Bring Society Together! by Cielo

Bring Society Together! by Cielo - July 2018 Scholarship Essay

In the past four years, as a high school student, I have actually been a participant of my student body. I was voted in as student class President and took control of many of the activities in my high school. Other than all the fun activities I was in charge of, I also ran lots of community based projects. Some of these included creating food drives, organizing a food pantry, and collecting donations for charities. If I had the chance to be elected for one more year and positively impact my school even further, I would want to move these projects to a more national scale. My motivation for this action is through services I have done in the Dominican Republic.
Through a foundation known as Mano a Mano, I was able to volunteer my services two summers ago. Mano a Mano is an organization that conducts an annual fair that takes place in a small village where my grandparents live. All the funds raised are used to help raise education, lower poverty, and advance the community. Families living in this village have very little to nothing. Some lack the basic necessities: food, water, and shelter.
This library was made possible after different activities were assembled to raise funds in order to build it. I was able to be part of the community here in New York that helped raise funds to make such a project come alive. I volunteered to help here in New York but the best experience was when I was able to go to the Dominican Republic and actually help the kids in the community. I was part of a team that helped train other Young Adults on how to keep the library going. Teaching them how to categorize books, how to check out and check in books and how to keep the library clean. I was able to teach them something although I was younger than them. That is because the majority of these adults have an education that does not exceed the sixth grade.
This library was the first library ever to be built in this village and all the other villages surrounding it. Kids from the village it is located at and the surrounding villages can visit and enjoy a wide array of literature. Together with some members of the foundation, I was part of a workshop where we read to children from the community. Seeing the expressions on the kid’s faces made me feel that I was able to embrace humanity through the services I had provided in those few days. Some were smiling, and some were in awe. Doing this type of work makes me confirm that the career I want to go into must be one which will allow me to embrace humanity through my services.
With all of this said, I believe that if I created a national project with my school, every individual will be positively impacted. Not only would it provide a great experience, but it would also bring about unity, and a feeling of accomplishment and high spirits. If I were to be elected as student body president again for one more year, I would love to promote a project that would help a developing country.