my personal reason for involvement

Growing up, my family never really urged me to get involved. They were definitely not very influential in my decision to do so. The last chapter we read about not waiting for the right time to get involved really reminds me of the mindset i grew up surrounded by. My family was always too busy, too financially unstable, etc, etc. The extent of their social concern was sitting in front of the television talking about how terrible some of the stories on the news were. It seemed to me that my family never tried to make a difference because we were just too small to even make an impact. As a result of being surrounded by this type of thinking, I, too, have found myself thinking the same way for many years. Though it was a requirement to do a set amount of hours of community service each year during middle school, I found myself having a rather negative outlook on any involvement I was required to do. I have no doubt that this was a result of the way that I grew up.

My true desire to get involved began somewhere in my later years of high school. At my newer school it was 'cool' to join committees that were designed specifically to help the school run smoother. This was really foreign to me, and when i first started attending the school I had no interest in doing so. One committee that was a really influential part of the school was the friends committee--a group that was assigned little brothers and sisters to sort of mentor during their first few weeks of school. Because my big brother and sister helped me feel so much more comfortable as a new student, I felt it was my duty to eventually do the same for other new students. Later in my stay I joined the friends committee, as well as many others. It was then that I feel I truly realized the value of doing service. Even though I wasn't solving world hunger, I was making an impact on the lives of others, and--in return--was beginning to feel good about myself. My outlook on service really changed during this part of my life.

I think, for me, the biggest influence in my decision to be involved in the community was personally feeling the effects of others doing so. Once I saw that you can really make a difference on your own, I decided that I wanted to try doing so. As far as personal skills that I have that may be helpful to a particular cause, there is nothing specific that I want to focus on the most. I think that, in general, I am a pretty friendly person. I hope that I can use this part of myself to make people feel more comfortable, and to urge more people to get involved. I also think that I have good organizational skills, and I think organization is a key part of any group reaching its fullest potential. If i am able to harness all of these abilities, I think I can make a valuable asset to any socially active group. I think everyone has positive traits that they can harness, as well; and while I know one person can't change the world all by themselves, I now realize that the more people come together, the bigger the impact they will have.