Missions Trip to Maine by Jayda

Missions Trip to Maine by Jayda - April 2022 Scholarship Essay

Ever since I was a child, I have always had an intense love for helping others, and since then, I knew I wanted to live a life where I could be an outlet for people. Volunteering is a means of giving back to the community. It is the act of donating one's time and abilities to assist someone who is in need. Volunteering not only benefitted the people that I was fortunate to help, but it also helped me tremendously and made me a better person. The most profound cultural experience that helped me grow the most as a person was my missions trip to Lewiston, Maine. When telling my friends from school about this opportunity, they told me it was stupid and that I sounded like a goody-two-shoes church girl. This really hurt me, since I felt like I was going to make an impact on others, and made me no longer want to pursue it. I told my mother that I did not want to go anymore and she told me to never listen to people who talk down on me and t always pursue and follow my dreams that I know will take me in the right direction in life. I listened to her advice and went through with the trip. On this trip, I was able to work one on one and interact with children ages 5-12 who were a lot less fortunate than me and came from living conditions that were not the best. I was able to take this trip with people who shared the same goals and aspirations as me and had a meaningful relationship with God, and we were all able to come together and provide these children with a life-changing experience. We taught them the word of God and how important it truly is, and taught them that having a relationship with God can help not only their situations but could be an outlet for them to know that they had such a powerful person behind them. A lot of these children ended up opening up about how they had never known anything about God before they met us and how they now wanted nothing more than to have a relationship with him. We provided bibles and sang songs with them that would help them start a relationship and taught them how to pray and the importance of prayer. This trip helped me grow as a person because this was my first real opportunity to teach a younger generation about the importance of Christ and helped me further my own personal relationship with Christ. After this trip, I dedicated myself to prayer and church and became an even more dedicated Christian. This trip impacted me greatly because it taught me to appreciate not only the things I have but also the amazing people and resources I have around me. At the end of the day, it's worth it if my volunteer work can help a person in need improve their life. I've learned to prioritize the needs of others over my own. I've been able to assist small children in obtaining school materials when their parents are unable to do so. I've been able to assist families in need who don't have the financial means to go shopping for new clothes. We take those things for granted at times. Many of us go through life merely attempting to get by, rather than genuinely living. Volunteering has taught me to be grateful for everything I have in life. While not everyone's life is ideal, it's always a good idea to take a step back and appreciate what we have here so far. Volunteering benefits both the people who require resources and the people who perform the work. Seeing a happy child, parent, or family at the end of the day is what motivates me to volunteer. Being able to volunteer has taught me tremendous leadership skills and has made me realize that the only person who has control over my ultimate destiny is me. The mission trip that I went on broadened my perspective of other people's lives and everyday realities and showed me how fortunate I truly am. It gave me better direction and taught me so many new things about myself that I did not even know. In college, I will continue to serve as a leader. You only have one chance at college, so I want to make the most of it by volunteering and helping others. In college, I'm looking forward to working with like-minded, motivated, and service-oriented people.