Personal Narrative: My Mission Trip To The Dominican Republic

It was a hot, searing day as the sun beat down on my skin. The lush green palm trees provided me shade as I sat and observed my surroundings. Children, barefoot and dirty, wearing tattered and stained clothes were running around laughing and playing. Their joyous giggles put a smile on my face and warmed my heart as I watched them.

Service is an extremely important part of my life. I believe that through service we are able to serve God. I’ve always been an active member of my parish, Our Lady of Lourdes. Lourdes serves as a family for me, and through this family, I’m blessed with opportunities that allow me to serve my Lord. In 2011, I began volunteering at Our Lady of Lourdes’ Sunday Meal for the Homeless. We provide dinner for local Homeless people in the area of Bethesda, Maryland. I started service here because, I needed service hours for my confirmation, but its become such a joy in my life to see these men and women every Sunday, and I continue to serve them even to this day. Another service opportunity Lourdes has provided me with is the ability to volunteer at

Service is simply an act of helpful activity and the transferable skills that are gained from service illustrate the importance of being involved. By volunteering in my community and taking part in organizations that are centered on service, I am able to strengthen my understanding of my surroundings, and I am taught more compassion for others. Being involved presents unlimited opportunities to give back to others, and with the skills instilled by service, I am able to make a difference in the lives around me. Experience gained with service creates characteristics in a person that can shape the direction of my life, and I will value that in the future.

People may think of service as being in a war or being part of our government. While these are very high positions of service there are also many small ways service can make an impact. Some of the service activities I have been included in are: Singing at a senior center, participating in Girl Scouts, adopting and caring for a humane society dog, donating clothes or toys to goodwill, and biking/walking places to save gas. Service is very important to me because it really helps me visualize the difference you can make by doing several small acts of kindness.

Service is something that every person does in their life. I try to do as much service as I can, which means a lot of my service is in the summer or while school in on breaks. While service can be done through organizations and for well-known causes, service is also seen in everyday life. Service can be through small acts of kindness, such as, holding open the door, helping someone who’s carrying a particularly heavy load, or simply just being there when they need a shoulder to lean on. Service is about making someone day brighten with little rays of kindness and to show that someone out there definitely cares for them.

In this regard, the most important part of service to me personally is giving back to the community. Volunteering is my way of providing service to others, it is not only effective, but it’s a good way to meet people, to learn, and to develop social skills. By helping or supporting others, I learned and used new skills in communicating with people and I have gained confidence in myself through different interactions. Providing aid to a family in need or helping out an elementary teacher is necessary, because as people it should be our natural tendencies to support one another, and bring aid when aid is due. For example, at Seven Lakes High school I created the Girls for Krause Club. It was given the name the Girls for Krause club after the Krause Center; a center in Katy that fosters girls who have been taken out of their homes due to sexual harassment, parental mistreatment or mental issues. My first visit to the Krause Center was with my youth group at church. I was so touched by all the girls at the center, and how open they were about their situation. I remember one of the girls telling me thank you, for treating her like “a regular person.” This interaction gave me the incentive to create the Krause club, because I wanted to allow other girls my age to interact with these girls and bring attention to a center that wasn’t well known in my community. Moreover, creating the Krause club has been rewarding and a way to showcase

When I was asked to speak about service, the first thing I had to ponder was what exactly is service. In the world we live in today, there is so many different ways to serve those around you. Whether it is giving back to your school, local community, or even across borders the goal is always the same. Give a little piece of yourself for a greater good while expecting nothing in return.

Serving others is a down deep way of learning more about yourself and helping others to see past themselves. Our Business and Professional Communication class participated in several service projects, which were interesting and exciting to be involved with helping others. As I am studying the major courses of Early Childhood/Special Education, our group project with the “Big Brothers Big Sister” program was very memorable to me. It was wonderful to have fun and participate in various activities with the kids. The environment was caring due to everyone helping each other accomplish different tasks. It was a great feeling to be able to share our time, talents, and hearts with the kids.

From day one my mom taught me that you will get more satisfaction giving to and helping others than you ever will by just doing things for yourself. I truly believe this. Volunteering to teach swimming lessons, organizing recycled items, and visiting the nursing home are all things I have been involved in and doing each of those I have learned more and more about how important service is. Just recently my classmates and I helped an elderly woman move all of her belongings out of her home and into the 4H building for an auction. The 4H building is on the fairgrounds where I have volunteered to clean up every spring for the last 3 years. Service is very important but also very rewarding. I look toward to doing more service projects in the

Because of this I am often given the opportunity to give back and to serve others. One of my favorite parts of serving others is spending time with people and forming unique relationships. I have served in many ways through my school such as through key club, through the softball mentoring program, through the J-Term community service, through being a writing tutor for the English department, and through helping at the middle school track meet. I am fortunate to belong to a church that emphasizes serving others. I have been involved in many service projects through our youth program.

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

Service is any contributions one makes in a community without expecting anything in return. It is where you help just to help, not to show off or anything of that sort. It giving not receiving. I provide Service in school and in my community. In school, I help kids who need help on homework, little kid who need help getting to places around the school, to tying shoes, helping teachers who need doors decorate, papers printed, etc. In my community, I contribute by participating in “Toys for Tots,” can food drive, being a speaker for different programs, helping the elder walk to helping them carry their groceries. I also provide services through church programs at my church such as reading in Mass, helping with the youth groups, and

To me “Not To be served, but to serve” means to put others needs before your own. Service seems to almost be necessary once someone appreciates all that has been done for them. In my case, I have already begun to give back to community which has already given me so much to me. Three years ago I joined a club called the Jr. Civitans. Junior Civitan is a student-led service organization for middle and high school students. The club has a special focus on helping people with developmental disabilities. Throughout the year, we do multiple fundraisers that benefit the special education students at my high school. Some of these events include a Haunted Forest, a Spaghetti Dinner, and a Prom Dress fashion show. The club really emphasizes the focus

Often, we never see the effects of our actions. Sometimes, we find ourselves comfortably distancing acts of service from why they are committed and whom they impact. I never genuinely understood what lies at the root of service until my freshman year of high school.

If I had to pick on thing that impacted me the most during my high school career, I would have to choose my Dominican Republic mission trips. I got the privilege of serving the Dominicans twice during spring break my junior and senior year. I had served on mission trips in the United States before but I had never been out of the country not even for vacation. Needless to say, the traveler in me was definitely excited about explore a different country and flying over the ocean for the first time. However, this excitement did not compare to the fullness I felt while serving in the Dominican. We had 3 main projects while in the Dominican and each one stretched my faith and my comfort zone in a different way. While we were