say that you do.
“Every person is born into life as a blank page- and every person leaves life as a full book” (Baldwin xi). This quote reminds me of the importance of building your story, having a purpose in life, and leaving a legacy that individuals can look up to. There’s many different ways to do that, but I believe volunteering and providing service to others is a very vital part of that development. However, many argue there can be good and bad volunteering. Some volunteering can hurt the community as they become too reliant on the service of others, but done correctly volunteering can change a community for the better and both the volunteer and the people being served can learn and grow through the experience.
Everyday men and women go to places struggling with violence, disaster, and poverty. They go to the broken inner cities or the rural areas moving backwards and they stay for a day, week, or maybe a month. They try to fix the problem at the surface. They clean up their houses and streets and they provide them with food, but that is just scratching the surface. That will help them for a day or two but to fully understand why those places have the issues that they have, these volunteers need to fully immerse themselves in life in those communities. They need to understand and see if the problems are because of lack of jobs, environment problems, corrupt school systems, or just the culture around the community. Volunteers need to understand the root of the issue before making a game plan on how they are going to solve the problem. Maybe instead of giving a community free meals at a soup kitchen that soup kitchen could host job training for people to have some experience before applying for jobs or have after school programs for at risk youth. The need for a new prospective of volunteerism and service is mentioned in Kretzmann and McKnight’s assets-based community development essay. The essay goes into detail explaining two paths for community service. The first path, the traditional path, is focused on the needs of the community and usually leads to a dead end and not a solution to the problem. The second path begins with a commitment to discovering the community’s assets and what the community had to offer. The second path is usually more successful. In the soup kitchen example, the needs based solution would be the kitchen giving out food, but the asset based solution would be the soup kitchen hosting classes for the people in the community. Illich, who was born in Austria and was a Catholic priest and a social critic, expresses his anger about bad volunteerism and service when he concludes his essays with the statement, “I am here to entreat you to use your money, your status, and your education to travel in Latin America. Come to look, come to climb our mountains, to enjoy our flowers. Come to study. But do not come to help” (Illich 6). He doesn’t think Americans help when they travel to Latin America and other countries to do service because we are not part of the culture. He believes we use needs based volunteering and thinks we do not look at the culture and community as a whole and try to connect with the people to see what they truly need.
In Cole’s Call to Service, he tells the story of a girl whose sister is battling leukemia and how at the hospital her mom met a lady of color from the inner city and her daughter, who was also battling leukemia. The girl’s mother heard that the lady and her daughter do not have a car and have to take multiple busses and switch trains many times to get to the hospital. The girl’s mother befriended the lady and started to pick her up from the city and drive her and her daughter to the hospital for her treatment until she was in remission. The girl’s mother voluntarily went out of her way to drive them to the hospital and through that experience they both benefitted. The lady and her daughter were able to get to the hospital in less time and she would pray for the health of both their daughters. They both gained friendship and support through a difficult time in their life. Cole goes on to say, “In a brief moment of caring we give service an everyday life. For every grand and celebrated project, there are no doubt dozens of quiet movements by one person toward other” (Cole 51). This is an example of good service and volunteerism that happens in a small, unobtrusive way that had a huge impact on these women’s lives and the lives of their families. Both women learned and gained so much from the experience simply because they cared about each other. To make service good and meaningful you should learn and grow because of the work you did. As a volunteer you should make a personal connection with the person you are serving.
Many people are asked when they are volunteering and serving others why they are there. Why did they take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer and help others for no money or repayment? I think Adam Davis put it well in his essay “What we don’t talk about when we don’t talk about Service” when he says, “Why serve? Here are the five reductive answers: (1) we are God’s children; (2) we share the earth; (3) I find myself in you; (4) I win praise by serving you; (5) I suck” (Davis 3). Even though these reasons are very simple, I think everyone who volunteers and serve others identifies with one of these five reasons. Many people volunteer with their church because that’s a strong community they are a part of and they feel that as God’s children that are responsible to give to the less fortunate. Many people serve and might connect with the people they volunteer for. They find themselves in that person and that feel it gives them more of a purpose in life. It is argued that many people serve because they get recognition for it. They might win awards or get covered in the newspaper. This is an example of a time when volunteering can get a bad name, though.
