Everyone in high school has their “thing”- something they do not mind spending all of their free time on, something that sparks an unexpected curiosity, something they can look forward to after a stressful week of exams. Some students choose video games or sports or boyfriends as their “thing”. I chose missions. Halfway through my junior year, I received the opportunity to join a missions team for the following summer. Though I had never participated in missions nor been out of the United States before, I knew I had to snatch the opportunity. Leading up to the trip, there was a lot of preparation to be done. There were meetings every week, fundraising, ministry preparation, and Bible studies. The tasks that needed to be done began taking up more time in my schedule than anything else, but I was completely thrilled with it. I told everyone about the trip I was going on to Costa Rica and Panama- my teachers, random students in the hallway, all of my relatives. …show more content…
During this trip, my team and I were doing ministry from morning to night.
We did so much while we were there; food distribution, community cleanup, Sunday school lessons, orphanage visits. I spent eight days simply just pouring into other people and listening to their needs. I felt as if I was in a different world- instead of worrying about the mundane, unimportant problems of my life, I was able to help people who have truly experienced suffering. After returning to the States, I felt different. Not in the “my entire life is now changed” type of way, but in a way where I wanted to change my entire life. I told myself from the minute I left the airport, I will not worry about the small things, I will help others before helping myself, and I will put God first and center in my life. Many of my friends today question why I constantly am allowing others to “use me”, however I do not see it that way. I believe that if I am kind to everyone and help when I know I might not be rewarded, then it is worth
it. Many people see missions as a vacation of some sort. However, they do not see the work that is put in before, during, and after a missions trip. One must be physically, mentally, and emotionally prepared. Eight days in the missions field greatly affected the other 1,452 days I will have spent in high school. Eight days in the missions field gave me a new outlook that will follow me for the remainder of my life. Eight days in the missions field sparked my interests of travel and international relations. Eight days in the missions field will always be my most beloved memory.
Last semester, I planned my first outreach event at the church. We had bounce houses, face painting, food, games, and candy. I worked so hard to get this put together and even members of the church used their own money to purchase things to make this event happened. There was door to door evangelizing going on in the surrounding neighborhoods to get the word out, and there were only two people in the community that showed up. Two people.
Where is A Mission? The thought had always lingered inside of my head, aimlessly suspended like a climber stuck in an awkward position. Debating whether to reach for the next gap or to give out and abandon the idea. I had always dreamed of going on a mission trip, unfortunately my actions didn’t concede to the idea as easily as I imagined. Each time I was given the opportunity to go, I would push it back further and further by using a different excuse to cover my hesitation.
Mother Teresa said “let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” Many times in life the only way we can extend love to others is through a smile and an embrace. A great example of those times is on a mission trip to a place that speaks a different language. I have experienced just how true this is firsthand. This trip truly changed my life, completely affecting my outlook on my daily life as well as the “big picture” plan for my life. I now appreciate things I once took for granted, luxuries that we have come to expect in our sheltered lives that we live here in America. In my life, I have never experienced extreme poverty for myself, but this trip gave me just a glimpse into what life is like for those who are not so pampered as our country.
Throughout my four years in high school I have been fortunate enough to fulfill many of my aspirations and my thirst for knowledge. One goal that I would like to achieve is to become an international attorney. I have aligned my involvement in specific academic and extra-curricular activities to aid me preparing for the long road between my present situation and the day I pass the bar exam. Through my high school activities I have learned three virtues that I have deemed necessary to achieve my goal, passion, self-discipline, and perseverance.
...illadoras, and I now do most of my shopping in thrift stores. I appreciate what I have more and I don’t mind not having a new outfit every day. The people I met while on the trip have given me a better understanding of what life is really like on the border. I try to make other people aware of what life is like in Mexico, because sometimes the best form of help is education. Because of my work at the daycare I now enjoy the simpler things in life, and I appreciate more the little everyday things that I used to take for granted, like running water. The children at the daycare center taught me a very important lesson; simplicity is the key to happiness. There is one thing that has stuck out in my mind ever since the trip, Rueban, a man who ran a refugee center in El Paso, told us, "The poor don’t need us, we need the poor." I will never forget that as long as I live.
Everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives, the feeling of being free from high school finally sinking into their minds. Forgetting about all of their problems for the night, and letting loose. My mom always says that I’ll regret this when I grow up; not living the full high school experience. But what is really considered the “high school experience”? It is just going to parties, homecoming dances, prom, and being in relationships? How cliché.
Throughout my high school experience, I've been able to obtain knowledge that I can use to better my life. Some of the classes I've taken have been a blessing in disguise. For example, I never expected to learn as much as I did about writing and literature by just simply reading. Many of my teachers have pushed me to my limits and inspired me to think differently from my peers. In general my best English experience was reading "MacBeth" by William Shakespeare in Mr. Elwell's class, where I also realized I had many English skills to improve on.
It happened around the time families are home sitting around the table together, laughing together, making memories together in the warmth and comfort of their own home. This is something my family would be doing at home too, but on this evening we decided to go out to eat, so Sizzlers it was! As we sat there stuffing our faces I was thinking about how much food we consume, how much food we waste, just how much of everything we had. It was in that moment when I got the memory of a mission trip I went on a couple years ago...
I just recently returned to Geneseo after studying abroad in London this past fall. Studying abroad allowed me the opportunity to travel to many different countries and become immersed in a variety of cultures. I am grateful and excited to apply this knowledge to my life and implement it in my future career. In May 2014, I went with Livingston Cares to Biloxi, Mississippi on a volunteer service trip to help rebuild homes and work in homeless shelters and soup kitchens for Hurricane Katrina victims. I had the opportunity to serve as a group leader for the duration of the trip, which allowed me to organize daily activities, tasks, and assist our supervisor. This trip was extremely humbling and continues to influence me
Each of us had learned something from that trip. For me, this experience has taught me what gratitude is, the impact a good attitude has, what a servant looks like, and really how the relationships we make with our life are the most important aspect of life. It was the summer after my freshman year of high school. Earlier in the year, my parents had decided that they wanted to go on a mission trip as a family and serve somewhere.
This was going to be my first missions trip and the first time that I was going to be flying without my parents. I knew going into the trip that we were going to be doing hard work and that it wasn't going to be anything glamorous. I expected to see and be exposed to conditions and situations that I would never see here in Canada. I also expected to be put in situations that were out of my comfort zone. But in spite of all that I was excited to go. I couldn't wait to get on the plane and start the trip.
At the start of the new year at Options I just couldn't get it right. I was off task because I was using a computer;therefore I had a somewhat slow start.
During this time, I played soccer with kids my age and taught many of them the American version of football. I observed many of the kids running barefoot on bare ground, full of rocks and jagged objects, which I knew could easily cause infection. They did not own a pair of shoes and could do nothing about their situation since they lacked means to do so. Experiences from this trip were eye openers and I had to ask myself; what was I doing to help change situations like these? Although I was not suffering where I lived, I was no longer ignorant to the difficulties faced by many around me. It was then I realized a purpose in my life would be to make an effort to help those in
... way that I would ever enlist into the military. After that trip I am seriously considering enlisting into the Coast Guard, because I like what they do and it is a great opportunity. Another thing that I enjoyed this year was the Winners Circle project which was to talk to the lower class students and inspire them to do their very best on the CSTs. I enjoyed going into classrooms and sharing some experiences and answering their questions. But the fun part was to go and deliver the water bottles for the students that were going to be testing and it all paid out when I heard that we had actually made a difference.
I also had the privilege of helping with the Meals on Wheels non profit organization. My grandfather used to be a Meals on Wheels recipient and he would share with me how he enjoyed looking forward to their company and a hot meal daily. I volunteered because I wanted to give back and help someone else’s loved one in the same way. It was very rewarding delivering hot meals to people who didn’t have the means of getting one as well as being there for them to talk to. Overall, it was a very humbling experience, it made me realize just how blessed I am and how much I take for granted daily.