"She packed up her potential and all that she had learned, grabbed a cute pair of shoes and headed out to change a few things." -Leigh Standley
In 10 days I will be graduating college and thrown into the "real world." The world outside of classrooms and dorm buildings, a world I have yet to experience since I have been in school since the age of four.
In a way, the thought of graduating college is refreshing. In a bigger way, it's terrifying. I don't have a 5-year plan and I don't know what I want to be doing for the rest of my life, but I don't think it matters. My college years have been years of self-discovery and learning countless lessons that I will carry with me into the future.
One of the most important discoveries I made while in college was one that happened outside of classrooms and lecture halls. I learned how passionate I am about helping people—about using my privilege to serve others. Thanks to my parents, I grew up volunteering with my church at Soup Kitchens and I learned from an early age how fortunate I was to live the life I was living.
I believe in fate and I believe that most of what happens in life is out of our control. We can't choose the families we are born into, some people are born into poverty and our system is designed to keep them there. There are hundreds, if not thousands of people in America who work a full-time, minimum wage job and still can not afford to keep a roof over their heads.
I consider myself extremely lucky to have been born into a family where I was given the opportunity to earn a college degree, an opportunity denied to many due to the (ridiculously) high cost of tuition.
I spent March of 2016 participating in Alternative Spring Break—a week-long service trip to Phoenix, Arizona to serve people experiencing homelessness. After feeding 586 people breakfast one Monday morning I couldn't help but think to myself, "Something is wrong with our system, these people are kind, hard-working people. They were just dealt a bad hand."
My time as a volunteer opened my eyes to the harsh world people are forced to live in everyday and I want to use whatever skills I have to help those in need.
At the end of the month I will be leaving the beloved city of Boston to volunteer in Africa. I am eager to lend my communications and social media skills to HEAL Ministries, a non-profit organization based in Jinja, Uganda. I will be serving as an intern and working alongside the women and children at The James Place. The mission of HEAL is to empower these women and children through programs that teach sustainability and family preservation.
With college graduation just around the corner, there is a lot of uncertainty in my future. I'm looking forward to this uncertainty—to seizing every opportunity that comes my way and to trying to make a difference in people's lives. I leave my college experience with an infinite amount of memories, friendships, and with the courage to step out into the unknown with a full heart and an open mind.