In Block’s (book) he says, “This is not about guilt, it is about accountability,” (Block xi) when talking about seeing towns hurting from poverty and wanting to make a difference in the world. Some people might volunteer because they feel guilty or they think they suck, as Davis put it. Though, others believe since they are living on the same earth and are citizens of the same country that it is not the guilt that someone has less than you but the accountability to help your peers and fellow humans.
The question of why you are there helping others might have been asked if your service or volunteering isn’t productive. If the people you are helping don’t see a greater value in the project you are starting or the service you are providing then they might ask that question. Again, this brings up the point of good and bad service and volunteering. If you are doing a project that just scratches the surface of the problem the people you are supposedly serving are facing they might get frustrated and make a comment like that. But, if you connect with the community and find out what they truly need to fix the root of the problem then the question might never come up. They will see the good you are doing and they will understand that you have a purpose even though you are a strangers in their community.
Volunteering and service help you create your story and fill the pages of your book. Mahatma Gandhi puts it eloquently when he said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Done correctly and volunteering will leave you with memories and friendships that will last a life time. Anne Frank wrote in her diary she was writing while in hiding from the Nazis during World War II, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” After a life time of service and volunteering you’ll be able to look back on your experiences and ask yourself if you see the benefits of your community work and the growth you saw in yourself, and hopefully you can confidently say that you do.
Leadership to Citizenship
At the beginning of this semester I was just a volunteer. Every time I went to volunteer I had good intentions in mind and wanted to make a difference, but I was not well-educated on the issue. After this semester, I believe I have developed into a conscientious citizen. I still have good intentions when it comes to service and want to make a difference, but now I truly want to know why the problems exist. Why does the New River Valley have a hunger problem? Why is climate change happening? What can we do to prevent it? These are all questions I want to answer to make me a better volunteer and ultimately lead me to become an active citizen.
Peter Block wrote, “Citizenship is our capacity to create for ourselves what we had sought from our leaders.” Most Americans strive to be an active citizen, but many end up falling short. Constraints like money and time keep typical Americans from making the impact they may wish to make in their community. The Active Citizen Continuum decides a person has become an active citizen when, “Community values becomes a priority in values and life choice.” It can also be defined as the, “Combination of obligations and responsibilities through involvement in civic issues” (Ahrari). Though, because of the constraints I listed before, most Americans are stuck between community member, who are not concerned with their role in social issues, and volunteer, who have good intentions, but are not well-educated on the social issue. Life moves so fast these days that few people have time to stop and think about the impact they are making or could make in their community. But, if people put in a little time here or there every day or even once a week everyone can become an active citizen.
Part of being an active citizen is bringing about social change. The social change model defines this in, “The eight C’s: Common purpose, Commitment, Citizenship, Consciousness of Self, Controversy with Civility, Collaboration, Congruence, and Change.” To bring about real, successful social change a strong active citizen must be intentional in all these eight areas.
Many active citizens face backlash from members of the society and community that do not completely understand or agree with the change they are trying to bring about. In Mary Pipher’s book, Reluctant Activist, she talks about how she educated herself about environmental issues and became aware that the Keystone Pipeline was going to run right through her community in Nebraska. Instead of sitting back and letting it happen she rallied a group of her friends to stand up against the government and big corporations and ultimately postponed President Obama decision to veto the pipeline permit. She says at the end, “I do this work because acting as if I have hope gives me hope. The process of trying to make things better is the healthiest way I have of responding to the world around me” (121). Pipher displayed the qualities of an active citizen by making the values of the community a priority in her life and her life choices. She became concerned with the environmental problems of the Keystone Pipeline and was well-educated on the issues. This led her to bring about social change because she exemplified all seven of the social change C’s and ultimately accomplished that eighth, change. Kouzes says that, “Each day provides countless chances to make a difference,” Pipher and her friends became educated on an issue they felt strongly about and made that difference as active citizens.
