Becoming a man for others by Patrick

Becoming a man for others by Patrick - May 2018 Scholarship Essay

My high school education has provided me with a very unique interpretation of what it means to volunteer. I attended Saint Peter's Prep, a Jesuit school in Jersey City, New Jersey. The Jesuits are an order of priests in the Roman Catholic Church who have been on a mission to service and educate the world's poor population since their founding in 1534. Over time a phrase has been developed that has become synonymous with Jesuit service: We are called to become men and women for others. This was the mindset I took with me before leaving on an immersion trip to West Virginia.
I went to West Virginia with 50 of my classmates to renovate houses with a nonprofit organization named Bethlehem farms. We pulled up the driveway of a tiny, run down farm house, and after hearing the bus, a family of 4 children with a single father walked onto the porch to great us. When we got off the bus, we started working immediately. I thought the manure smelt bad, until I stepped inside of the house. The odor of mildew was so intense that many kids began to tear up if they were inside for extended periods of time. Our task was to first move all of the furniture upstairs in order to replace the hard wood flooring that was ruined by a flood. Then we had to paint and plaster the walls, and finally restore the first floor's furniture to their positions before our arrival. This was a lot of tough, dirty work to get done in a week, but after successful completion, my mind was on a spiritual high like no other.
The part of the trip that transformed me was definitely not the work. I complained from time to time and took more breaks than the average volunteer. What transformed me was the conversation, and connections I made with the family living in the house. We all slept together like a large campground underneath the stars. The food we had was shared between the family and students alike. We had group prayers and reflections that were so deep and moving, I was brought to tears twice. We took the notion of "Men and Women for Others" and completely skipped over it. We were not there for this family, we were there with them. We had become men and women with others. This is what I loved about the trip, and what transformed my perception of what volunteer work can accomplish. My trip to West Virginia did way more for my personal spirituality and willingness to serve than I ever could have done for that family.