“Who are you?” This was the first question the congregation was asked at a Youth Group in my church community by Father Sean Manson. The moment I heard this question I did not hesitate to answer, but also was not loud and outspoken about it. I filled the room with a calm, humble mood and simply said, “I am a giver.” After saying this I did not wonder why, but rather just smiled at the thought of it. A giver- someone who does good for others. I do feel that this is quite a passion and merely the start of my destiny. Before I continue though, I would like to backtrack to the origins of my answer that lies in the past.

            I remember clearly the day I laid hands on my elementary school’s weekly newsletter. At the time I was twelve years old. A specific headline jolted at me. It said that volunteers were needed to help at a local place called Camp Sunshine/Camp Snowflake in Ridgewood, NJ. They were hosting an Open House to train the prospective counselors. I asked my mom if I could go. She said yes, and eventually the day came. When we arrived, we found it situated in a serene place next to a county park. As we entered the yellow house, I had this feeling of awe going inside. We sat with everyone else and waited for what I thought was the Open House to begin. Because of my age, I did not understand well for who this place was.

            The president and nurse started to introduce Camp Sunshine/Camp Snowflake with a PowerPoint presentation. Images I perceived included many teenagers and children playing and laughing. There were also adults. As the president explained that her daughter came with her to camp, she started to become really emotional and burst into tears. Just to see her in such a melancholy state made almost made me cry. Only then I realized that this beautiful community bond of friendships and laughter shown in the PowerPoint slides were volunteers taking care of disabled children. As I realized this, my mother asked me “Are you sure you want to do this?” I directly looked at her and said “Yes.” The president and mother of such a sweet daughter motivated me even more to stay. Even to this day, I still continue to volunteer at Camp Sunshine over my summers.

People with disabilities are not different from us. They have feelings and want to be accepted too. If anything, I strongly believe that they have happier lives than most people living on this Earth. They take joy in the simple things in life. I have established lasting friendships at Camp Sunshine with my fellow campers. If you were to meet them in person, one by one, you would agree that they are all an amazing part of creation and just simply adorable. They are also intellectuals. One camper, Greg, asked me my birthday in 2010. He still remembers, and it is now 2012. That is just amazing- he has a better memory than me!

One camper that I know well is Poppy. His real name is David, but we call him Poppy because he likes to “pop” and “touch” many things. He is a spontaneous child, walking back and forth. His family is Puerto Rican. I am not sure of the specific disability he has, but he does not speak much. He only says “yeah” and “uh-huh”. When he doesn’t like something, he shakes his head or says “no.” Poppy seems to get along well with me. Sometimes he is difficult to handle with the staff members, but if anything they know that they can count on me or Shauna to calm him down.

Poppy also tries to eat or chew on little things he finds. I need to be careful about this fact when I have him as my camper for the day. The first time I had Poppy was a little overwhelming, but the staff members helped me and I got used to his likes and dislikes. After lunch, I took Poppy to the playground with the other Little and Middle kids. Suddenly, Poppy was trying to reach for leaves on a tree! I said “No Poppy,” and tried to take them away from him. “No!” he said. And then, I started speaking in Spanish, for I do that when I am really worried about something. I was not aware of the fact that Poppy was Puerto Rican. “Hay por favor Poppy no hagas eso te va hacer mal,” I said, which translates to “Poppy please do not do that. It’s not good for you.” Then Poppy stopped, smiled, and said “Entiendo.” This means “I understand.” I was glad that he acknowledged the fact that this was bad for his health. We continued to the playground and he played on the swings. We went back to the yellow house where everyone else was so he could play in the pool. Honestly, the child earned it.

Through Camp Sunshine/Camp Snowflake, I learned that community service is vital to my life. I feel warm inside when I give to others. These experiences I have had motivated  me to do so much more for the community around me. Service is not hours written on a paper to fulfill a school requirement. Service is something that comes from the heart. I am willing to give back to the community surrounding me, whether locally, nationally, or globally. This has become one of my main goals in life.

Service has taken me to many places. I play flute and guitar at my parish every Sunday. I volunteer at a local public library and at my school. This may seem like little acts of charity but it does make differences in many people’s lives. For a Service Auction, I donated two art pieces. One was an 18x24 pastel drawing of the Madonna and Child. The other was an 18x24 landscape painting of the beach with majestic mountains and a rainbow. The proceeds went towards the building of a church in the Turks and Caicos.

My future is filled with service. I would eventually like to work for a nongovernmental organization or United Nations in global affairs. I have been liking human rights and humanitarian affairs lately. Whatever I specifically do, I know that I shall be making a contribution for the greater good of all humanity- my destiny. I would also like to work on giving more rights to disabled people. Going back to my beginning, I would now like to ask you: Who are you? Hopefully this has inspired you to do something awesome.