Similar to Mary Pipher and her friends, the residents affected by the events that occurred at the Love Canal became actively involved in the issues in their own community. The events in the beginning of the spring in 1978 resulted in “acute collective stress” (Stone and Levine, 2009). The families affected were interviewed and placed in categories either as activist families or non-activist families. It was reported that, “Activist felt better about themselves, and had a stronger feeling of personal efficacy on affecting government decisions. They perceived that the crisis has brought about positive personal changes, and changes in relations with others” (Stone and Levine, 2009). This example from the Love Canal shows us how being an active citizen can bring about positive change even in the wake of a tragedy. Most of these citizens might have been volunteers or even just members of the community, but when a disaster struck they choose to become involved and bring about change in their community. This change brought them closer together and helped them as individuals too.
As we see with Mary Pipher and the residents of the Love Canal, being an active citizen and being involved in government can have some correlations. As people are becoming involved in more and more social issues like racisms, the environment, gay marriage, and many others the importance of not only being an active citizen, but also being an active citizen in government is becoming more and more essential. It is written in the article, Recruiting Active Citizens, that, “Local governments in western democratic societies around the world are seeking to regain community respect and support by encouraging higher levels of civic participation in decision-making processes” (Piasecka et al, 2010). Governments in the western world have some of the lowest voter turnouts and, consequently, many citizens’ voices are not heard. If citizens become educated on the social issues they are passionate about, make it become their priority, and speak up about the issue their local governments will hear about it and change will occur. Just like Mary Pipher and many other active citizens have done in history.
So in summary, being an active citizen involves the community becoming your priority in your value and life choices. It also includes being educated on the social issue at hand and actively having a voice in the government decisions about that issue.
As college students we are agents for change in the world. We are reminded throughout our time at different universities that we are the future, and especially at Virginia Tech where we are supposed to, “Invent the Future.” If us twenty something year olds want to accomplish this daring task laid out for us we must dedicate ourselves to becoming active citizens. We need to refer to the Active Citizen Continuum and make sure, as students, we are well informed about the issues at hand and that the Virginia Tech community and the surrounding communities becomes our priority in values and life choices. We have to understand what we do or don’t do as students at Virginia Tech affects Blacksburg, the New River Valley, and the rest of the world. Virginia Tech actively encourages us students to become active citizens by stressing our motto, “Ut Prosim,” or “That I May Serve.” We have organizations at the school that help the Blacksburg community, communities around the country, and even around the world. Students go into the community to mentor the youth, clean up the surrounding environment, and help with the elderly. Some students might be serving others and only being a volunteer or a continuous citizen, but once you become so involved and have access to so many options for volunteering and doing well in a community, like Virginia Tech, I believe it’s just a matter of time before you become an active citizen. As a member of Serve and having a close connection with VT Engage, I see active citizens quite frequently and I have upperclassman to look up to and set examples on how to be an active citizen, but I’m sure that isn’t the case for all students. I think VT Engage should do a better job reaching out to students not just in Living Learning Communities. I think it would be really cool if each club or organization has a VT Engage representative. This person would be in constant contact with faculty that work for VT Engage and help those organization connect with other organizations in the community that have similar goals as them or are in need of their services. For example, a Christian organization, like Cru or Young life, could get connected with a local church and teach the young children about the Bible and God or mentor the teenagers at the church. They could also get connected with churches overseas and volunteer there and teach the children and teenagers there about God and Jesus. I think VT Engage has the potential to make every willing Hokie into an active citizen if they have the ability to reach every organization.
With Serve and VT Engage I was able to volunteer at Plenty farm in Floyd County, Virginia this semester. It was a beautiful, eye-opening experience. We were in beautiful Virginian farm country, something I don’t see every day in the suburbs of Washington DC, and the head farmer, John, was so informative and passionate about the work the farm does. The farm is a food pantry that grows its own produce and takes donations from the community to feed the hungry people of southern Virginia. I’m from a very well-off area where organic produce is normal for families to buy every week. Very few kids are on free and reduced lunches or don’t get a hot, nutritious meal every night. Knowing that people in the Blacksburg and surrounding communities don’t receive this everyday made me appreciate where I’m from and how hard my parents work, but most importantly it made me realize how much of an issue hunger is in the New River Valley. This is an issue I was so shocked to find out about and want to get involved in. Not only does everyone deserve food on the table, but they deserve wholesome, healthy food and that’s a value of Plenty that I appreciate a lot. I hope to get more involved in Campus Kitchen and volunteer with Feeding American and Plenty farm throughout the rest of my freshman year and my time at Virginia Tech.
