“I've learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them
feel.” - Maya Angelou
This quote leaped at me and tugged on my heartstrings I
am so happy. My choir director from high school, Ms. Stephanie Coats said this
to us every day after performances and during rehearsals and when we did our
community service, and this made me think of her. This quote means a lot to me
not only because of Coats, but I am an avid reader of Maya Angelou and her
words have really contributed to my healing process and character development.
So, thank you Soldani for the reminder. Now, to the actual essay.
Ever since I
was a little girl, I always knew that my purpose in life was to serve others,
I’ve always felt the need to help others and I recently found out of my love
languages is Acts of Service. My father always taught me that everyone has a
purpose in life and Allah makes sure everyone does and it’s up to you how you
choose to use it. My mother told me the same thing, although she did not say
Allah (My parents have religious differences, my father is Muslim, and my
mother is a Baptist). I used these words as fuel and took initiative to serve
my community, so I fed the elderly at Epworth Village, a retirement home in
Hialeah, Fl, after performing for them with my Glee Club, painted my school’s
mural, etc. Ever since moving to Tallahassee for college I did not have a
service project until the Veteran’s Dinner.
Although I
don’t think I’d really contributed much to the dinner, I decided to make
comfort food and what’s more comforting than homemade baked Mac n’ Cheese?
(Okay, maybe mashed potatoes, Arroz Con Leche, or Sopa de Pollo but I knew that
was my most praised dish). So, during the week of the dinner I felt ill and
missed class (sorry about that again) but when I started feeling a little
better, I went to the store and got the ingredients for the Mac.
I was excited
for the dinner, but also a little nervous since social settings aren’t my
strong suit. However, I baked the Mac & Cheese and loved the process of
doing so since I love cooking, so with that, I was in the kitchen baking it
with all the love I could. At Veteran’s Village I did not know what to so I
stood awkwardly so I observed while making light conversation with Kayla and
Krystal and watching the Veterans’ faces and you can just read the gratitude
and love on their faces and it was one of the most rewarding thing I’ve ever
witnessed.
The dinner
made me realize that there is always someone to help and I can always do it if
I reach out, I want to help so next semester.
I’ll try my best to be something for every dinner or maybe even start my
own thing elsewhere I’ve been wanting to teach piano or ASL for so long. I’ll
get on that if time warrants so. Everyone has their own thing to contribute to
people whether is just be helping veterans or even animals or the environment,
park cleanups are something one can participate in. Everyone has their own
energy to contribute in a space too, presence means a lot. However, one thing
I’ve learned the hard way is that you can help all you want but you can’t
spread yourself too thin and it’s better to give your all to one thing than to
devote your time and energy you multiple things aimlessly and irresponsibly or
half-assed. Insufficient careless work doesn’t get you anywhere especially when
giving back to someone else it makes your service seem inauthentic. I am
grateful for the Veteran’s Dinner it has reminded me what my purpose is.
