The Beauty of Community Service
Good day to
all readers,
Well, I tried to think of a poetic introduction to
grab your attention and simultaneously express the nub of the post, but it took
me a little longer than I thought it would.
I will just start off by telling you a little bit about the community
service that I've been fortunate enough to participate in this
year. Community service doesn't really need
an introduction. Maybe that’s one of the
reasons why it’s so enjoyable. There’s
no time to worry about saying the wrong thing, or the anxiety associated with introducing
yourself to new people. While you will
often have to become familiar with people whom you've never before met, it only
takes a few minutes or so, then you’re on to the task at hand. It shows that life is so much better when the
primary focus is not ourselves, but that will be discussed later on.
For now I want to take you back to one of my
favorite instances of community service this year. I want to rewind to last Saturday, exactly
one week ago. I don’t know how the
weather was where you were, but here it was very warm and summery. It was the type of day, you knew would have
great weather because of the way the sun shone early in the morning. When I slightly pulled back the thick beige
curtain from the wide glass window of my residence tower the day seemed unusually
shady. Perhaps it was because we had
endured such a long winter in my region that I had forgotten what a summer
morning looked like. It was spring, but
you get the idea. The sun seemed to
shine in one spot and all of the surrounding area was full of shade. After getting ready and putting on an outfit
that I thought was suitable enough for four and a half hours of community
service, I was off. The day was actually
a huge community service event for the entire university where pretty much
every student group, organization, sorority and fraternity participated. I was told where on campus we were to meet up
in a text I received about two days earlier, and had a general idea where the
field was on campus, but wasn't exactly sure. I ended up following a jagged,
folksy line of students who looked like they were going to the event. I was right.
Over 1,000 students were signed up and split into
different sections according to the student group that they signed up with. Most groups were combined with other groups,
and were put into categories together.
There were medium sized white picnic tents set up with light breakfast
food which several students took advantage of.
I was a little anxious about the day ahead, and decided not to get
anything. Besides, I had eaten a little
before I left. After a few minutes of
standing around, I changed my mind and decided to go get something. When I got into the fast moving line of
college students, I spotted what looked like a Danish and put it on my
plate. I thought I had picked up one of
the circular sweet treats, but it was actually some type of Danish-looking
refreshment with spinach and cheese. I’m
still not quite sure what it was that I ate that morning, but it did provide
the opportunity for a sufficient amount of small talk.
When every student was situated and handed a cotton
t-shirt that read “The Big Event 2014” on it, the day had commenced. Some groups took buses to their community service
locations, while others took vans.
Others walked. I was able to
serve with my Christian campus fellowship group, so I knew pretty much everyone
involved. We were assigned to a
residential home for at-risk girls and boys.
We shared this location with one of the fraternities on campus. Upon our arrival, we were split into four
groups: clean-up, car washing, basketball and arts and crafts. Along with a few other students, I chose
clean up. We received black trash bags
and rakes and got to work. Together we
raked leaves from around a picnic area. After
a few minutes, some of the young males that lived there dutifully joined us in
the beautification process. Raking
leaves went by faster than we all thought and we all ended up at the car wash
station where we spent most of the day.
Again we teamed up with the young residents, but this time we were given
hoses, sponges, buckets and towels. I've never washed that many cars before. It
was a physical, mental and spiritual exercise.
There’s something about working together to help those working for a
better future that just makes humans feel good.
We all knew each other a little better by the end of the day and focused
less on ourselves.
No matter your personality type, community service
is an activity where you’ll definitely fit-in.
No need to worry about seeming awkward or what you will talk about,
because the task at hand will override any self-seeking thoughts. You will have no choice but to focus on
someone or several others that are not yourself. If you ever feel like you want to engage in
an enjoyable activity that won’t cause you to worry about matters that
introverts and/or reserved persons often do before participating such as what
you’ll talk about, or how you depict yourself, I encourage you to try community
service. What do you have to lose but a
little energy and time?
With New Ideas and Interest,
Unashamed Introvertish Girl
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