Excerpts from Dominique Jessen’s winning essay for the Community Involvement portion of the 2014 Building A Better World Scholarship. 2014 BBW Winners.
Planting the Seed – “The idea of changing someone else’s life, is my dream. This dream was not even a thought though until my sophomore year. I was not aware of the drastic economic differences in my community until Mr. Green showed me that things are not always how they seem. He brought us out to look at a line of people stretching out of the parking lot, standing in the the rain, waiting for the food truck. At that moment I understood that it was not just animals and families that go through a fire that are the only souls that need opportunity for help. I learned that at any given moment any person or thing hit rock bottom and need help.”
Volunteering – “I started volunteering at an animal shelter for abandoned cats. I was in charge of 30 cats that were either sick, recovering from surgery, or had been beaten and left to die. From there I was contacted by Girl Scouts to be a Program Aid for girls in second grade. A Program Aid is like an assistant leader who puts on activities and tutoring for girls. I fell in love with meeting the girls every Monday from 2nd through 9th grade. During summers I pedaled my bike to the children’s softball field and kept the fields, ran concession, and spent anytime I could mentoring young girls. Now I am a Kid’s Hope Mentor, where I can impact children who live in tough situations.”
The American Dream – “In elementary school we are taught the American Dream. We are taught that you can grow up to have a family, a house, the job of your dreams, and that you can do anything that you want. With that image in a child’s head, he or she cannot wait to grow up. It is not until high school that you realize that this dream is not always handed to you. Many people go to school, try to find a job in their field and fail. Instead they end up unemployed or working at a low minimum wage job. Our government system has cracks, and often people fall through them. That is the importance of community volunteer agencies – to help those who fall…without that support people would continue to fall. They may not find the need to try, to overcome or succeed. Community volunteer agencies bring support, which in turn brings hope.”
My Plan – “While at Western Michigan University I will be studying business as my major. However I will be also earning my way into a non-profit minor. I do this because I eventually want to open a childrens’ center. A childrens’ center is my goal because of my childhood and my experience of volunteering with children… When children live in a community without access to affordable activities and a place to be themselves outside of school, things become less important or disappointing in life. The center would be able to include family events that are affordable for those who fall under the poverty line. These events, programs and safe havens, will provide that sense of hope that a community can give a family in need. With that hope instilled opportunities rise. It is like Dr. Martin Luther King said, “There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”
