Today I felt a change or a shift if you will in how I will be approaching the execution of my goals and plans to make a difference in the world. The last few days we were assigned to read The Promise of a Pencil by Adam Braun. His chapters are headed by several mantras that we as readers can adapt and evolve from. I’ve chosen to title this post You cannot fake authenticity because when approaching civic engagement projects one must be true to oneself and have the authentic desire to change the lives of others. A quote I have not been able to shake from my head, found in the first few pages goes as follows: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman. I find this to be the perfect quote to engrain into our hearts as it was very applicable to our visit to the civic engagement sites today. My particular group were assigned the Latin American Community Center which held the vision to change the standard of living for the Latino community in the area.
I say vision because it is not enough to simply come up with an idea or a goal to achieve but more effective to visualize the exact outcome you want, the lives you want to transform, how well it coincides with your personal goals, and also the love of the journey it will take to get to the finish line. It took a few people to know what makes them come alive is bringing joy to the Latino community and helping at risk youths find a place to call their own where they can explore their own individualities, develop, grow and be safe. It was a great pleasure to see the simple smiles on these children’s faces as we spent a few hours with them during their summer schedules. It was easy to get attached to them and to want to do anything to make them laugh and feel as light as possible as it made the visit that much more meaningful and special. A child’s fundamental right in this world is to have the right to be just that, a child; free from worry, free from fear, full of hopes, dreams and security more than anything. Today I truly feel even more driven than I ever was before to pursue my own vision, I dream of instigating a change so vast that the rippling effect will only do wonders for my community. After all, as MEPIs that’s what we’re here to do, change the world.
–Oraib