More Than a Hero by Robert
Robertof Warrenton's entry into Varsity Tutor's May 2018 scholarship contest
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More Than a Hero by Robert - May 2018 Scholarship Essay
Giving back to my community is important to me. I chose to give back by doing service through the fire department because I watched my dad serve our community as an officer. In eighth grade, he and I would take the utility truck and load up a drill with a wire brush attachment, diffuser, silicone, and graphite spray. All the equipment was provided by the department (including the yellow paint for my Eagle Scout project). I still perform this maintenance which includes flushing the hydrant, wire-brushing and lubricating the threads and sealing the gasket. This maintenance makes removing the caps a lot easier to get to water quicker which in turn saves time, lives, and property.
Additionally, for my Eagle Scout project, I repainted six of the red hydrants back to yellow, a color more visible at night and easier to distinguish from backgrounds during the day. After I'm finished with hydrant maintenance, I will repaint the rest of the red hydrants as some have loose paint.
My next phase will be updating the fire hydrant map to make planning for fire suppression easier. In my time working on this project, I found two fire hydrants that were out-of-service and unable to function. The maintenance of all the fire hydrants had been neglected for over ten years.
But doing hydrant maintenance isn't the only service I enjoy doing with the fire department. During the holidays, our department collects food and toys for local low-income families. I have helped with this project since I was a cub scout. Why do you care to help others? I shouldn’t say that I have seen people I know, but I have. I have seen people I know on fire and medical calls. It affects you more than you would realize that you aren’t helping random people from out-of-town. These people are your friends from school, neighbors, family, and community. We are always there on everyone's worst day, and we don’t judge. I feel sort of like an angel in a mortal body doing my job because I want to.
I thought that not only will I be helping my community; I wanted to be known for than just my dad’s son by the guys on the fire department. I wanted to be respected by my colleagues by doing more than just showing up to emergency calls. I don’t want to be known as a hero; all firefighters go by that. We are all equal and being recognized is something that covers all efforts done by other firefighters. That’s why we have the rule if you are found in the news or newspaper you owe all the guys on your department ice cream.
I found that when you serve your community that’s important to share your attention with everyone else. Community service is teamwork and work ethic. Especially if you are a firefighter, you have to do your job correctly the first time and not take media attention from your team to have for yourself. That’s why I believe that community service is a reflection of your character. You can’t be selfish, and you must have pride in your work, community, and yourself.