"I have always volunteered" - FSU

I have always volunteered for the local fairs, beach clean up and assisting teachers and administrative personnel in an office, performing what I thought was acceptable community service. One year, I decided to commit to a year long volunteer position, and chose the role of volunteer aide in an Assisted Living Center in the Alzheimer's Unit, where I performed almost 200 community service hours. I loved visiting with the elderly folks and felt so honored to be welcomed by them as they told stories of being in the war, growing up 70 years ago, and of their families. It touched my heart to hear about some that had no families that visited them. I held their hands as they sometimes mistook me for a long lost partner or a daughter, and read letters to them from those loved ones that were too far away to be holding their hands. It made me infinitely more respectful of not only my own grandparents, but of all the older people in Florida whom I come in contact with each day. When my year ended at this facility, the reactions and well wishes of my coworkers made me feel I really had made an impact in peoples' lives in a very positive way. I had never felt the weight of that importance before. I feel like this was a life changing experience that made me become much more aware of how people are treated and how I treat others. That following summer I attended Outward Bound Wilderness Training School for two weeks, with renewed motivation to be a leader and care for the underdog. I did so, receiving praise and unconditional friendship from a group of people I had never met, yet will forever change my life after living with them for 2 weeks, in the wilderness, 24 hrs a day. These experiences have impacted me in the very aspects that FSU is looking for in its students, the ones that appeal to me the most: increased leadership skills, embracing community service and a love of learning. I will enter college with the responsibility to be the best that I can be, as I now know I have a mission in this life, and have every opportunity to change someone's life for the better. One thing I found out in all my hours of community service, and the extracurricular activities I was involved in, is my love for meeting new people and ability to influence peers in a positive way. I will go on to college and excel in a major that will allow me to continue growing to hopefully one day make my mark in this world, and have that world be a better place because I was in it. I would think that would be the best mark you could leave. I know FSU has so many opportunities for me to explore those avenues, which is why I picked this school, as my number 1 choice, to be a part of.

I loved visiting with the elderly folks, and felt so honored to be welcomed by them as they told stories of being in the war, growing up 70 years ago, and of their families.

It touched my heart to hear about some that had no families to visit them.

... the reactions and well wishes from my coworkers made me feel that I really had made an impact on peoples' lives in a very positive way.

One thing I found out about in all my hours of community service, and the extracurricular activities I was involved in, is my love for meeting new people and my ability to influence peers in a positive way.

What a great essay! Good luck with school and have fun!

:)

I like your essay a lot, but be careful not to sound like your "bull dinkying" (trying not to curse). Did you really love visiting elderly folks? What I would do is start off telling FSU about what you thought it would be like to volunteer at the alzheimers unit...hard, sad, blah blah blah. Then you came to realize how much you benefited from the experience. That will make it sound more realistic...Also, I'm trying to apply to FSU, but for some reason, it asks me to submit the application before the essay, extracurriculars, or anything like that shows up..so I'm confused. Can you help me?