I knew this was what I had to do. Two years in the making and I was finally here, the Minnesota State High School Leagues annual State speech tournament. My piece, entitled “More Than Just A Pretty Face,” featured poetry woven together to shatter a woman's stereotypical role in society and to expose a misogynistic system that bases a woman's worth on conventional beauty. Despite my intense anxiety, this was the most important thing I've ever done; to share this message with women of all ages, in hopes to help them realize their true potential as worthy and powerful females.

The night of my first service opportunity was a cold one. My friends and I, along with the rest of the members in our high school's National Honor Society piled into a bus and drove twenty minutes away to the nearest Feed My Starving Children location. Here, we would volunteer our time packaging food to send to families and children in developing countries in need. Never before had I volunteered in something that affected people in need on a global scale, and I was excited to be able to put on my gloves and hairnet to make a difference. After two long hours, we had packaged hundreds of meals that would go to Haiti to feed young school children in need. Despite my aching feet and sore shoulders from scooping food and moving boxes, I had never been more satisfied. I accredit my love for service to that day, two years ago, that left a lasting impression on me. It inspired a love within me for something even deeper than volunteering, it fostered my love for humanity. In a world where we have become detached from the people around us, I truly believe that it is essential for every one of us to step back and consider human life. Whether this is helping an elderly neighbor with their groceries, or engaging in non-profit volunteer work that impacts people on a national scale, remembering our humility is imperative. I believe we can all make the world a better place for the generations before us, and the generations to come, by making compassion and generosity a daily part of our lives. However, all big change starts small, by doing what you can with what you already have. In the two years since I have been involved in my community, primarily through the National Honor Society, I have completed over 40 hours of community service. These things range from helping professionals in the community when work is needed, to collecting and donating formula that goes to young mothers in need. My philosophy behind it all is simply to remember people. One of the two accomplishments I am most proud of that adheres to that motto was volunteering in my high school Tackle Cancer fundraiser. I had aided in helping my school set up the annual carnival games we used to help raise money for the cause. Between classes, I would report to the gym to set up tables and chairs and draw posters advertising the different booths. The night of the carnival, I, along with all the members of the National Honor Society, worked over five hours and raised thousands of dollars to donate to the campaign. Later, I joined a committee to promote our local elementary schools “I Love To Read Month”. A group of us sat down and planned out our theme, and with the help of our National Honor Society leader we ordered materials to decorate the halls of the third-grade classrooms. For the next month, I drew posters of dragons and unicorns that promoted reading and education. Taking this responsibility from the teachers allowed them to focus on their students as we were able to create an enchanting environment for them to get excited about reading. The excitement on the children's faces and the appreciative emails from teachers we received for weeks afterward was worth the hours of after school stress and work. This year, volunteering has become a lot more difficult given the circumstances we are living in, but this hasn’t stopped me from trying to make a difference. Most recently, I spent hours at my kitchen island making cards and motivational messages to donate to the local hospitals and nursing homes to motivate our frontline heroes. I believe that when you are truly dedicated to a cause, regardless of the challenges you face, it is essential to do what you can when you can. I hope that my efforts in the community will also inspire other young people to look around them and learn to value human life in their communities and in the world. By practicing compassion and generosity in our day to day lives, we won’t only become better people, but the world will become a better place altogether. Ultimately, that is the change I want to see.