A long time ago, a person looked up
unintentionally at the stars in the sky. He was gazing at the stars, and then
he began connecting the stars. This is a story from which the constellations
such as Orion and The Big Dipper were born. When I heard this story, I thought
that people have always been desiring to connect things and to create something
from nothing. Now I’m looking back at the past and doing the same thing with my
life.
Actually I had no idea about volunteering
before I really did it. I just wanted a new experience and to meet people, so
AESL seemed like a good choice for me. I thought that the advantage of AESL
would be doing activities outside class and helping other people. At the same
time, I needed a new way to learn English. However, I was wrong. What I got
from the program was much more than that.
First, I had a chance to meet a lot of good people.
For example, when I went to Kitchens For Good, which distributes meals to feed
at-risk youth and the elderly, I got to meet the staff and other volunteers.
All the people at KFG were so nice and kind. Even though they have to prepare
meals for hundreds of people every day, they never looked tired. When I went
there we did things like cutting carrots, peeling potatoes and washing grapes.
While we were working together, I could feel fellowship with the other
volunteers. I remember an American lady I met. She told me things about Korean
culture that I didn’t know, so I was surprised because she made me discover my
own country.
Second, it reminded me about the importance of
time and memories in life. My other community partner is Activcare, which is an
organization that cares for elderly people with memory loss. I met with seniors
once a week. Whenever I went there, I couldn’t help thinking about the course
of their whole life and their pursuit of truth and meaning. The seniors and I
played games and talked about things. I can’t speak English very well, but I was
continuously reminded that they need to be stimulated by someone. Everybody is
growing old in this moment. To get older is to need help. We often forget that
fact. We don’t know who will lose their memory, but everyone knows that we will
get old. I was reminded again that we should always do our best to live in the moment.
Lastly, I changed my impression of
volunteering. I thought that volunteering could only be done by special people
who have a lot of time, talents and money. Now I realize that anyone can do
volunteering if you want to. Also, in addition to giving something to others, volunteers
can take something from the experience as well. Through volunteering I could
feel welcome and useful in the community.
I know now that people can’t live alone. Even
though I don’t need help from anyone at the moment, that situation could change.
Now I know that life is better with other people.
This will not be the end for me. I hope it will
just be the beginning.
It is
like stars being given another name from the millions of stars in the sky, by
connecting them to each other with a line.
