Building a Better World

from Kristin’s winning essay…

“Traveling has always been an experience that I wish I could enjoy more often. I have been on many road trips with my family in the past, but I’ve never had the opportunity to choose my destination and travel independently. While travel is obviously fun, I would like to use my previous experiences to evolve into a better individual…

For the past two years I have volunteered at the West Muskegon Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, which has given me well over 300 hours of volunteer services with domestic and wild animals. I know that my experiences will help me greatly when studying wild and captive cheetahs in Namibia.  I hope that you consider me for this year’s Independent Travel Scholarship and that I will be lucky enough to be given this chance to change my world and the world of those around me.”

from Lyanne’s winning essay…

“Volunteering is showing that you are aware that you are not the most important being on the planet.  Volunteering means showing that there is something in this world that you care about other than yourself.  To me volunteering is important, because it is a means of reaching out and helping others.  If people didn’t volunteer, or there were no agencies at which people could volunteer, than things would be a lot worse off.  Homeless people would have no shelter, hungry people would go unfed, and litter would pile the streets.  I have done over 120 hours of volunteer work that started in my 11th grade year.  I know that 120 hours is not a lot, but it’s a start…

I know that wonderful feeling you get from knowing someone cares.  I for one like to be the person who shows a child, a mother in need, a dying person, a homeless person, or any other person who needs me that I care.  I love the feeling you get when you see a sad, scared or unsure person smile; or when you look back, after a hard day of cleaning, on a clean patch of land that animals can once again inhabit.  To me there is no better feeling.  I feel that, with all that others have done for me, I’m kind of paying it forward.  That is what volunteering is to me.”

from Renee’s winning essay…

“I went to Washington D.C. with Close-Up and came home more than educated in the issues of our US government, I became involved.  In addition to Washington D.C., I took part in a U.S. government A.C.T. assignment. I was allowed to pick a topic of interest and fight for the issue. I chose a controversial issue, homosexuals being able to have equal rights. This assignment allowed me to move outside of my comfort zone that I was so familiar with. I also had the opportunity to view other people in the class fighting for their issues. This project allowed me to broaden my knowledge on global issues.

All my life I believed my country, the United States, was the best. I felt that we had everything, we would always be safe, and the government was always right. Why would I have thought any differently when I had a roof over my head, food on the table, and no battles in my back yard?

My view on the world has changed significantly over the past two years.  The United States is not always right. Not everyone has a safe place to live or a meal to eat. Several people are living in the middle of a war; they fall asleep each night to the sound of bombs going off. Point being, this world is far from paradise.”

The 2006 OEA Building A Better World Scholarship winners are:

• Renee Schmiege – Global Awareness ($700)
• Lyanne Wesley – Community Involvement ($700)
• Kristen Peabody – Independent Travel ($700)

Congratulations to Renee, Lyanne, and Kristen.  Kristen and Renee are both Close Up Washington Veterans.  Their involvement in the world extends outside of the classrom.  Lyanne was instrumental in the Oakridge School District fundraiser which brought over $1500 worth of books to inner city New Orleans kids, who had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina.   Please check separate links highlighted above to get a better insight into each of these graduates.