Learning To Give Back

The first things I think of are that I am a white, female with European ancestry, I have a house, I have no life threatening conditions and I have safe food and water. But, after reading the article by Peggy McIntosh there were a lot of things that are unearned in my life that I didn’t think about being thankful for. There are vast privileges other than the basics that I need to appreciate more. First I came from a wealthy city of Boulder Colorado, which presented me with top tier education in the country and a healthy lifestyle. I also am privileged to have a sister, whom is my best friend and we are free to do any activities together without judgment of society because we are both white females and we don’t have fear about people isolating

As the son of impoverished Mexican immigrants, I never experienced the luxuries and everyday joys of other children my age. For instance, while other children worried about missing their favorite television shows, I spent a majority of my time concerned about whether my parents would be home in time to say goodnight, or if we would have enough money to buy groceries. With that being said, although my childhood was not ideal, I am contempt because those experiences are responsible for molding me into the person I am today. Somewhere along the road, witnessing my parents make endless sacrifices and watching those around me suffer through hard times, I was instilled with an undying urge to help others.

I complained less, for my worst conditions here at home would be lavish living to those in Nicaragua. It’s unfortunate that to simply become grateful I had to travel to a third world country and live with the poorest of the poor. This dilemma of unnatural thankfulness is a problem I find only in those who have everything they could ever want or need. I became angry at school when kids complained about seemingly insignificant things. I would think to myself, that chicken you refuse to eat because it is too cold is a sandwich a child in Nicaragua would beg on their knees to eat. This complete awareness of the world around me and my petty culture only came to me because of a mission trip I took to a poor country named Nicaragua for one week of my summer. It took only one week of my summer in a country solely built on love, compassion and content to transform my critical attitude to that of thankfulness. It took only one week of my summer to begin appreciating things of little relevance in our fast pace and chaotic culture. It took only one week of my summer to force me to be aware of others and express love and kindness to even those who don’t deserve it. It took only one week of my summer to fix me,

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”

Now that I’m home here in The United States, I’ve become more grateful that I live here. After being in Vietnam and experiencing the way of life there I have far more appreciation for everything, for example, we have a lot of different kinds of food here in the U.S., but in Vietnam food is harder to come by and is limited due to how less fortunate people are. In The United States, we have heaters and cooling systems, while in my ancestral country they don't have these simple things unless you have money. In the U.S., even our housing and clothing are better. It's easily accessible here at home, but in Vietnam, people often steal to have clothes for their family against their will. My culture and tradition affected my point of view of my lifestyle

My family never had the opportunity to have luxurious goods; we started out at the bottom of the food chain. They never even had the opportunity to take their education higher than middle school. From the beginning, as soon as we they were old enough, they would head out to a small ranch in the valley and work. Mexico is a cruel place, especially when your family is barely making enough money to survive the week. All of my family originated from Mexico, and all of us know what it’s like to be living in the shadows of society. Back in Mexico, my future was engraved in stone, that is until my family ditched their way of living so I wouldn't go through the same struggle. Little did they know that I would still face many struggles. The journey

This empathy and my awareness of injustice continued to grow over time. I fell in love with service work and continued to go on mission trips each year until I graduated High School. To me, it was what gave my life meaning. While I concede my input for a few weeks every summer would only temporarily treat the symptoms of the population rather than solve the problem, the experience would drive me to pursue a career where I could truly make a difference. I had come to realize that had I been born a different race, ethnicity, or in a different location, my experience would be vastly different. Because of this, I was interested in the people; I wanted to learn who they were, what had made them that way, and what they aspired to be. I enjoyed working with children the most. They are the ones who still have hope,

One experience that built up my character and helped me in the long run was cross country. Specifically, training to join cross country. Growing up, I was seriously unathletic. My score on the PACER test was usually around a 20, when my peers broke 50, 60, even 100, with what seemed like minimal effort. I had tried so many sports through

In my everyday life, I have a full-time job, go to school, have a social life and go to the gym daily so sometimes I don’t really take the time to sit back, relax and enjoy all that I have in my life. I will admit I have taken it for granted over the years, I have also been focusing on what I don’t have like a nice sports car or that new vintage purse and haven’t fully taken the time to appreciate what I do have like food on the table, a roof over my head and a family that loves me. A lot of people around the globe are not as privileged as am, some people don’t have home or food which is truly unfortunate. Morrie really opened my eyes to how lucky I am in my life.

I am the person I am today for many reasons . my community has contributed a lot for making me the person I am today. Being from waimea I learned a lot from the land. The land is something that I’ve grew up on. It’s the place I love and I feel like myself. I love to return to the land when I’m feeling down or stressed. It’s my get away, and it also provides food for your table . The land provides you with all that you need pigs,sheeps,goats,cows,birds and even your vegetables you can make a whole meal with what you hunted on your own that’s pretty cool . If we don’t help to preserve the land, then we will lose it and we will loes are food source and everything . we need to help the forest grow and let it continue to provide. Because if we don’t, the mountains and the

I’m thankful for all the stuff I have. I have a bed, a home, food, water, entertainment, and friends. What I’m most thankful for though is FAMILY! I wouldn’t have any of that previous stuff without my family. I wouldn’t have video games without my mom. I wouldn’t have food and water without my dad. I wouldn’t have home if it wasn’t for both of my parents. I wouldn’t have friends if my mom never took me places. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m thankful for school and education. Not only that but, like I said, I wouldn’t have it if it wasn’t for my family. If you haven’t thought about it, when your parents ask you to do something, you should do it. They work so hard for the things we have and because they

While growing up my priorities have changed, over the years I have gained maturity and a new way of thinking. Obviously, when you’re young you don’t really have that mentality of being grateful for the clothing on your back, and the roof over your head. Now that I am older I have realized the importance of staying humble, and being thankful for things I have. My family, my girlfriend, and the life that I have are some of the things I will forever be thankful for. I may not have much, but like the platinum hip-hop artist J.Cole said “compared to some of the people down the block we were blessed.”

See I come from a big family my father came to this country from Honduras, alone with no money crossing all Central America, Mexico and parts of this country. He faced all kinds of struggles. Life for him hasn’t been easy at all. Since he was a child he has worked so hard. In his homeland he never had much food and sometimes he never ate because he had six younger siblings to take care of and they always came first.

“Surely there comes a time when counting the cost and paying the price aren't things to think about any more. All that matters is value - the ultimate value of what one does.” – James Hilton

You know I have had a pretty darn good life my friend. I have met some great people, I married the love of my life, had two wonderful children with her, traveled the world and accomplished most of my goals. I wasn’t born poor but I wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in my life either. There was always food in the table thanks to my hard working father. I had everything I needed when I was a kid and my parents made sure of it. See I was born in the United States but my parents and I lived in Mexico but my mom knew that an American education would be better for my siblings and I. She knew that we would have better opportunities if we knew English and studied in America. My mother was a smart women and even though we were still at such a small