Personal Narrative: My Personal Experience With Social Anxiety

Throughout my life I have always struggled with being a shy person and due to this I was diagnosed with social anxiety at a young age. I isolated myself from doing anything that required me to branch out including making new friends. When I got into high school I was faced with realization that if I wanted to do the things I loved I would need to branch out from the same two friends I have had for years. I decided to join volleyball, basketball, golf, choir, and band and through this I made new friends and became a little more independent on myself and less on my family and friends.
After my freshman year of high school I was given the opportunity to go to Detroit, Michigan with my church and help the people of the city grow and find the love of Jesus Christ. I was hesitant at first knowing how scary the city was, but my parents told me it would be a good idea and that it would be an opportunity to help out people in need. A few weeks of thinking and praying led me to saying yes to my pastor and signing

There, my group was assigned to cleaning up a neighborhood that was almost completely abandoned besides a few families. While volunteering, we cleaned up the trash, brush, and boarded up abandoned houses. In only a few hours we had the entire street cleaned up. It was amazing to see the transformation and see how much a group of people can get so much work done.
When we were just about done, some of the local people came out and told us their story. They told us without our help they would have been stuck cleaning up the neighborhood to close to ten years. Another man, with tears in his eyes, told us how amazing God is and how grateful for the work we had done. This man showed me how much of an impact people that barely know each other can make by coming together through God and do amazing work for others. Through this trip, it opened my eyes to more volunteer opportunities and a relationship with