Category: Personal is Political

In March of 2024, I volunteered with SCOPE, a Student-run Collaborative Outreach Program for Health Equity, to bring healthcare to women in an underserved county in central PA. Going into this event, I was very unsure of what to expect. It landed on a Friday night, and the town was roughly two hours from State College. Friday evenings are usually my time to shut down school for the weekends to enjoy a much deserved break from a long week. Nonetheless, a friend and I decided that we would give it a try, and we were so glad we did!

PSU’s SCOPE is a program lead by Penn State Hershey’s medical students and nursing students. They work with members of the community to spread their mission as far and as wide as possible. This particular event, “Ladies Night Out”, was a circus-themed girls only event with dozens of vendors, dancing, music, food, prizes, and more.

SCOPE was able to bring a few PSU nursing students (myself included!), a few Penn State Hershey resident and attending doctors, and PSU medical students. I loved being able to work with people much older and farther into their career path than me as I was able to observe how their past experiences got them to the place they are in today; it was extremely inspiring! On the contrary, it was very intimidating to enter that building full of powerful women and feel so small and containing such little knowledge.

I gave it some time, and I ended up having a wonderful night offering free healthcare screenings to women who need it the most. My favorite part of the night was not the healthcare as much as it was the conversations that these women allowed me to have with them about their lifestyles, their health, and their personal struggles. I will forever be thankful that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to attend this event, and I hope that I will continue to take part in events like this that strive to bring the basic necessity of healthcare to those who need it.

 

Thank you.

When I was in high school, I would dedicate some time each month to spend at the homeless shelter in downtown Harrisburg PA. Going into this project, I did not know what to expect in terms of what I would be required to do or how I would interact with individuals. It was scary. It was uncomfortable. But after only a few short short months, I finally learned that my preconceived notions were far from the truth.

Most weekends I would leave the shelter with tears from laughter on my face. These people were so funny and so full of life, and they didn’t have a chance to prove themselves to the world. It always broke my heart to know how much they appreciated the small social interaction that I was able to provide to them each month. I always wish that I had more time with them to get to know them even better.

During one of my weekends there, I helped the staff to serve meals to the residents of the shelter. I remember handing out bread rolls and feeling so appreciated for the work that I was doing. It is interesting to recognize that I find it hard to remember the day-to-day mundane tasks that I did around the shelter, but I will never forget the interactions that I have with people there. They would always have the best manners to thank me for being there, and they would appreciate any small gesture or gift that I would bring for them.

I hope that in the future more of us can spend time in facilities like this homeless shelter to understand that just because these people live a life that looks different from ours, it does not mean that they are any less than us. These people are still kind, compassionate, and appreciative with so much life and humor inside of them. I hope that one day homeless people will start to be treated at an equal with the rest of society.

 

Thank you.

During my senior-year internship at Capital Area Head Start (that was discussed in a previous post), I decided that I wanted to organize a toy drive to bring new and fun toys/activities to the students that I spent each day with. Unfortunately, I knew that high school students would not be inclined to donate toys for these kids that they had never met, unless there was an incentive. With that in mind, I decided to utilize my position as my high school’s Key Club Vice President to provide service hours to our members in exchange for a certain number of toys. I essentially told the hundreds of students in Key Club that they could earn one service hour (to count towards National Honors Society or Key Club’s yearly service hour requirements) for every two toys that they donated. I let the donation drive last for 30 days, and I could not believe what I saw.

One month later, I checked the donation bins and realized that all of the bins that were scattered throughout my high school were overflowing with exciting toys. There was a wide range of toys including barbies, coloring books and pencils, action figures, sports balls, and so much more. I was both shocked and emotional that my community came together to gather all of these toys for a group of children that meant so much to me. It took me a couple of hours to gather up everything, and with the help of my friends and teachers, I was able to package it all into my large vehicle. It completely filled the entirety of my car, and it was amazing to see this project that I planned all coming together.

The following day, I brought all of the toys to the Head Start building where they would later be distributed to different schools throughout central PA. All of the staff members were so grateful for my high school’s contributions, and I could not be more proud.

This toy drive taught me the importance of working together and putting our own needs aside in order to benefit the people in our lives that matter most. I will always be grateful to the individuals in my high school who contributed to this amazing cause, and I hope that donation drives like the one I created will continue to supply items to the people that need it more than we do.

