With coming to the U.S. I have learned a lot about me and the world around me. Too much to tell about everything in this short text. I would like to focus on one of the things that had the greatest influence on my way of thinking.
Coming here I was required to do at least 20 hours of community service. When I was in Germany, I could not imagine what I could do for this, and thought it would be one of my great challenges while in the U.S.—to find a place to do this “community service.” My idea of what community service is was very vague, but changed quickly when I actually came to the United States.
The very first weekend in the U.S., my host brother and host father took me to the food drive with them, where they go every Saturday, and told me I could help them volunteer. I was a little skeptical but I of course went with them. The first day was overwhelming, everything was much bigger then I was used to from volunteering in Germany, but it was a beautiful summer day, the sun was shining, and all the people, (receiving and giving) seemed very thankful and friendly. I went again the following week, learned more, met more people, and got a better understanding about the minor workings and the relationship between “givers” and “receivers.”
Since this week I have gone there every weekend, and I spend at least three hours volunteering every week, adding up to a total of more than 100 hours by now. I also realized that the charity’s website was somehow outdated and I asked if I could help with it. Since then I gave the website a new look, made it more complete and informative, and everybody was very thankful for me doing this. However, working on the website cannot compete with setting up before we start handing out the food at the actual food drive though, since working with the people there is the greatest part of the experience. Everybody at the food drive would agree that going there and helping other people might surely be the best way to start a day.
While being here I learned how great volunteering is. It makes the people that receive happy and helps them, but the ones who volunteer are at least equally as happy about doing it. Volunteering on a regular basis definitely is something that I do not want to miss in my life again and want to continue for as long as possible. After meeting Tess, an 80 year old regular and important volunteer at the food drive, I decided that I should volunteer as long as possible and as much as possible to make the world around me just that much better.
I already collected information about volunteering in a soup kitchen back in Germany and will definitely try to spend at least as much time volunteering in Germany as I did here. Without coming to the U.S. I would have never had this experience and would have never realized how great and satisfying volunteering can be. I am very thankful for everybody who was part of this and made this amazing opportunity reality for me.
