Black_Berry
Jan 10, 2010
Undergraduate / Spelman 2010, Good Will Foundation participation - Broke [2]
Prompt: Seeking knowledge and commitment to service are integral parts of the Spelman experience. Discuss and illustrate the ways in which you have shown your commitment to these areas.
"To the world you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world." By stumbling upon this quote, it inevitably changed my way of thinking in an instant. I have always been the "mute" in the classroom and to my family by keeping to myself and remaining closed off from others. To them I was always just the quiet one, but in my eyes I was one that spoke little words, but had a continuous train of thought that stretched as long as the Red Sea. Growing up in a family of six and being one of the five children, it can be quiet the task gaining your own identity. At times I felt lost within my family as if I were invisible to them. It led me to become a tough cookie and blind to what was really right for my life; I truly believed that I was not needed within my family and I could do just fine without them. About around the time I turned seventeen, I began to learn the importance of love and relationships within a family and the one that I knew I needed to fix the most was my relationship with my mother. I had caused her detreminal hurt and pain and even though I acted as if it did not affect me it did. So as time flew by and my days living under her roof become numbered, I began to make an attempt to repair our relationship. Now that I take a back at how much our relationship has grown, I have come to realize that she is not just my loving mother; she is my best friend. I was her first born baby girl and many expectations are placed on my shoulders. It gets heavy and tedious from time to time, but the reward of achieving my family's expectations carries me to a new day. They are my motivation to exceed in the classroom and everyday obstacles in life. Life is a tough journey; it is a path that takes patience because it comes with many obstructions that can leave you in disarray. But to the key to it life is to always look forward and forget about past mistakes or missed opportunities. We would love to have a pause, rewind, or fast forward button but God does not allow it to work that way. By having faith in him, it gives me strength in making it to the next day because there are times when we all want to just give up. In a single parent home with no steady income, God is the only one you truly have.
Being broke like a sitcom with a sad ending, but for my mother and me, it was more like a Greek tragedy. With everyone trying to find their next dollar, we rarely think of those who are less well-off or what we could do the help. Donating our small change or even our time to aid another being seems as if it is a hassle for some these days, primarily people of my age. As a teen it is easy to fall into the idea that the world only revolves around us. A majority of us only dream of owning the materialistic things and keeping up with the latest fads, but in my household financial issues often interfered with my desire to own these things.
You know you have problem when you save grocery bags and turn them into shower caps, but you have to do what you have to do. Money may be a problem, but staying committed to what means to me the most keeps me going each day. Family, friends, god, and school are my concrete motivation. School allows me to gain knowledge and I'm sure most of us know that "knowledge is power." Coming from my family background, the ability to get an education and brighten my knowledge is equivalent to feeling we all get when we get the last biscuit our grandma just made. I may be the "needy" one out of my group of my friends, but they still love me for me. Though it makes me feel somewhat out of the mix, I often remind myself that others are not fortunate enough to have at least some of what I have. So in other words, I really do appreciate my free grocery bags or should I say shower caps.
Participating with the Good Will Foundation allowed me to realize how blessed I truly was. I may not have the flyest wardrobe, but the rare shopping sprees at thrift stores and the clearance rack kept my mother's wallet satisfied. Seeing others with nothing, often reminded me of myself. When we received some new item in our wardrobe, you could not tell us we did not look cute. Donating such simple items that I think nothing of give me peace. I think of those hideous shoes I refused to wear and how they'll be cozy on someone's feet this winter. I think of the coat that was too pink for me to wear and how it will be giving someone warmth this winter. Though I've been grazed with many obstacles in my life, the gift of giving has to be one of the greatest gifts in life.
Prompt: Seeking knowledge and commitment to service are integral parts of the Spelman experience. Discuss and illustrate the ways in which you have shown your commitment to these areas.
Broke Like a Sitcom
"To the world you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world." By stumbling upon this quote, it inevitably changed my way of thinking in an instant. I have always been the "mute" in the classroom and to my family by keeping to myself and remaining closed off from others. To them I was always just the quiet one, but in my eyes I was one that spoke little words, but had a continuous train of thought that stretched as long as the Red Sea. Growing up in a family of six and being one of the five children, it can be quiet the task gaining your own identity. At times I felt lost within my family as if I were invisible to them. It led me to become a tough cookie and blind to what was really right for my life; I truly believed that I was not needed within my family and I could do just fine without them. About around the time I turned seventeen, I began to learn the importance of love and relationships within a family and the one that I knew I needed to fix the most was my relationship with my mother. I had caused her detreminal hurt and pain and even though I acted as if it did not affect me it did. So as time flew by and my days living under her roof become numbered, I began to make an attempt to repair our relationship. Now that I take a back at how much our relationship has grown, I have come to realize that she is not just my loving mother; she is my best friend. I was her first born baby girl and many expectations are placed on my shoulders. It gets heavy and tedious from time to time, but the reward of achieving my family's expectations carries me to a new day. They are my motivation to exceed in the classroom and everyday obstacles in life. Life is a tough journey; it is a path that takes patience because it comes with many obstructions that can leave you in disarray. But to the key to it life is to always look forward and forget about past mistakes or missed opportunities. We would love to have a pause, rewind, or fast forward button but God does not allow it to work that way. By having faith in him, it gives me strength in making it to the next day because there are times when we all want to just give up. In a single parent home with no steady income, God is the only one you truly have.
Being broke like a sitcom with a sad ending, but for my mother and me, it was more like a Greek tragedy. With everyone trying to find their next dollar, we rarely think of those who are less well-off or what we could do the help. Donating our small change or even our time to aid another being seems as if it is a hassle for some these days, primarily people of my age. As a teen it is easy to fall into the idea that the world only revolves around us. A majority of us only dream of owning the materialistic things and keeping up with the latest fads, but in my household financial issues often interfered with my desire to own these things.
You know you have problem when you save grocery bags and turn them into shower caps, but you have to do what you have to do. Money may be a problem, but staying committed to what means to me the most keeps me going each day. Family, friends, god, and school are my concrete motivation. School allows me to gain knowledge and I'm sure most of us know that "knowledge is power." Coming from my family background, the ability to get an education and brighten my knowledge is equivalent to feeling we all get when we get the last biscuit our grandma just made. I may be the "needy" one out of my group of my friends, but they still love me for me. Though it makes me feel somewhat out of the mix, I often remind myself that others are not fortunate enough to have at least some of what I have. So in other words, I really do appreciate my free grocery bags or should I say shower caps.
Participating with the Good Will Foundation allowed me to realize how blessed I truly was. I may not have the flyest wardrobe, but the rare shopping sprees at thrift stores and the clearance rack kept my mother's wallet satisfied. Seeing others with nothing, often reminded me of myself. When we received some new item in our wardrobe, you could not tell us we did not look cute. Donating such simple items that I think nothing of give me peace. I think of those hideous shoes I refused to wear and how they'll be cozy on someone's feet this winter. I think of the coat that was too pink for me to wear and how it will be giving someone warmth this winter. Though I've been grazed with many obstacles in my life, the gift of giving has to be one of the greatest gifts in life.