An Experience that Changed My Life by Madison

An Experience that Changed My Life by Madison - May 2018 Scholarship Essay

Delivering Christmas gifts to a home for abused women and children was an incredible volunteer experience for me. Every year our church gathers Christmas gifts and assigns families to different houses to deliver these gifts. One particular year, we delivered gifts to a shelter for abused women and children. When we arrived at the house, it seemed like a normal shelter. However, once we dropped the gifts off, the administrators allowed our family to have a tour of the facility. This is what changed me and made me realize how thankful I am for what my parents have given me.
While we were walking around, I saw these kids who were playing together and acted like they were living the best life ever. We saw where they eat, sleep, live, cook and shower. When I saw how small their living conditions were it made me stop complaining about having to share a bathroom with my brother. These women and children, probably 20 families or more, share one bathroom. There are three sinks and three showers that all these people have to share. The kitchen is the size of my family’s kitchen and their living room had two old couches. Even though these families live in conditions that I believe are incredibly small, these families are incredibly happy.
What I did not realize while we were touring the facility was that these women and children escaped living conditions that were very harmful. We met some families and hearing these stories made me feel fortunate for what me and my family do have. We might not have everything, but we do have more than these women have. After this experience, I realized how much I have and how much those families do not have, yet those families are completely content with that they do have.
After seeing what the women and children did after we dropped off the gifts was life-changing for me. Ever since that moment, I have appreciated everything that I did have so much more than I did. I would always ask my parents for things that I wanted. This was because I did not realize that there were other people in this world who lived in these conditions with only the necessities. I was incredibly grateful that I was able to deliver these Christmas gifts to these families. If I would not have gone with my family, I would never have been able to understand the conditions of what other people live in. To this day, I reflect on my experience at the shelter for women and children, especially in times when I am feeling ungrateful. Every year since my experience at the shelter for those women, I have been more involved in volunteer opportunities. I especially volunteer around the holidays because several people in the world are not as fortunate as me and my family are. Even if all I can do is donate a gift card, deliver gifts, or help in some way around the holidays I believe that I am helping someone in some way. Some years I can help more than others but even if I can only help in a small way I still remember my tour of the shelter and how those women had nothing, but they would still smile every day, even if they were fighting through the pain. There are days when I believe that I am having the worst day in my life, but all that I know is that even on my very worst days, I am still living a better life than many people in my state or even my country.