The World Through Her Eyes

Like any other person in today's day and age, I know the importance of community service and giving back to others. However, I wasn't always as open to community service. When I was younger, my class used to go on field trips to the local homeless shelter. I never really enjoyed these field trips because it really wasnt any fun for an eleven year old. We had to work and be around older homeless people who smelled a little funny (I was a child, remember). I would have much rather been in a nice air conditioned classroom sitting down, but in this situation, I had to choice.

On this particular day that we went, there was a girl our age there with her mother. She was the prettiest girl I had ever seen, but she was homeless, so she wasn't very clean and looked very hungry. I approached her with my lunch bag. She was very shy. I told her that she could have it and she smiled the biggest, prettiest smile I had ever seen. We started to talk as she ate my lunch in a hurry. She told me about how her dad had left her and her mother and they had no place to stay because her mother didn't work. She talked forever about how she missed school and her friends. When I asked her what school she went to, she told me Hartman Elementary. I went to Hartman too. After minutes of collaborating stories, I realized that this girl and I had once been in the same class a few years ago. We had never really spoken to each other because we had nothing in common, but there we were, chatting like long lost friends.

After chatting with the girl a little more, she shared some of the problems that her family had been facing since her father left. She was very sad.

Before we knew it, it was time for me to go back to school with my class. I could tell that she didn't want me to leave and that she really enjoyed my company. I enjoyed her company too, that's why every other month, when my class visited this shelter, I looked for her and prayed for her family daily. She showed me a whole new perspective on life and how important it is to value your blessings.

I saw this girl everyday at school a couple of years before and never thought of developing a relationship with her. Now, to this day, I am still friends with this girl.

Eventually the homeless girl and family pulled themselves up from poverty and are doing pretty well. The homeless girl is now in her first year of college. We don't talk as often as we used to because I moved to Arizona, but we still keep in touch.

This story is proof that you don't always have to go out and research different perspectives and experiences, sometimes there right under your nose, or in my case, right next to my desk.