Camp Swift-- Five Days of Paradise by Marni

Camp Swift-- Five Days of Paradise by Marni - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Every summer, I volunteer with an organization called the Swift Youth Foundation, which helps at-risk youth in the Phoenix area to gain opportunities that will help put them on the path to success. Swift holds an annual summer camp every year for five days in Prescott, Arizona. I have been volunteering at camp since sophomore year, and have loved it since. I have also had the opportunity to volunteer for other events throughout the year with Swift, as well as three camp sessions and a session of mini-camp. Receiving the opportunity to see the lives of children who have so much less and who are so grateful is truly life-changing. Many of the kids Swift helps have been abused, live in homeless shelters, and do not get three meals every day. In some extreme cases, the children have been raped or molested.
Swift has inspired me to be grateful for all that I have, and take every single opportunity that is presented to me. I am very fortunate to go to a good school, have two loving parents, and be able to go to college. Many people would only dream of these opportunities, and I know now that I need to be grateful and take advantage of the chances that I am given. I have also learned to be compassionate. Sometimes, things happen to people that they cannot control, and traumatic events can take a toll on people's personalities and emotions. When people are rude to me or seem upset, I try to think about how they must be feeling and how something bad must have happened to them. Without Swift, I do not think I would be half as grateful or as motivated as I am today.