Contestant #18 Be Your Best Self
When you look at your life, what do you see? Is it filled with joy, happiness, and right decisions? Or has it been filled with regrets and wishes unfulfilled? The saying Be Your Best Self is one approach to which many may go about their lives fulfilling everything they would and could wish for. Now how do you implement this saying in your life?
For me it started with little acts of kindness, every day, with the virtues of being responsible, being healthy, being involved, being studious, and being ambitious.
One way in which to show how dutiful I am to these values being implemented in my life was by finding a service project in which helps me to be my best self.
I decided on a service project that affects a dear person to my heart, and that was something that I do every day. My sister Miriam was born with some learning disabilities and she doesn’t function as fast as the other people her age. She needs help in almost all aspects of life. Thus every day I get up in the morning, at about 5:30am, to start my daily life, and hers. I wake her up, make her breakfast, and help her choose an outfit for the day. I also do her hair and make sure her hygiene is suitable for the day. This process starts the same every day before I get ready to go to school for early morning Jazz Band at 7am. The experiences I have had with her strengthened, humbled, and helped me to become my best self.
Now how do I apply all the principles of being my best self into these every day ordeals? Well, to start out with, I am responsible for my sister. I need to make sure that the meals she eats, the clothes she wears, and the choices she makes help her in her life. She needs to look presentable to go to school, and if I w...
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... prize that her support will still leave me at the top. She always thinks that I can do it, and because of her I know that I can involve myself in anything and succeed.
With all the times that I help Miriam achieve her goals, or even simply get her ready for the day, she has been an inspiration to me. Sometimes I even think that even with all the things I do for her physically, she has done so much more with her support, love, excitement, and joy of life then I could ever repay. This service project was meant to help her more in her life, but I think that instead that it has shaped my life in too many ways to count. I know that through her example and dependence on me, that I can always be my best self and exceed each new towering height. I can achieve my dreams and wishes with no regret because I will be my best self for myself, and more importantly for her.
come with a goal in life - to succeed on it. With that kind of mentality I
It was the summer of 2013 when I was living with my grandparents and they told me about volunteering at the church. I didn’t know what they were talking about, so I took the initiative to go find out for myself that following Sunday. I was in the balcony on Sunday, when I heard the announcements saying we can volunteer for their hope food pantry. I was excited because it was going to be a chance where I can help other and get community service hours. Volunteering I began to think positive thoughts and telling myself “ I am doing a good deed”.
Outside of Academics, I have spent hundreds of hours helping my community and bettering the lives of others. To elaborate, I spent this time volunteering in church youth ministries, tutoring various levels of mathematics, and serving as Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) in Boy Scouts. Of all the service I have done, I believe I have improved the lives of others most remarkably through my role as SPL. In this position, I have had the opportunity to forge the future leaders of our community by instilling them with a strong moral compass, various leadership skills, and inspiring them to achieve highly. I accomplished this through a combination of acting as a role model and as a leader, which has given me countless opportunities to inspire and teach them through my actions. In these positions I had to always act moral through making the most responsible choice in every situation, I had to sometimes bWhen I first came into this position, our troop consisted of a bunch of rowdy boys who were only part of the troop because their parents thought that it was a good idea for their future. Over time I was able to develop the boys into young men bThrough a combination of role modeling and teaching, I have helped many young men develop a strong moral compass, forging them into tomorrow’s leaders. Through delegation, planning, empowerment and education, I have had the opportunity to positively influence life-long intrinsic values in young impressionable boys. These once young boys, are now
During the [Project Wisdom] program, my principal tells us a quote then he goes on to explain it. For example, he would say, "Danny Thomas once said, 'Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others." This quote hit me like a thunderbolt. I was constantly thinking about it. Then I saw homeless people while I was walking home from school. I thought of nothing but the quote, so as I got closer to the homeless people, I pulled out my wallet and gave them a ten dollar bill. The feeling I got when the homeless people looked at me is indescribable. After this experience, almost every time someone is in need of something, I give or at least try to give them what they need because of the self-content it brings me. The "Words of Wisdom" program made a difference in my life by helping me discover that it feels good to serve others.
My favorite service project was my silver award for girl scouts. Before Jamie Lince, Faith Brown, and I did the silver award the hoophouse by the elementary school was very rundown. There were holes in the plastic, weeds in the beds, and the wood chips in the aisles were worn down. The hoophouse couldn’t be used. We wanted to fix that problem. First we applied for grants. I never knew how many steps or how much time this would take. It really taught me how to handle deadlines so things get turned in on time. It also taught me that there are people that want to support you, and you just need to find them. The two grants that we received were a Lowes grant for fifteen-hundred dollars and a seed grant from Van Atta’s. The second step was to get people to help weed out the beds so we could plant the seeds we got from the grant. This took a few hours and a lot of people from the community showed up to help. The Lowes grant was used for the plastic that goes on the outside of the hoophouse and new wood chips for the aisles in the hoophouse. We had to have the help of Mr. Montry who makes hoop house...
I chose to do my service learning project at Feed My Starving Children. I chose this service learning project because I had prior knowledge and experience by doing it with my family and church. Feed My Starving Children has been a huge impact to those who have participated in this service experience because their mission is to pack meals that go to very hungry children around the world. Being from a single parent family, it is hard for us to not be concerned about where the money for food is coming from, yet we have food on our tables for everyday meals. Therefore, I can’t imagine what it is like for those who experience hunger.
I have participated in several volunteer opportunities as a Girl Scout, singing Christmas carols at a local hospital, picking up trash along the beach, working at a homeless shelter, leading events for younger Girl Scouts and much more. These opportunities have influenced me to become aware of the struggles within my
I have always considered myself a very promising student. I have worked extremely hard and received high grades. I have a close knit group of friends and my teachers and I have mutual respect for each other .Although I would consider myself at this present stage ‘fulfilled’ something was missing. I realized it wasn’t a materialistic aspect of my life. Through a tragic incident I finally discovered what fit perfectly in that vacancy. The consecutive hospitalizations of my grandparents evoked great pain and sorrow. However, out of the scorching intensity of this tragedy I was warmed and comforted by realizing what I was devoid of: community service.
My service hours, pushing Jalen around, has remarkably impacted my life. This year I have helped Jalen around campus. Joseph, Anould, Jalen and I have become very good friends just because I helped push him around school.
I feel that doing what you say you will, and treating others as you want to be treated are principles that should not only be looked at as great strengths but as internal values that convey credibility. When people trust you and know they can come to you without judgment, it offers them a sense of security and peace.
Firstly, I will begin by identifying my core values. These values can be put into two separate groups. Firstly, there are instrumental values: courageousness, intellectualism, and helpfulness. When considering the myriad of ideals, many others were eliminated
To start off my day, every morning I work with special education kids for an hour. Many days I work with Jason, who is paralyzed from the waist down and has learning disabilities as well as troubled speech. Jason and I look at the newspaper, work on worksheets, make projects, and sometimes go on walks. Throughout the months I’ve worked with him I have learned a lot about patience. Being a beneficial peer helper requires me to explain things in multiple ways until he understands, this can sometimes take a good while. Everyday Jason improves and it’s truly heartwarming to watch his growth and achievements. Jason makes me very thankful for my health and ability to walk, as it is something many of us take for granted. Overall, I have learned a lot about interacting with those of special needs and I greatly appreciate those who teach and volunteer with Special Olympics.
...alues and beliefs and always stick to your word. Help lead and show others who look up to you and always give it 100%. Always remember that people are always watching and learning from you so always lead by example!
perfect grades to be satisfied, and so I'm always working as hard as I can. It
Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule • Be tolerant and accepting of differences