Other than hunger, another issue I’m very passionate about is the environment. I am also highly considering a career in environmental science. VT Engage is taking a group of students to Peru over the summer to work with the nonprofit, ARCAmazon, to assist them in conservation and protection of the Amazon River and I hope I’m able to attend that trip. I’ve always wanted to travel around the world doing service and experiencing earth’s beauty so I hope I can begin doing that this summer in Peru and continue working with environmental issues while at Virginia Tech.
Peter Block wrote, “Citizenship is our capacity to create for ourselves what we had sought from our leaders.” Most Americans strive to be an active citizen, but many end up falling short. Constraints like money and time keep typical Americans from making the impact they may wish to make in their community. The Active Citizen Continuum decides a person has become an active citizen when, “Community values becomes a priority in values and life choice.” It can also be defined as the, “Combination of obligations and responsibilities through involvement in civic issues” (Ahrari). Though, because of the constraints I listed before, most Americans are stuck between community member, who are not concerned with their role in social issues, and volunteer, who have good intentions, but are not well-educated on the social issue. Life moves so fast these days that few people have time to stop and think about the impact they are making or could make in their community. But, if people put in a little time here or there every day or even once a week everyone can become an active citizen.
Part of being an active citizen is bringing about social change. The social change model defines this in, “The eight C’s: Common purpose, Commitment, Citizenship, Consciousness of Self, Controversy with Civility, Collaboration, Congruence, and Change.” To bring about real, successful social change a strong active citizen must be intentional in all these eight areas.
Many active citizens face backlash from members of the society and community that do not completely understand or agree with the change they are trying to bring about. In Mary Pipher’s book, Reluctant Activist, she talks about how she educated herself about environmental issues and became aware that the Keystone Pipeline was going to run right through her community in Nebraska. Instead of sitting back and letting it happen she rallied a group of her friends to stand up against the government and big corporations and ultimately postponed President Obama decision to veto the pipeline permit. She says at the end, “I do this work because acting as if I have hope gives me hope. The process of trying to make things better is the healthiest way I have of responding to the world around me” (121). Pipher displayed the qualities of an active citizen by making the values of the community a priority in her life and her life choices. She became concerned with the environmental problems of the Keystone Pipeline and was well-educated on the issues. This led her to bring about social change because she exemplified all seven of the social change C’s and ultimately accomplished that eighth, change. Kouzes says that, “Each day provides countless chances to make a difference,” Pipher and her friends became educated on an issue they felt strongly about and made that difference as active citizens.
Similar to Mary Pipher and her friends, the residents affected by the events that occurred at the Love Canal became actively involved in the issues in their own community. The events in the beginning of the spring in 1978 resulted in “acute collective stress” (Stone and Levine, 2009). The families affected were interviewed and placed in categories either as activist families or non-activist families. It was reported that, “Activist felt better about themselves, and had a stronger feeling of personal efficacy on affecting government decisions. They perceived that the crisis has brought about positive personal changes, and changes in relations with others” (Stone and Levine, 2009). This example from the Love Canal shows us how being an active citizen can bring about positive change even in the wake of a tragedy. Most of these citizens might have been volunteers or even just members of the community, but when a disaster struck they choose to become involved and bring about change in their community. This change brought them closer together and helped them as individuals too.
As we see with Mary Pipher and the residents of the Love Canal, being an active citizen and being involved in government can have some correlations. As people are becoming involved in more and more social issues like racisms, the environment, gay marriage, and many others the importance of not only being an active citizen, but also being an active citizen in government is becoming more and more essential. It is written in the article, Recruiting Active Citizens, that, “Local governments in western democratic societies around the world are seeking to regain community respect and support by encouraging higher levels of civic participation in decision-making processes” (Piasecka et al, 2010). Governments in the western world have some of the lowest voter turnouts and, consequently, many citizens’ voices are not heard. If citizens become educated on the social issues they are passionate about, make it become their priority, and speak up about the issue their local governments will hear about it and change will occur. Just like Mary Pipher and many other active citizens have done in history.