 

Thank you.

Growing up, my dad and I would spend our Sunday mornings making the 20 minute drive to Harrisburg, PA to run with a group of recovering addicts. We would run along the river for a few miles at an inclusive and conversational running pace. Most weekends would bring the same group of familiar faces, but some weekends we were able to see a larger group with new people.

The people in the running group were all in the Harrisburg drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, and Sunday morning running club was their chance to get out and socialize while also moving their body. These people always showed up for the same reason: to move their body and make connections with others. As two people who did not experience addiction, my dad and I were nervous to attend each weekend. Surrounding yourself with people who have gone through something as hard as an addiction makes them intimidating. Although ironic, I felt like the odd one out. All of these people were here for the same reason, and I could not understand it. I did understand the value of running, though, and that kept me returning each week.

As the months went on and the running continued with this same group of people, I began to realize that they were all so much more than their addiction. These people never really spoke about the time(s) in their lives where they went through the worst of their addiction. Instead, they were just grateful to be having real connections with people again.

These consistent weekends in Harrisburg with recovering heroin addicts taught me the simple lesson of not judging “a book by its cover”. It is easy to be afraid or worried of a group of individuals who have suffered as hard as the suffering involved with a hard-drug addiction. But these people are no different from you and me. They are just trying to make it in this world in the same way that we are, and this lead them to make the wrong decisions. I will forever be grateful for my experiences making connections with these people, and I hope that we can all learn how to treat these people with the same love and respect that you would any other person.

 

Thank you.

When I was in high school, I had a year-long internship (that was unpaid, but counted for school credit) at a Head Start program in Harrisburg, PA. A Head Start program is a program within the US Department of Health and Human Services that works to provide education, nutrition, parental involvement, and more to low-income families. My program was named Capital Area Head Start, which was a sub-program within Keystone Human Services.

Every weekday for the entirety of my senior year, I traveled to Harrisburg where I spent roughly two hours assisting with miscellaneous work around the school. The children ranged between ages 3-5 and they were such a joy to grow relationships with. I taught morning lessons to the kids, I set up breakfast, or I would even spend time with our social workers performing home visits.

These visits were particularly memorable to me because I was able to see first-hand what the home lives of some of our students looked like. I would tag along with the program’s social workers and the student’s teacher and observe how these visits went. The school staff would often ask questions to the parents about their financial situation, how they are doing emotionally, if they are satisfied with food and clothing, goals for the future, etc.

I was pleasantly surprised with how casual these visits were. The family would often welcome us into their home and ensure that we were comfortable by offering food and refreshments, as well as a comfortable place to sit and talk on their sofa. This allowed me to get to know the families on an intimate level, and it encouraged honest and trusted communication between the staff and the families.

I think that there is often a misconception that low-income families may be unwelcoming to visitors because they feel their home is unequipped for the public eye. Prior to my senior year of high school, I often assumed that these families were the ones that were constantly busy trying to work hard and grow their income, so much so that they did not make the time to build relationships with people outside of their families. After my experience with these home visits, I realized that my presumption could not be more wrong.

There is one family in particular that I still keep in touch with to this day. They are from Nepal and they love to invite me over and make me their authentic Nepalese food. They always ask about how I am doing, and I never feel as though I am forgotten. I will now forever hold a special place in my heart for families that are struggling financially because of my experiences with these kids and families. My time at Head Start taught me that poverty is more apparent in the United States than I ever could have imagined, and it is important to keep these individuals in mind.

Thank you.

I would like to continue my travel stories from Guatemala by specifically touching on the children that I spent time with during my trip. As I previously mentioned, I volunteered at an after school program where children ages 2-9 could resort to after class and get help with homework, as well as spend time with their peers.

The other volunteers and I would structure the short 4 hours that we were there each day by distinguishing “work time” from “play time”. What I mean by this is that often the children would not want to do homework immediately after class, so we would spend the first hour or two playing soccer in the field and eating snacks that we supplied to the students. This allowed the kids to get their energy out before being able to focus on their school work.

The other part of the afternoon was spent helping the students with learning their English and practicing school objectives. We found it extremely beneficial to create interactive activities for the students that were on the younger side. For example, the 3-6 year olds had trouble writing English words, so we decided to implement a buying and selling game instead. We bought fruit at the market on the way to the village, and then we used it to pretend play a grocery store. Not only was this extremely helpful for socioemotional development in the younger children, but it was also a great way for them to practice their manners in English, their English fruit words, and their understanding of English monetary values. For the older children, they benefitted most from writing words out on paper and pencils that we supplied to them.

