Valley High School
Senior? Yes
Elite top 100? Yes
Letters of recommendation: Letter of Recommendation 1, Letter of Recommendation 2
After walking around for several hours in the dark as a 12-year-old knocking on doors, I realized how hard it is for nonprofit organizations to raise money. I was canvassing the neighborhood back then, soliciting donations for Habitat for Humanity so I could play with copious amounts of Legos. I didn’t immediately realize what it could mean to a family in need.
I first came into contact with Habitat for Humanity after my next-door neighbor mentioned a Lego-building competition being held at my local mall. Teams had to raise $200 to enter. The first year I participated, I teamed up with a friend. Together we raised nearly $1,000 just by walking around our neighborhood, asking for donations. The second year we added a third member to the team, who lived in a different neighborhood, and we raised more than $1,000.
I have been involved with helping others for most of my life, as my mother is quite active doing volunteer work in our church. While at first I was too young to comprehend the significance of what she was doing and saw it as detracting from playtime, as I’ve matured I’ve realized how important and fulfilling such work can be.
Over the years, I’ve been able to see the outcome of my actions. One such incident that left an indelible mark involved the Lego-building competition. Our team ended up winning most donations collected, and the prize was a flat-screen TV. Since we couldn’t split the TV between us, we decided to donate it back to Habitat. A few months later, we attended the open-house party at the house the TV was donated to and got to meet the owners. They were touched by our act of generosity, and their smiles made me realize how important it is to be a force of good.
In addition, I have received thank-you notes for my work at church. A simple thank-you from a person I have helped allows me to see the effect that I have had on them, and that what I am doing is important. And being a member of a demographic whose entire life has been saturated with social media, I’ve also realized that a handwritten note carries substantially more emotional weight than an emoji-filled text ever could.
Volunteering is something everyone should take part in at any stage in their lives, and most people do not realize the influence their helping hands have on others. Helping people who are in need has humbled me, as I have seen that the situation can always be worse, and that I should be thankful for what I have.
As I embark on my college career, studying computer engineering, I see no reason why I cannot continue helping others. Two of the colleges where I’ve been accepted, Ohio Northern University and the University of Dayton, have a strong volunteer presence, and I look forward to continuing on the path set for me when I was too young to grasp its significance.