“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.” - Dalai Lama; this quote went with how my experience at the veterans dinner went a lot. When I first got to the dinner I did not know what to expect. My friend Bamba and I made some chicken, rice, and biscuits for the dinner (he also made an onion sauce that spilt in my car so I will literally never forget this dinner every time I get into my car and smell sweet and sour onion sauce). When we first got there, there weren’t a lot of veterans outside only a couple. So we went upstairs brought our food and setup the food. I remember meeting a couple of the other students, but they kind of stood off to the side so I was excited to meet the veterans. As soon as the first one came in I didn’t catch his name (he’s in the brown shirt in the top right picture), but he grabbed a plate and I could tell he was excited to eat and when another student and I asked how his day was his face lit up instantly. I know I don’t go out every other day or weekend to shelters or events like this, but one of the first positive experiences from that night was how happy that veteran was just by us asking about how his day was.
I did this dinner, because I not only missed the first one I was supposed to go to, but I love going and interacting with people like that. A couple of the veterans reminded me of my grandpa two especially, they had very similar personalities one was came in with polar bear pjs
and instantly jumped on us oblivious college students that the kitchen lights weren't on (100% something my grandpa would do). Another veteran asked me how tall I was and when I said 5 foot we got into a pretty good conversation with jokes here and there. Overall I did it, because I feel like doing something as small as making biscuits and having decent conversations can make a person’s day and if I was able to go every other week or weekend to make someones day like that I would. I want to go into media communications and with that kind of career path I need more than just educational experience.
I feel like by volunteering I gained educational benefits, but I also gained an experience to help people, to see someone appreciate such small acts, and it’s something you can’t always learn from a book or a classroom. When I was there in person it’s an experience you can’t be taught, but become aware of. This may not be completely related to the dinner, but there was one day I went to Chic-fil-a, and I’m being 100% when I say I bought 2 large fries that I was going to eat by myself. However, after I bought my food I figured I’d get gas while I was out and I went to SAM’s. As I was pulling out going to the light a man held up a sign that said, “Anything helps.” So I called him over and asked him if he was hungry, he said yes so I handed him my extra large fry and once I turned I looked in my mirror to see why he ran across the street. He ran to a woman with a big smile on his face. So back to the dinner watching the men and women come through the kitchen with their plates and forks ready each one had a pretty big smile on their face. I think not just the dinner I went to and served impacted them, but every dinner is an impact on that community, because they have people coming socializing, cooking for them every other night, they have something to look forward to I feel. This dinner had an impact on me and hopefully in my future I can take this experience and help out with people like the veterans a
I feel like by volunteering I gained educational benefits, but I also gained an experience to help people, to see someone appreciate such small acts, and it’s something you can’t always learn from a book or a classroom. When I was there in person it’s an experience you can’t be taught, but become aware of. This may not be completely related to the dinner, but there was one day I went to Chic-fil-a, and I’m being 100% when I say I bought 2 large fries that I was going to eat by myself. However, after I bought my food I figured I’d get gas while I was out and I went to SAM’s. As I was pulling out going to the light a man held up a sign that said, “Anything helps.” So I called him over and asked him if he was hungry, he said yes so I handed him my extra large fry and once I turned I looked in my mirror to see why he ran across the street. He ran to a woman with a big smile on his face. So back to the dinner watching the men and women come through the kitchen with their plates and forks ready each one had a pretty big smile on their face. I think not just the dinner I went to and served impacted them, but every dinner is an impact on that community, because they have people coming socializing, cooking for them every other night, they have something to look forward to I feel. This dinner had an impact on me and hopefully in my future I can take this experience and help out with people like the veterans a
little more. I know I wanted to really do the adopt a veteran for christmas, but I don’t have enough money right now. They probably didn’t notice, but I really enjoyed talking to the people I did and being able to go whether it was for school or not it felt good and inspired me to help out more in the future. It was a great experience I feel more people need to try, because you never know who you'll meet or what you'll learn.
