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I think that one of the most important lessons I have learned through volunteering is that everyone is needy. Everyone has needs to be met, and oftentimes all it takes is for someone to reach out to another person to help them achieve satisfaction. One person’s needs will not necessarily be the same as his or her neighbor’s, nor will they always be met in the same ways; however, whatever they desire, no one is more deserving than anyone else is in achieving happiness and fulfillment from life. Helping each other is the key to attaining a sense of overall satisfaction and oftentimes all it takes is for us to reach out to one another in order to fill both our own needs and those of others.
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Many conceptions of community service tend to pigeon hole certain sectors of society as “needy” to the point where clear distinctions are made between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Over time, those notions of volunteerism work against what community service really is about, which does not include labeling or further separating different people in a community. Instead, community service is an opportunity for people to come together and recognize their common interests and goals. My experiences working among a wide variety of people in populations the world round have been invaluable for not only achieving my own sense of fulfillment, but for helping others to feel that way as well. I consider myself to be very fortunate for having been able to embrace both the differences and shared similarities I recognize in those friends I have made. |
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"Helping each other is the key to attaining a sense of overall satisfaction and oftentimes all it takes is for us to reach out to one another in order to fill both our own needs and those of others." |
The lines separating the servers and the recipients have long been blurred in my mind, as I often walk away from community service projects feeling like a greater beneficiary than those who have been technically deemed recipients. There are women I have worked with in Thailand who needed love and a sense of self-worth and there are women in America I have worked with who had the same needs but through a different type of delivery: the Thai women had been victims of child, labor and domestic abuse while the elderly women in Asheville, North Carolina had felt neglected by either their families, society, or both. I could not consider myself entirely separate from those women because I realize that so much of what they need are emotions that I need as well, only I have been fortunate enough to not suffer from a lack of love, attention and appreciation in my life. After working with those women I can better appreciate my relatively privileged lifestyle, and I can be grateful for all of what those women gave to me in return, including cultural knowledge, self-fulfillment, timeless stories and reciprocated love.
Jessica Stein
Class of 2005
Washington University in St. Louis
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