I Want To Pursue My Writing

Ever since I can remember, I have had the intense desire to help people. In high school, I joined Kiwanis Key Club and National Honors Society; both organizations allowed me to gain hours of volunteer experience helping families in need within my own community. Both organizations have annual events to benefit our community. At Christmas, Key Club adopts a few families and we buy clothing and toys for the kids. Our efforts to make the holidays a more enjoyable time for the families removed the parents’ burden of having to worry about being able to pay bills after getting presents for their children. Also, National Honors Society holds a blood drive every year in coalition with the American Red Cross. Last year our blood drive was in honor of a little girl in our community with leukemia.

During and immediately after my undergraduate course, I had the opportunity to work as a volunteer at the American Counseling Association and as a houseparent for an institution that houses mentally ill individuals. The association welcomes students and encourages them to offer voluntary services while they have an opportunity. My experience at the association, as a houseparent, and currently as a paraprofessional for mentally ill adults and children with behavioral problems provided me with a solid footing as well as the necessary resources to prepare for my career in counseling. The experiences gave me an opportunity to attend several conferences and workshops where I had the chance to meet and interact with other professional counselors. These opportunities opened me up and exposed me to numerous challenging situations that helped me to grow both personally and professionally. Interacting with more qualified and experienced people in the association, institution for the mentally ill, and agency that I currently work for has helped me to develop confidence in my work as I sought their assistance and guidance whenever I needed help. The experiences gained while working at the association was helpful to me as I could apply that knowledge and the skills learnt to help my church members. At my church, I was a youth leader and

Empathy towards people with disabilities is a quality that I consider has been deep-seated in me since an early age. For example, when I was ten years old, while watching the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) telethon, I was moved to do a fundraiser in my community. All the money raised was sent to the MDA. This made me aware that we can all contribute in some way or another to the good of others. Later on, after completing my high school, I decided to pursue a degree in Physical Education and recreation for children with disabilities. Working as an Adeptive Physical Educator gave me the opportunity to change the lives of many students. The years invested in this occupation brought me great personal and professional satisfactions that still follow me to this

The National Honor Society is for high school seniors who have “demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character”. At John Marshall we really push the “service” area. There are so many different reason I wanted to be a part of NHS; It gives me satisfaction that I was able to become a member of such an elite society, it also is very rewarding to give back to a community that has done so much for me. Each service project I have volunteered at has taught me something different. Since July, I have volunteered at eleven different projects (over 32 hours), and I have learned something new every time. When I volunteered at the Marshall County Family Resource Network’s gift packaging for teenagers at Cameron High and Middle, Moundsville Middle, Sherrard Middle and John Marshall High Schools, I didn’t realize there were so many of my peers in need of simple hygiene products. It inspired me to help and give back to them by donating to Paws for a Cause at John

I have always known that it is my passion to help people. This is why upon graduating I attended Mohawk College to pursue a career as an Educational Assistant. After receiving my diploma I began my career helping children with special needs. On a daily basis I have interactions with social workers and children who are involved with the Catholic Children’s Aid Society. I have had many eye opening experiences during my time spent with them. I have worked alongside our school’s Social Worker and have gained insight into mental health. Being an E.A. is rewarding, but I have come to the realization that I aspire to do more for children in need; I wish to become a social worker.

Family, friends, and religion fall into that category, and so does serving. Because serving is important Because I have a sister with a disability, I have had the unique opportunity to serve at a week-long camp created for kids and adults with disabilities two years in a row. Both times I worked there, I served food, cleaned bathrooms, cleaned dishes, and helped with the disabled children in any way I could. Not only do I have experience working with disabled children, but I also have spent time working with children and adults in Cactus, Texas on a Foreign Frogs mission trip last spring break, where we worked with adults who didn’t speak English and helped in ESL classes the days we were there and helped watch their children while their parents were in ESL classes. We also helped with an Easter egg hunt for the children, most of which had never been in one before, and we handed out gloves for the children because a lot of their families didn’t have enough money to buy them warm clothes. In addition to that, I have helped at Parkwood Village by serving food on Thanksgiving and have visited some of the residents and talked and made puzzles with

Last May, I traveled with Alternative Breaks to New York for community service. During this service, I worked with Meals on Wheels who dedicate their time to provide food for the elderly of Manhattan. As I delivered the food to the seniors, I got a sense of fulfillment because I made them smile by providing them with food. Thus, I chose MDC’s Single Stop because I wanted to make a difference in my home campus by providing and assuring nourishment to those that do not have it just like I did in New York. As my first two years of college comes to an end, I wanted to leave a mark of my own here at home at Miami Dade College North Campus. During the month of September, I decided to partner up with a few of my peers to serve at MDC’s Single Stop.

At a young age I discovered a passion for helping others and I have continued to be passionate about serving my community since then. At the age of eight years old I began the first year of what would soon be my ten year membership of 4-H. Through that program and my church’s youth group I truly began to understand what selfless service was all about. I first began helping others by walking dogs at the local shelter and helping my 4-H club clean the sides of the highways. I later was able to experience several mission trips that opened my eyes to the larger aspect of service. My love for helping people continued to grow as I got older and I continued to find ways to make a difference. One of my favorite experiences was getting to help cook and serve a meal at a homeless

Additionally, I volunteered with community programs focused on alleviating health care issues. For example, I worked with an organization that promotes community discourse on the unique, hidden health challenges of homeless and low-income women and girls. Not long after that, I volunteered at two events,

Another meaningful experience that sticks out to me is when I regularly volunteered at a children’s homeless shelter in Roxbury, Mass. for two years, and was reminded of the fact that the statistics we hear every day about homelessness are real people – not just numbers. Every child I played alongside,

I took a ceramics class at my high school. I felt overjoyed every time when my piece came out the kiln still in tact with the vibrant glazes adding to its beauty. My proudest work produced was my Day of the Dead inspired skull.

I have had numerous opportunities to volunteer and work with children of all abilities. Many of these children had independent or concurrent learning disabilities, emotional problems, and/or behavioural problems. I met these individuals through organizations I volunteered or worked for, programs I organized, and through summer camps where I was a counsellor that all catered children with disabilities. I also have personal relationships with children of family friends.

Through this experience, I have gained a valuable understanding of the work, which I found very intriguing through all the different tests and prisms involved, as well as the diversity of the patients’ conditions. Even though it may sound cliché I have always had this sense of altruism within me, especially towards more vulnerable groups like people with special needs and children, something that I implemented through visits to kindergartens to connect with the kids and to renovate their school yard. With the Welfare Club we also visited an institute for people with Down syndrome where we helped the students. I was a volunteer in the Special Olympics and participated in many concerts, money collections and fairs for various charities.

From sophomore to senior year, I volunteered at the Glide Memorial Church, an organization that helps to serve food to the low- income and homeless. I decided to volunteer at Glide because I want to give back to the community that I am part of by mitigating the issue of homelessness in San Francisco. On the first day of volunteering, I was sent to pass trays of food to people. I like volunteering there because I enjoy seeing the smiles on the people’s faces when I pass the trays to them. As I continue to volunteer, I was placed in many positions and challenged myself with different and new responsibilities. I did clear up, help people to clear up their mess and clear up the trash. I help fill in food in the trays and pass the other volunteers.

I have learned the importance of serving others by being a part of the youth group at my church. Every fourth Sunday of the month, my youth group takes snacks to Holston Valley Hospital. We go to most of the