So in summary, being an active citizen involves the community becoming your priority in your value and life choices. It also includes being educated on the social issue at hand and actively having a voice in the government decisions about that issue.
As college students we are agents for change in the world. We are reminded throughout our time at different universities that we are the future, and especially at Virginia Tech where we are supposed to, “Invent the Future.” If us twenty something year olds want to accomplish this daring task laid out for us we must dedicate ourselves to becoming active citizens. We need to refer to the Active Citizen Continuum and make sure, as students, we are well informed about the issues at hand and that the Virginia Tech community and the surrounding communities becomes our priority in values and life choices. We have to understand what we do or don’t do as students at Virginia Tech affects Blacksburg, the New River Valley, and the rest of the world. Virginia Tech actively encourages us students to become active citizens by stressing our motto, “Ut Prosim,” or “That I May Serve.” We have organizations at the school that help the Blacksburg community, communities around the country, and even around the world. Students go into the community to mentor the youth, clean up the surrounding environment, and help with the elderly. Some students might be serving others and only being a volunteer or a continuous citizen, but once you become so involved and have access to so many options for volunteering and doing well in a community, like Virginia Tech, I believe it’s just a matter of time before you become an active citizen. As a member of Serve and having a close connection with VT Engage, I see active citizens quite frequently and I have upperclassman to look up to and set examples on how to be an active citizen, but I’m sure that isn’t the case for all students. I think VT Engage should do a better job reaching out to students not just in Living Learning Communities. I think it would be really cool if each club or organization has a VT Engage representative. This person would be in constant contact with faculty that work for VT Engage and help those organization connect with other organizations in the community that have similar goals as them or are in need of their services. For example, a Christian organization, like Cru or Young life, could get connected with a local church and teach the young children about the Bible and God or mentor the teenagers at the church. They could also get connected with churches overseas and volunteer there and teach the children and teenagers there about God and Jesus. I think VT Engage has the potential to make every willing Hokie into an active citizen if they have the ability to reach every organization.
With Serve and VT Engage I was able to volunteer at Plenty farm in Floyd County, Virginia this semester. It was a beautiful, eye-opening experience. We were in beautiful Virginian farm country, something I don’t see every day in the suburbs of Washington DC, and the head farmer, John, was so informative and passionate about the work the farm does. The farm is a food pantry that grows its own produce and takes donations from the community to feed the hungry people of southern Virginia. I’m from a very well-off area where organic produce is normal for families to buy every week. Very few kids are on free and reduced lunches or don’t get a hot, nutritious meal every night. Knowing that people in the Blacksburg and surrounding communities don’t receive this everyday made me appreciate where I’m from and how hard my parents work, but most importantly it made me realize how much of an issue hunger is in the New River Valley. This is an issue I was so shocked to find out about and want to get involved in. Not only does everyone deserve food on the table, but they deserve wholesome, healthy food and that’s a value of Plenty that I appreciate a lot. I hope to get more involved in Campus Kitchen and volunteer with Feeding American and Plenty farm throughout the rest of my freshman year and my time at Virginia Tech.
Other than hunger, another issue I’m very passionate about is the environment. I am also highly considering a career in environmental science. VT Engage is taking a group of students to Peru over the summer to work with the nonprofit, ARCAmazon, to assist them in conservation and protection of the Amazon River and I hope I’m able to attend that trip. I’ve always wanted to travel around the world doing service and experiencing earth’s beauty so I hope I can begin doing that this summer in Peru and continue working with environmental issues while at Virginia Tech.
My Why
I’ve always had great role models in my life. My parents were always there to help me with my homework, talk me through my problems, and most importantly provide for me. I had grandparents, aunts, and uncles who were very present in my life and helped shape who I am today. I grew up in a very privileged area and lived in one of the richest counties in Virginia and attended some of the highest performing public schools in the state of Virginia, so consequently I was taught by some of the best teachers in the state. I never once felt like I had no one to look up or no one to talk to. I constantly had people in my life pushing me to be a better person and helping me achieve every goal I set for myself.
When you’re from an area like Northern Virginia who feel very sheltered, like you live in this bubble where nothing bad happens and you can’t comprehend what it is like to live somewhere where people do go hungry, don’t have at least one parent at home when they get off the bus from elementary school, or even someone to help them when they are struggling with their homework. In school our teachers were constantly reminding us how lucky we are to live in Northern Virginia and my parents also stressed this to me, so I always kept that in the back of my mind.
