Service Trip Research Paper

WAHOO! Another year has flown by, summer is creeping up on us, and this means that yet another life-changing experience is approaching me leaving my heart and mind ever so anxious. The 2018 mission trip will take place in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and I couldn’t be more excited to add more fuel to my fire for Jesus that has been growing in my heart. In a few short weeks, I will have the opportunity to travel with the Marathon FCA group to the reservations to assist in building houses, work in the image and likeness of Jesus giving the people reasons to smile, and change the lives of many through simple, yet huge, acts of kindness. I have been involved in my FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) group ever since I was a freshman,

Putting all the pieces together, living in an environment where I need many goods, it shaped me as a better person. Also, my family toughs me that we need to support the less, fortunately,

Service. Challenge. Ethics. The motivation I have for attending a service academy can be summed up in these three words. Growing up in a military family, my life has always revolved around service, challenge and ethics. It is what is imbedded in me and it is what I strive to continue living by.

Education has always been an important foundation upon which my family encouraged the most. Not just the education pertaining to structured schooling, but the fundamentals in life that require you to interact in society and be a part of something bigger than yourself. They demonstrated how to commit to values such as responsibility, motivation, and consistency; and, how to be open-minded and passionate about the things you believe in. These things all required a sacrifice in various ways. They always stress how “sometimes you need to give up something to get ahead, or how sometimes sacrificing the familiar and what you expect from yourself to get the results that you are seeking in the long run.”

When my sister graduated high school, I asked her what inspired her to go to school? And she told me, “ I’ve seen our parents working hard for us and the family oversea and I want to be able to help. I know the only way I can help is through learning because with a better knowledge, I would be able to get a job that I enjoy to work and good salary.” Her words really hit me because that was when I realized everyone in the family is thinking about each other and I was the only one that being

The theme of Catholic Social Teaching my service was under was “Call to Family, Community, and Participation.” For most of my service hours I ran volleyball camp at school, and I also ran concessions. This falls under “Call to Family, Community, and Participation” because it helps individuals grow not only in a sport but also a community. As they are participating and learning new skills they are also learning life lessons and making friends.

My parents were my first real teachers. My dad, a police officer, and my step-father, was an EMT. Both of them taught me early, the value of hard work, discipline, compassion, and sacrifice. They taught me how to listen with

Through out my service-learning project there were different activities and sites my cousin and I visited in the community. The first site my cousin and I had our activity in was in my home in Boyle Heights, where we had a conversation about his diabetes and talked about his experiences with type1 diabetes as a teenager. I decided to choose my home as our first activity because it was the perfect place to ask my cousin to participate in my project and make him feel comfortable enough to share his experiences with me. The second activity we arranged was a lunch date at Outback Steakhouse in Glendale. Having lunch at a restaurant was my cousin’s idea because he wanted to show me how different and difficult it can be from eating a home made meal.

Peace Corps service presents major physical, emotional, and intellectual challenges. In the space below, please provide a few paragraphs explaining your reasons for wanting to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer and how you plan to overcome the various challenges associated with Peace Corps service. This essay is the writing sample Peace Corps uses to assess your professionalism and maturity as a candidate. Please spend time editing your essay/writing sample (4,000 characters, or approximately 500 words).

My sister Jacqueline Renee has taught me in negative ways but I guess it could be argued that she has also taught in a positive way too. Jacquie had just recently gotten out of jail where she resided for about 2 years due to drugs and other charges in relation to her addiction to heroin. As negative as it was for me to witness an addict at such a young age like I had experienced, it also taught me not to follow in her footsteps. She made me smart when it comes to bad stuff like stealing or drugs or anything of that nature. In a way, just like mom, she taught me unconsciously how to be strong because of having to watch that and experience her first hand in that state. However, as of today she is currently seeking the proper help she needs, attending meetings, got a job and is focused on bettering herself and getting her out of the hole she dug herself into, and I think that is a very inspiring thing in it’s own

My topic or experience that reveals something about who I am is the mission trip I became a part of from June 18, 2017 to June 24, 2017 when my church went to Cannon Falls through Group Missions. During this mission trip, I have met some amazing people, made some great memories, and more importantly, formed a closer relationship with God. Before the trip, my relationship with God has just been at a plateau with me barely reading his word, praying from time to time, and just having a relationship with Him as if we were just acquaintances. During the trip, I met other people from different states: Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and where I am from, Illinois. I made lots of connections with other Christians which helped with me being antisocial,

I learned two lessons that I will always remember. One was to always stay close by your parents no matter what, because when they die you will somehow miss them and at that moment you will forgive them for everything they did to you that negatively affected you in a certain way.

If there is one specific lesson I could take away from life it would be helping others. Everyone in this world is born for a reason and sometimes we are not able to discover what specifically brought us here. I was born to help others in those of difficult times of needs. I was born to learn from others and inspire human beings to do better for themselves. One of my favorite quotes is by Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He once said “All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” Danny Thomas’s quote inspires me to help others in order to be successful in life. If the world didn’t have professions that required helping others, humans would never be able to learn from mistakes and promote social change. Social work is a profession that requires helping others. Not everyone can be a social worker, and those who are fortunate enough to be a social worker have the opportunity to learn something new about others every day.

I have learned a lot about success from my daughters. For example, I watched them learn to walk. They weeble, they wobble and fall down. But no matter how many times they fall, they get up and try again. It has taught me that no matter what obstacles occur, if I just continue to try I can and will succeed.

For the past 20 weeks, I have learned how to respect everybody, how to use vacuum cleaners, how to make tacos, even how to pick a lock! But most importantly, the fact that money is not the most important thing - family