I had the privilege of spending 75 hours volunteering at The Boys and Girls Club (Milo-Grogan Location). I was taking the second year Mount class first semester when I began my hours. I believe that this class helped me to be more aware of the social issues that are associated with the Boys and Girls Club and made me start to think of small things I could do to help. Right from the start, I realized that we were working with underprivileged children. Many of the kids wore the same outfit every time I would go, often times covered in dirt or food. They were given boxed dinners that looked and smelled unappetizing, but many of the kids ate them without thinking twice about it. However, what bothered me the most was the poor education system that they are trapped in. I believe strongly in the quote “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” A good education is the path to teaching underprivileged children how to “fish”. There is a time slot at the Boys and Girls Club called “Power Hour” which is an hour dedicated to working on homework or reading. A positive thing that I have seen from this is that a lot of the kids are eager to learn and want to succeed. The negative part is that they have not been given the tools to do this. There have been times where I have sat down with kids who truly want to answer the questions on their homework, but they don’t know how to read the paragraph that the questions are about. As one person, I have thought about ways that I can remind the kids that learning is fun and that they should remain in school to further their education. My passion is science so I am hoping to bring a few cool experiments and hands on activities to the Boys and Girls Club from the lab that I work in. The employees of the Boys and Girls Club do an amazing job bringing in outside sources to teach about various subjects and outside opportunities, and my goal is to be a part of it!

The Mount Leadership Society scholars program participated in the Empty Bowls Campaign.  This entailed making our own bowls and selling them to make a profit.  The money was then donated to the Mid-Ohio food bank in order to provide food for struggling families and individuals.  I found this to be an amazing experience that also enhanced my academic interests.  As of now, I am determined to become a dentist in order to help people who are suffering with mouth pain.  The empty bowls experience reminded me of why I am working so hard in my classes now: to be rewarded with the great feeling of improving someone else’s life later.  To the right is a picture of the bowl I crafted and me.  It will make a great Christmas present!

During my time at Hoover High School, I participated in many service projects.  My favorite out of these was the AGAPE Girls mentoring program.  This two year program is dedicated to giving 7th grade girls a safe place to talk about the hardships of middle school.  I had the opportunity of giving my advice and attention to a small group of eight girls.  Through mentoring my group, I learned how to be a better listener, have more effective communication skills and develop better organization strategies.  I have found that these are all things that have led to my academic success thus far at The Ohio State University.  To the right, you can see a picture of my friend and me at a senior banquet for AGAPE Girls.