The Necessity of Giving Back

Mia
Roberts

November
21, 2018

Youth
Forward Scholarship

The
Necessity of Giving Back

Many
people volunteer simply because it is required of them. On the other
hand, it is not a requirement but motivation for me because it near
and dear to my heart for many reasons. One reason for my diligent
participation throughout many community service opportunities is due
to the fact that my father is homeless in the city of Atlanta.
Although my family and I are now in a better place financially, I
have been in situations where food was scarce, which is why we find
it important to give to those who are less fortunate.

I
am twenty years old and currently pursuing my undergraduate degree in
biology so that I can get myself established and eventually be able
to take care of my father, however, until I become established in my
career I can give my time and energy to participating in events like
Hosea Feeds the Hungry. Opportunities like this really speak to my
heart.

As
a volunteer, my unofficial role is to make the people I’m serving
feel as though they are valued and loved. I make sure that I always
maintain a warm smile and good spirits throughout the duration of
events. It is a very rewarding feeling when others enjoy my company
and I witness appreciation for the hard work that is put into working
big food events, which are aimed at distributing food to large
amounts of people. Hosea Feeds the Hungry is done around the
holidays. Most of our patrons are typically single mothers, elderly,
and children. My favorite part in particular, is being able to dance
to good music with people. This is the time where we get to know each
individual and hear their story. The biggest challenge in
volunteering is the emotional connection I gain with the people that
I serve. Their stories are extremely relatable which makes it
difficult to detach my strong feelings of sadness in regard to their
living and financial circumstances. This aligns with my career goals
because I aspire to graduate from pharmacy school, in hopes that my
patients will one day come to me for various reasons other than just
dispensing their medications. Majority of them will be elderly with
irreversible conditions and will want someone to talk to. Because of
this, I am more than willing to lend supportive advice and
conversation to my future patients, just as I have done while
volunteering.

Volunteering
has taught me countless lessons. Through it all, I have learned that
no matter how successful I become, it means nothing if I can’t
utilize my strength and fortune to do something genuine for another
person. Volunteering keeps me humble and my heart sensitive to human
suffering. Most importantly it gives me the motivation to stay
focused on getting an education so that I won’t find myself or my
family without the essential things we need to sustain our
livelihood. Volunteering also keeps me in love with my dad. I admire
the fact that people always keep the homeless in their thoughts and
go out their way to do nice things for them that will make their day,
with my dad being included.