It was through these activities with the students that my eyes were immediately opened to the kids’ access to a solid education. Coming from the United States, I felt well equipped with teaching skills that came from my own experience in American education to help these children with their schoolwork. However, I noticed that the Guatemalan kids did not have the same experiences as me. They did not have the same access to qualified education experts or additional help for schoolwork (besides volunteers such as myself).

I hope that one day the children of Guatemala and other developing nations can have access to an enjoyable and effective education system just as we do in the United States. Every child should grow up feeling worthy of a good education.

 

Thank you.

After I finally started embracing the discomfort of a new culture and the shock that comes from being in a brand new environment, I was able to focus on my reason for traveling to Guatemala: to understand the living conditions for children in other countries, and to do my best to help in any way that I could.

Around one in the afternoon every weekday, I would walk to a corner close to my host home, and I would meet up with other volunteers. These people were from all over the world; some of my closest friends from the trip came from Switzerland and Italy! We would all walk towards the bus stop together to embark on our volunteer experience for the day. It was the sweltering heat of August in Central America, and I remember passing through the town and seeing how hard the natives were working by selling their goods and socializing with tourists to make money. We would walk through the fruit market each day, and I absolutely loved seeing all of the fresh mangoes and bananas, as well as so many other fruits, being sold by so many lovely people. It was extremely common for newborn babies to be strapped to their mothers, and for toddlers to be helping with the business. This was so interesting for me to see because children in the United States are seen as much less capable in society compared to children in Guatemala.

When we finally arrived at the bus stop, we would wait until the colorful ‘chicken buses’ arrived. These are old school busses with the doors taken off and the windows open with an array of colored paint on the sides. They are incredibly cool to look at and even a little silly! We would ride about 35 minutes south of the city to a village known as Santiago Zamora to volunteer each day. The ride was intriguing, but extremely sad. We would pass through towns that I could not believe were some peoples’ living conditions. The houses were built with cardboard and tin roofs, and children sat on the streets looking for something to do.

When we finally arrived in the village we would walk towards the daycare center that we would volunteer at. The children would walk to this shack on the side of a mountain in a farming community after school, and they would go there to play with their friends, learn English, get help with homework, and stay supervised while their parents continued to work.

These children were the best! They ranged from ages 2-10, and they were so much fun. They enjoyed playing soccer in the nearby field, they loved learning our English slang words, and they loved when we brought treats to share!

These trips to the village outside of the city and away from the tourism were a true learning lesson. There is poverty everywhere you go. Communities all around the world face hardships that I never even imagined possible. But this does not change who these people are. These children were facing some of the most extreme poverty with hard home lives, and they were still incredibly wonderful children that taught me a lot about accepting others no matter where they came from.

Thank you.

When I was in sixth grade, I developed my passion for animals on a deeper level. My family always had dogs growing up, and by middle school I had three of them at one time. It wasn’t until I chose to spend one of my summers volunteering at a local animal hospital that i developed a passion for caring for animals.

It was at this hospital that I witnessed routine check-ups with families and their pets’, stray animals that were brought in to be rescued, and surgeries to save animal lives. I enjoyed that every single day brought a different type of animal or breed of dog. The days where we would lose an animal were some of the hardest experiences that I had during my time there, but I was thankful to have known the animal during its life.

There was one scenario where a family received the terrible news that their family pet has been diagnosed with Lymphoma. This is an intense form of blood cancer, and treatment options are limited. This dog meant everything to the family, but after finding out that each cancer treatment would cost thousands of dollars, they had no choice but to reject treatment. The chemotherapy would give their four-legged family member an estimated additional year of life, but the cost was just too high.

This saddened me so much. As a young person without a sense of money, I did not understand how a family could choose an option that involved their dog dying sooner. I could not understand why this family was not doing everything in their power to save their family member. It broke my heart.

I began to look into cancer treatment for dogs across the country, and what kind of damage chemotherapy does to a family’s wallet on average. It was remarkable to find out the cost of animal cancer treatment, especially since these pets are a considered a part of the family to many. It was in this moment that I learned how unfair the system treats animals and how limited the resources are.

