The United States has always been a
powerful nation which is driven by the people who reside in it. In a nation run
by its people, community becomes an important topic. A community is not only a
place in which people live, but one in which the people support one another and
help each other succeed. When people come together and voice their opinions
they can help improve their community. A current issue being faced in America
is that many people are not letting their voices be heard. One of the most
powerful ways Americans can make their voice heard is voting. The largest
percentile of Americans that are not taking part in voting are young voters,
who will later become the future of America. Many nowadays feel as though their
vote does not matter and that they are not informed enough about the current
issues in their own communities as well as the government itself. In order to
better the America of tomorrow we need to properly educate the youth of today. And
one way this can be achieved is by starting smaller, in our own local communities.
Community service is a great way to
give back to the community, however; some think this can only be achieved by
going to a soup kitchen, or donating used clothing. However, helping the
community can be done in small actions toward our neighbors. By simply helping
a fellow classmate
with homework they are struggling with, or aiding an elderly
person up the stairs, one is helping the community. Mother Teresa once stated, “I alone cannot
change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many
ripples” ("Community Quotes”). In this day in age, many of us believe
that we cannot change make a difference because we are only one person. Which
is true, no one person can change the world, but the impact that one person can
have on others can cause a powerful reaction which leads many people to make a
change in the world.
I personally have volunteered my
time for numerous causes. Anything from cooking food for a soup kitchen to
packaging boxes of goods for poor families in Ghana. Community service has a
profound effect on not only those of which you help, but yourself as well. At
the soup kitchen, after preparing the food, the other volunteers and I served
the homeless that came to the shelter that day. Many of these people showed
extreme gratitude for something that many of us take for granted
nowadays.
Through my experiences I came to a realization. I realized that even though I
am just one person, I was able to make a change in another person’s life. I
began to think, “What if one of those homeless people got back on their feet
and did this for another?” If everyone continued to help one another, we could
not only build a better community, but a better country as a whole. Ralph Waldo
Emerson once said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful,
to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you
have lived and lived well.” Our human nature makes us feel compassion for
one another and gives us a desire to help others. However, human greed often
gets in the way and makes us reconsider donating our time and resources. It has
been embedded in us from society that we should not help others unless we
somehow benefit as well. But when we overcome this obstacle and provide even
the smallest of aid to others, it can have a domino effect and create a better
life for us all.
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