During my sixteen years on the only livable floating rock in the Milky Way Galaxy, I have lived in three cities, two states, and two countries. In each I have created long lasting bonds with groups and individuals through my day to day activities, from school to sports. It is through these relationships that communities form. This is something that I have come to realize as I participate in something that I have been doing for years: volunteering.
For years I have participated in community service activities. I grew up in Los Angeles and started volunteering in my neighborhood at the local dental clinic helping organize the client files. I went on to continue various forms of service work from tutoring to helping at food pantries.
As I am spending my final year of high school in Vietnam, I currently volunteer at a center for children who suffer from both physical and mental disabilities due to Agent Orange. One day, one of the mothers of the victims came up to me and said thank you for what my classmates and I were doing. She said that her daughter always talked about us. Given the Vietnam War history between our two countries, she told us how she was surprised there were American teenagers willing to come to Vietnam to learn about the culture and help out here. Her comments made me reflect on my role now as a “community representative” for both my hometown and for my country. As one of the remaining seven spending the entire year in Hanoi I am not only a student, but also a representative: of my family, my school, my town and ultimately the United States of America.
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