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Taking It In
I leaned back against the cool seat and gazed sleepily out the window as the bus
wove its way southward. Pondering about how this day was going to unfold, I
was beginning to feel more energized than I had felt about an hour ago when I
had just woken up. Today was the Paint-a-thon activity for the club Interact, and
I had volunteered to participate.
This experience was one I would not trade for all the money in the world. It
made me feel like I was making a difference. It feels amazing to make
someone’s day. The woman we were helping had a magnificent expression of
gratefulness on her countenance, and it seeped joy into my heart. Giving and
receiving satisfaction does not compare to giving and receiving something
materialistic. I am glad I spent my time wisely that day. I definitely wish to
continue having experiences like this one.
I was becoming highly sentient of other people on the street as I continued
peering out the window, and I suddenly spotted a group of high school students
picking up the trash in the community near their school. I wondered if other
people were going to notice what we were doing today too. As the other
volunteers and I stumbled out of the bus and walked towards the house we were
going to paint, we began to examine our surroundings. Most of the houses on
the narrow street were extremely small and tightly packed together; moreover,
the front yards were the size of a small classroom. There were no children
playing in the street.
As we were shoveling out the gravel amongst the wild entwined bushes and
vines, dust and dirt rose up into our squinting eyes. About seven people,
including me, were assigned the gardening task. We worked vigorously to make
this garden beautiful as the look of “We are doing something nice for another
person” was lingering on everyone’s faces. Next, we took a brief detour to Home
Depot to select flowers to plant in the tiny garden. After spreading the mulch
evenly, we began to plant the flowers. We all stepped back together and
observed the work we had done, and I was more than satisfied as I saw the
same look of content appear on my new friends’ faces. We joined the other
painters to finish the job with a new surge of zest, as our caring English teacher
Mrs. Green continued to encourage us.
My first lesson as a volunteer participating in a city-wide event was that hard
work really does pay off. The more sweat, time and enthusiastic dedication you
put into a project, the more its worth. The second lesson was that I suddenly
realized that helping others is something I wanted to do the rest of my life. The
brilliant glow of happiness that radiates from another person’s face gives me
goosebumps and feels absolutely right in the world to me, so I stood there, taking it in.
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