I decided at a young age that I needed to serve others my whole life and service to other people needed to be a constant in my life. My hobbies and career choices must be centered on giving back and serving others who didn’t have a hot meal to eat every night or parents willing to check their math homework for them.
Something that has always been a continuous in my life are the role models I had. Whether they were coaches, youth leaders at my church, my parents, my parent’s friends, or my extended family I was constantly surrounded by good people that kept me on the right track. So, one of the ways I want to serve people is through being their role model.
I began working at a preschool with after school care during my junior year of high school. Even though I was getting paid and I was still working in Northern Virginia I realized how much those kids looked up to me and wanted to be just like me. To them I was Ms. Shannon, the person they wanted to be like when they were older. Kids are constantly looking for someone to guide them and set an example for how they should act. While many of the kid’s parents worked very well-paid jobs, some of these kids were at the school from nine in the morning to possibly six at night, so these kids didn’t spend that much time with their parents some days. I realized after working at the school for two years that the best way for me to serve others is to be role models for younger kids. I love kids and constantly wish I could go back to the days where all I had to worry about was if there was a swing left for me to use on the playground.
I serve because I was given more than enough to be successful in my life and I want to give kids that positive role model that pushes them to be the best person they can be. I’m hoping to start mentoring at Margret Peak’s elementary school and start giving the kids in the program a positive role model to look up to and have fun with.
Many kids are embarrassed to tell others that they are from Northern Virginia because of the reputation and stereotypes that comes with it. While I’m hesitant to say where I’m from sometimes, I have also learned to be proud about where I’m from because it has shaped me into the person I am today. I feel as if it has given me a purpose in life to realize that I need to serve others and be there for kids and teenagers who didn’t grow up with the mentors and role models I had. Most importantly it has shown me why I must serve others throughout my whole life.
When you’re from an area like Northern Virginia who feel very sheltered, like you live in this bubble where nothing bad happens and you can’t comprehend what it is like to live somewhere where people do go hungry, don’t have at least one parent at home when they get off the bus from elementary school, or even someone to help them when they are struggling with their homework. In school our teachers were constantly reminding us how lucky we are to live in Northern Virginia and my parents also stressed this to me, so I always kept that in the back of my mind.
I decided at a young age that I needed to serve others my whole life and service to other people needed to be a constant in my life. My hobbies and career choices must be centered on giving back and serving others who didn’t have a hot meal to eat every night or parents willing to check their math homework for them.
Something that has always been a continuous in my life are the role models I had. Whether they were coaches, youth leaders at my church, my parents, my parent’s friends, or my extended family I was constantly surrounded by good people that kept me on the right track. So, one of the ways I want to serve people is through being their role model.
I began working at a preschool with after school care during my junior year of high school. Even though I was getting paid and I was still working in Northern Virginia I realized how much those kids looked up to me and wanted to be just like me. To them I was Ms. Shannon, the person they wanted to be like when they were older. Kids are constantly looking for someone to guide them and set an example for how they should act. While many of the kid’s parents worked very well-paid jobs, some of these kids were at the school from nine in the morning to possibly six at night, so these kids didn’t spend that much time with their parents some days. I realized after working at the school for two years that the best way for me to serve others is to be role models for younger kids. I love kids and constantly wish I could go back to the days where all I had to worry about was if there was a swing left for me to use on the playground.
I serve because I was given more than enough to be successful in my life and I want to give kids that positive role model that pushes them to be the best person they can be. I’m hoping to start mentoring at Margret Peak’s elementary school and start giving the kids in the program a positive role model to look up to and have fun with.
Many kids are embarrassed to tell others that they are from Northern Virginia because of the reputation and stereotypes that comes with it. While I’m hesitant to say where I’m from sometimes, I have also learned to be proud about where I’m from because it has shaped me into the person I am today. I feel as if it has given me a purpose in life to realize that I need to serve others and be there for kids and teenagers who didn’t grow up with the mentors and role models I had. Most importantly it has shown me why I must serve others throughout my whole life.