Personal Narrative: My Time At The Red Cross

May 30, 2015 it was a stormy night with thunder and lightning flashing all over my town. I had been a volunteer firefighter for the the past 4 year and had just completed my firefighter one course and I had a strange feeling that my fire department was going to get a call soon. At around 10:00 P.M. the call went out for Pawlet, West Pawlet, Rupert, Grandville and Dorset, (which was my department) for a working structure fire at Mach’s General Store caused by a lightning strike. My father was also on the departemt however he was captain and I was just a firefighter. I would always ride down to the station with him becuase it was easier for me. This was my first fire with my Firefighter one so I was pretty excited to go and I

By the way of introduction, I am Aleem Punja's cousin and he suggested I reach out to you to explore possible opportunities at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto.

I was born into a First Responder family, both my parents were certified in different aspects of the job. My father was and still is an EMT, Paramedic, and the Fire Chief of our local fire department, and my mother was an EMT for ten years. Being born into this lifestyle I didn’t really view it any differently than other families. Around the age of 5, when 9/11 occurred, this changed. My father at the time worked for a company that contracted fire apparatus to the NYPD for 9/11 relief. Due to this he was called out to New York during 9/11 and our whole family relocated there for a few months. This was the first time in which I realized that my parents job is quite different from many others. Instead of running away from New York like many families

While volunteering at Discovery Challenger I have exclusively worked with a blind man named Geno. My service to the Discovery Challenger Program has positively affected the community in that the athletes that required a helper were able to have me as one despite the limited number of volunteers who helped the athletes. Another community service I committed myself to while in high school was the club Life is Delicious. Life is Delicious is a club that between two and three times Year members of the club cook a warm meal at the high school, and then some go to the St. Vincent DePaul Homeless Shelter in Waterbury. At the end of my sophomore year I was named Co-President of the club. As a member of the club I went to all of the cooking and serving activities and was able to help the homeless of Waterbury by giving them a warm meal. The most impactful service I performed in my opinion was during my junior year when I was the organizer for the Penguin Plunge. During my junior year I thought that it would be a good idea for the basketball team to do the Penguin Plunge in order to raise money for Special Olympics Connecticut as I had done so in the previous two years. So, I approached the athletic director

From meeting the nurses and other volunteers at the blood drive, to all the students we talked with regarding the need for blood. I know we had an impact on many. I am so happy that we chose the American Red Cross for our service learning because we learned so much valuable information and were able to pass that information on to other students. Hopefully, the work that we did by donating blood and also spread the word about the many benefits of Power Red that we were able to bring more students around campus into the American Red Cross to give blood and have a huge impact on the people in the surrounding

The service I provided was volunteering at the boo bash. When I heard about the project in class, I knew I wanted to volunteer at the boo bash. I wanted to volunteer at the boo bash because it is at Lannoye and I went to Lannoye when I was younger. I thought it would be fun to see the school again and see how things have changed there. Also, I knew there were numerous games and activities at the boo bash, so a lot of volunteers would be needed. I enjoyed volunteering at the boo bash.

Being a volunteer firefighter was something I was born into, it is present through generations of my family. I started helping at our volunteer company, Lake Meade Fire and Rescue, when I was five years old. Of course I was not fighting any fires at that age, but I did help around the station with stocking the soda fridge, sorting the laundry, and other simple tasks. As I grew older, I began to do more around the station, helping with fundraisers, washing the trucks, and starting to learn a little more about the actual firefighting that takes place. Eventually after some training, I was able to run calls. I have responded on calls including rolled vehicle accidents, snow collapsed roofs, hemorrhaging patients, house fires, hay fires, and

During the summer I volunteered at camp rainbow in pontiff from 9am to 3:30pm. I worked with kids ages 6-11 with mental disabilities. In the morning the kids and I would play with Legos Try to build something cool like spaceships or skyscrapers. After playing with the Legos, we would pick up and go outside to play with the kids on the playground equipment. There I would push the kids on the swing really high and watch their face light up with excitement the higher they swung. After playing outside the kids and volunteers went inside into the gym and ate popsicles while the kids worked on arts and crafts. When the kids got bored of arts and crafts they ate lunch then we took them to the gym where we played a soccer game until they got tired.

