Taking Back Something That Has Been Stolen by Jessica

Taking Back Something That Has Been Stolen by Jessica - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Joining my school’s Make-A-Wish Club gives me the opportunity to make a profound impact on my community, more specifically on individual lives. I am passionate about this club because it motivates me to venture outside of my own world. I was officially hooked to the club when I had the chance to meet Matthew, a wish kid, where I could see the effect of my contribution on a specific individual. Matthew’s ray of happiness shined throughout the whole room; his illness didn’t hold him back from having a cheerful life. After that, I applied to become media and marketing director and get more involved than I already was as a member. Through this, I find that it is a struggle not only to fundraise around the school and community, but to spread awareness about what the club does: granting wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions in order to enrich the human spirit with hope, strength, and joy.
Going to a small school, we are left with a disadvantage to the kind of fundraising events we get to host, only to imagine what limitless opportunities bigger schools have. Yet, we create our own version of those opportunities by discovering different ways to connect with the community and fund events. I have found that engaging in the environment around me creates opportunities where the club thrives. With the struggle that comes with living in a small city, the club still prevails. It’s crazy to think that AAE’s Make-A-Wish Club is the number one club that has granted the most wishes out of all the schools in the Inland Empire and Orange County.
Throughout the two years of being in the Make-A-Wish Club, I’ve have built a firm conviction that an individual’s outlook on the world is paramount to life. My purpose of being involved in Make-A-Wish is not to revolutionize a community, but to change one child’s outlook on his or her life. When the wish is granted, there is an abundance of joy that radiates within that child and their family. Ultimately, their radiance influences one's mindset of how they value life experience, no longer becoming indifferent to it because they see the real effect of what Make-A-Wish can offer. When we changed the outlook of the community, I know that it started off with the simple gesture of bringing hope, strength, and joy in one’s life.