AMH2020 student
“We need more kindness, more compassion,
more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to contribute to that.”
.
- Ellen DeGeneres
For my service project I went to the
Veterans Village in Tallahassee. The Veterans Village is a place where many
Veterans live together, its pretty much one big community. It looks like an
apartment complex, but they have much more than goes into what all they do
there. At the complex that they are all housed in, they are also given help to
the people that run it. They help get them jobs, food, and even the clothes on
their back. Even seeing that in itself was pretty amazing, because it shows all
the people that truly care about these Veterans. I learned that many times a
year people bring them food so that they can help them with making sure they
are fed and to just be nice while giving back to the community and to those
that truly deserve it.
When the opportunity was given to me in having to choose
a service project, I had no doubts that I wanted to do something that involved
helping the veterans. When the opportunity to cook for them and serve them came
p as an option for my project I chose to do it. I knew that it was the right
thing to do and that these people were the kinds of people who truly deserved
the help and someone to care about them as they and done great things for
everyone else. So I attended one,
bringing coleslaw that was homemade from my dad’s restaurant. This connects to
my core value in a very important way.
I feel like giving back to the community
in a way where not only can I feel better about doing it, but I can make
someone’s life better as well. Seeing how these men really appreciate what we
were doing was such an amazing feeling. Giving back to people is so important
in life and it just shows how the world really cares for one another. For my
major, which is retail merchandising, doesn’t have too much effect towards it.
I guess I could probably use it to show that I am a hard worker and really care
about people when later going to get a job. I could also use it as some
community service hours if I ended up needing too since some require it and
ultimately it looks good on my application when I go to apply at FSU.
I believe
that my giving back to the community effects the community is so many different
ways. It brings people together in ways that I think people will never
understand. Also giving back to the people who fought for our country and
risked their lives to protect us just makes the feeling of doing it a hundred
times better. The world would be a much better place if everyone gave back. It
was also so amazing seeing everyone that ended up attending the Veterans
Village dinner.
I actually went twice when doing the dinners and each time when
I saw their faces light up it was really an awesome feeling! The second time
that I went, I brought s’mores. My mom and I made a homemade s’mores recipe
that we made with graham crackers and marshmallows. I have always eaten it
since I was a kid, so being able to share that with them was a cool experience!
Since non of them had the s’mores the way I made them before it was also fun
being able to share new ideas and experiences with them. When I think about
giving back to the community, I think of so many different things that someone
could do. I don’t know why, but when I give back I really like to do something
that involves either helping veterans or children in some type of way.
The
world can benefit from having other people help and it really would make the
world better. When you help someone who needs it by giving up time or money
more people appreciate you and you appreciate yourself so much more. I can’t
explain the feeling of helping someone who really cares and appreciates it. I
definitely walked away from the experience as a much better person and feeling
wonderful. I put the faith in myself to reach out and extend just a little bit
of kindness, but ultimately that little bit of kindness goes a long way. By
showing people that we are here for them can make people have a little bit more
faith in themselves. People who do have a harder time in life sometimes start
to feel alone and like nobody cares.
Doing something so small for someone who really
deserves it, instantly changes things for everyone. Throughout this entire
experience I really think that I saw something amazing in myself. I am honestly
really proud and happy with myself for giving a little more back to the
community that I live in. I have realized how many people truly need a little
more support and help and if that means giving up a little bit of my time and
money than I am more than happy too. I saw more in myself than ever before in
how big of a heart I really want to put out in the world and can. I also did
the extra credit service project. I am only doing this one essay, but figured I
would discuss that. I bought the Veterans a bunch of stuff for Christmas. I was
doing it for extra credit, but just decided that I didn’t want to do it just
for some points. I genuinely cared about giving back so I just want to give
those items to them to just extend the giving around Christmas time. I hope
that these services I have done really show how I am as a person and I wanted
to better myself as a person and make an impact on others lives. I believed
that I truly accomplished those goals and hope that they have a wonderful
Christmas and enjoy more of their life and the things they have. I also hope
more people can do these things too to make a difference in our community and
overall make someone’s life better.