To be an excellent leader and citizen, in my opinion, you need to display passion, drive and encouragement. That is exactly what I tried to achieve while I was a trainer at Culver’s, volunteering at Red Cross Blood Drives and with the Clover Kids. I also tried to display my passion to be a leader and a good citizen when I would bring my race car to Sunshine Learning Center Daycare in Menomonie, WI for race car day.

I found my interest when I volunteered at my local Hospital. I decided to volunteer there because I found it to be a great way to not only volunteer, but to have a bit of insight as to how a career in the medical field works. In the summer of 2016, I volunteered every weekday except Friday at Kingwood Medical Center. I was placed in Pediatrics, ICU. Every shift was four hours. On Thursday and any other day I could, I volunteered for eight hours. On a Thursday I got ready to head out to my shift. I entered through the south tower, and clocked in. Every thursday I was set to go to pediatrics center. Sadly, the pediatrics center never really had much patients, so there wasn’t much to do. Mrs. Aaron, who was in charge of the volunteer department,

The agency I volunteered to work at was the Graffiti Church Ministries After-School Program on 205 E 7th St. During the school week, usually Mondays, I would take the train to this program and strive to make the kids’ days at least a little bit better. I would almost always arrive at 3:15 PM exactly and would first help the children with their homework. Helping the children was shockingly much more troublesome than anticipated. I would have to explain exceptionally basic concepts to someone who knew next to nothing about it. I remember distinctively helping a kid, Jamel, with his homework and it proved extremely difficult for me to explain the concept of time to a first grader. I attempted to clarify that a quarter, as far as time, is commensurate

I felt I needed to help with World War 1. I got the flu and was not able to leave for Europe. The war ended before I recovered. They did call me though, and offered me a job as an ambulance driver. My mom signed my passport for my dad and herself. She told me she thought that if she didn’t sign, I’d run off anyway. Bless my mom. Once I got to England, they started driver’s training with me, although I’m sixteen. I didn’t think that driving would actually be doing so much. My crew says I have the best looking ambulance because I have sketched all my cartoons on the sides of it. I just couldn’t stop drawing! They say I’m also the best tour guide. I’ve sent a few drawings home of Parisian street scenes and political cartoons home for the high

Overall, my extracurricular the most important thing I did while I was in high school, I joined this nation's Military when I was 17 years old. My experience in the Military has changed my life for the better, not for the benefits, but in the pride I feel to be able to be apart of something bigger than myself. Not only do I feel pride when I wear the uniform, but when my 8 year old brother tells me that he wants to be in the Army to make me proud. In a sense the Military made me put my head on straight and start to care about the important things. As I became more responsible and realized what the Military was trying to teach me and enrolled myself in an EMT Certification Course so that I have a chance to improve myself and others by serving

I arrived in Korea from Ft. Bragg, NC in December 20, 2001; upon the arrival, I learned that I would be assigned to Charlie Company 1/506th; I was hoping to assign to an anti-tank platoon. This would be the first time since basis training that I would have to use my 11B skills, other than the regular foot marches. My MOS when I joined the army was 11H until the Army grouped the 11 series together into in to 11B and 11C. I was a young SPC; weighing 145 pounds, well physically fit, and had a gun ho mentality. It was a lot to master, but I was determined to show my new chain of command that I can be one of the best in the company. Eight months later I was sent to Air Assault School; after returning from Air Assault School, I immediately sent to the E-5 board, and passed with flying colors. In Charlie Co. if you was going to be a new team leader you first had to be the Platoon RTO. I have been in Korea for 11 months, and I had been an RTO for the last two months.

Any previous experiences that I had working with children came from volunteering through Key Club in high school, the Extended Day Enrichment Program at J. J. Finley, and ReadingPals at United Way of North Central Florida. Some activities that I engaged in while volunteering includes designing and monitoring student activities; helping students with their homework or crafts; reading, re-reading, and discussing familiar books; and writing activities. Other experiences that I had came from babysitting for families and friends and interacting with the children in the Hmong community. These experiences consisted more of conversations and modeling social norms at events within the Hmong community.