Service to Others Promotes Personal Growth by Katie

Service to Others Promotes Personal Growth by Katie - March 2017 Scholarship Essay

As a child I was often afraid of people who were different from me. An example of this was people with special needs. I was terrified simply because I didn’t understand them. However, through years of serving at a camp specially designed to help families with special needs children, I was able to get over that fear. As I began playing with the children and then later working and serving them, I got to know the people, to see past our differences, and to realize that they were just human beings, like myself. As human beings they are worthy of being treated with decency and respect. It was by looking outside my own little world of me and by trying to attend to the wants and needs of others that I became aware of how important every individual person is.
If given the opportunity to speak to a school-wide audience, I would want to present on the importance of service and showing respect to others. I firmly believe that all humans have decency and should be treated with respect. Through community service I have found that when serving a person and learning to understand their needs, wants, and circumstances it is easier to show them the love and respect that I should be showing them. Another thing that I have come to find is how much of a profound effect that service can make in the lives of not only those who are being served, but also of those who are serving. I know that for me personally I have found so much more joy in helping others than I do in so many of my other activities. Through service I am not only able to improve the lives of those I serve, but also improve the general happiness of my own life. When people begin serving others and treating each other with respect, it improves the general happiness of themselves and of those around them. Serving others will promote personal growth from the inside out.