College Admissions Essay: The Joy Of Volunteering

It feels like a warm glow of satisfaction mixed with pride, yet there is always a never-ending longing for more. Every time I volunteer, help my community, or say something kind, this feeling grows. I now realize where it comes from, ever since I was little I have visited my birth country, Cuba and when I go, I see my friends and family struggling to find something as simple as a sponge. By witnessing the people I love struggle and then helping them at such a young age, is what has given me the magnificent gift that is “the warm glow feeling.” From volunteering, I have found my drive, made a difference to others, and have impacted myself.

To begin with, volunteering has helped me discover my motivation. One of the first times I was exposed

There were hundreds of people packing macaroni and cheese into plastic bags, I remember asking her what we were doing, she explained to me we were packing food for people and families in need. At this event I realized that volunteering did not only make me feel amazing, it also gave me a sense of community, or belonging. As a peculiar 10-year-old, it felt wonderful to feel as if I belonged somewhere. After the Meals of Hope event, I was yearning for more and so I did smaller things for my community. Next, I donated my clothes, spent a day riding my bike around my neighborhood picking up trash, and donated my books to local day cares. Then I spent the summer of 2014, volunteering at a local daycare, Family Paz Day Care Home. I had a wonderful experience volunteering at this daycare, I helped the teacher with creating lesson plans, teaching the children, and reading to the children. By the end of the summer, I knew I was motivated to volunteer because it felt right and I also felt that I belonged somewhere. After volunteering at Family Paz Day Care Home, I tutored first graders with a speech delay during the school year of 2014. Helping these children learn, watching

I first noticed I was being impacted from volunteering when I volunteered at Dr. Carrie D. Robinson Littleton Elementary School to remove invasive species of plants from their forest. While I removed the plants, I chatted with a teacher there. We spoke about the environment and what it means to us and how we wish we could help it. When I arrived home later that day, I realized my conversation with that teacher had impacted me. I then began to think about other times that I had been impacted from volunteering, and I realized that I had been impacted by all of them. A very impactful volunteering event was when I volunteered at the Fort Myers Kidney Walk for the first time. My grandmother has an ongoing battle with her kidneys and volunteering made me feel closer to her. I had not expected to feel so enlightened from volunteering at this event. I helped pass out water bottles, helped with registration and cheered people on. I was impacted by this event because watching how determined these people were to gain donations and save lives was breathtaking. At the award ceremony, I learned that more than $50,000 dollars had been donated. Another place I volunteered at was ECHO Global Farm, ECHO Global Farm is an organization that helps people around the world learn how to produce their own food in the most effective way. I volunteered at their Food and Farm Festival and helped pass out food for the visitors to try. This