Although I could not save this dog’s life, I hope that one day we can create a world in which families do not have to decide between taking care of their home and children, and taking care of their pets.

Thank you.

In high school, I was the Vice President of my school’s Key Club. This was an organization that worked to provide service to its members, and our main goal was to execute our Annual Walk for Clean Water. Growing up in my town, I always knew how big of a deal this event was in our community. When my junior year of high school came around and I was elected Vice President of the club, I was extremely nervous to take on the role of being “behind-the-scenes” and having to plan the fundraiser.

This event is a 3.75 mile walk around my hometown, and it represents the average distance that someone living in the Eswatini Kingdom in Africa has to walk to access clean drinking water. All of the money that is made through participant registration for the walk, as well as donations and sponsorships, is donated to the Thirst Project to build safe drinking water wells in Africa.

Despite my anxiety about planning the event, I attacked the organizing head-on. I knew that it would require months of planning, hours of communicating with businesses for sponsorships, and a ton of teamwork with the other Key Club officers. Knowing that the annual event was always held in early April, we began our planning during the first semester of school. The entire process was exciting from setting up donor drives to receive donations to having a photoshoot to advertise our event. However, not every part of the journey was easy. There were weeks on end where our club would receive no communication from the companies that we relied on for money and supplies. It was extremely hard to stay optimistic during this time, but knowing what cause we were working towards kept us accountable.

When the time had finally come for the walk to happen, our plans finally fell into place. We had received thousands of dollars in participant registration, and even more money in donations. We had gotten chocolate bars from the Hershey company, water bottles from a local business, and raffle prize donations to give to our participants. We had three food trucks at the event who were all willing to donate a portion of their profit towards the cause. It was incredibly rewarding to see months of preparation before our eyes, and it was emotional.

At the end of the event, we totaled all of our money raised and found that we had exceeded our goal by so much money. We had raised over $22,000, and all of it would go towards something that we took pride in being a part of. Although the planning and responsibility of this project was incredibly intense, the outcome of it all was more than worth it. I was beyond proud to be involved in this project to ensure more people have access to safe drinking water.

Thank you.

It did not hit me that I was traveling to new country until I stepped off of the airplane. My friend of 11 years looked over at me, with both joy and fear in her face, as we walked towards a man holding a yellow smiley face sign. We were told by the organization that someone would be sent over to pick us up from the airport and that we were to look for the yellow smiley face. It was relieving to see that promise fall into place for us.

We were soon greeted by a Spanish speaking man named Diego. He was incredibly kind, and his behavior was welcoming to two 17 year old females who had just arrived in a foreign country alone. After what felt like the longest and scariest drive of our lives, we stumbled into the cobblestone streets of Antigua, Guatemala around 3 in the morning. Diego brought us to a home that was tucked so tightly into the walls of the street, and a lovely woman answered the door. I remember feeling terrible for waking her at such terrible hours of the night. We took a look around and began to get a sense of what our new (temporary) home would feel like. The host lead us through an alley to a pitch dark room that clearly had others sleeping inside, and we uncomfortably climbed into bed to shut our eyes.

After only 3 hours of tossing and turning, it was time to wake up. The small, but inconvenient time difference was adding to our feelings of stress and worry on our first morning. Since we had arrived so late into the night and the whole world was dark and quiet, we struggled to find our way back to the home for what we hoped would be a good breakfast. Our host mom, Patricia, was cooking an American comfort food: pancakes. She served them with maple syrup and fruit, and although the taste and appearance were far different than what I would be used to in the United States, I was grateful for it either way.

It was after breakfast that we began to explore the city, and we located the other volunteers that we would be working alongside. It was intimidating to walk through the streets and feel as though almost every man and woman were coming at you trying to sell their goods, and I felt as though every car that drove on those unpaved streets would knock me to my death.

I finally decided to step outside of my comfort zone and utilize my Spanish skills to speak with the local men and women on the streets. This is when I began to put my pride and discomfort aside in order to embrace a brand new culture. I would not be in Antigua for very long, so I knew that I wanted to make the most out of my trip. I realized that my purpose was to eventually serve others, and being uncomfortable when arriving in a new country was all a part of the experience. I think that there is a lot of value in stepping outside of our comfort zones in order to better understand people in the world around us to create more peace.

Thank you.