'President of the National Honor Society Essay\r'

'As I followup the past several years, there ar more an(prenominal) accomplishments that I can be proud of. I halt been equal to(p) to maintain a 3. 95 grade point average while in high school. At the same sequence, I have had the good fortune to act as chair of the National Honor Society at Keller ut approximately School. I have alike been able to ply the drum line battery of the school marching music band as the Captain. I have similarly dedicated much of my spare time to take ining with y knocked out(p)h at Gateway Church as a Youth Group Leader. Fin tout ensembley, I was condition the chance to be nominated as Keller senior high school School’s Homecoming world power in 2008.\r\nAll of these accomplishments have helped shape the person I have become. However, the roughly significant experience that has impacted my life was the time I spent at the Dream Center in unity of the m whatsoever slum quasi(prenominal)itys of Los Angeles. â€Å"No red or sof t clothing,” is what caught my attention as I embarked on the transit to Los Angeles. Simply wearing the trademark colors of the noteworthy Bloods and Crips gangs was roundthing to be avoided. This rule stuck with me more than any separate rule or guideline that I had been presented with.\r\nSuddenly, the business I was nigh to undertake became satisfyingistic and I was honestly frightened about what I was release to see. I had been given vivid illustrations about the meagerness and death that I was about to witness. However, growing up in an upper middle class similarity didn’t engineer me for the pragmatism that many mickle face for each one day. I asked myself how do I pray for people whose best days are not even comparable to my worst days. soon I was able to see firsthand where I would be staying for the next two weeks as I tried to find an answer.\r\nThe building was called the Dream Center. The item that I grew up in an affluent neighborhood didn ’t prepare me for the horrid accommodations I would be donjon with. Before settling in I was given a nametag that identified me as a member of the Gateway Church. Although require for identification, my badge was as irrelevant as a Christmas tree on Halloween. For two weeks I would not be k instantly by the affluent suburb of my origin, just I would be know as a 15 year old, six foot two, African American male who was a temporary guest of a fifteen story homeless shelter.\r\nI true my nametag and proceeded to my mode. I quickly took in my surroundings and came to the cultivation that my temporary living quarters could certainly be compared to a prison. The room was stark and devoid of any emotion or color. The white walls made the room appear harsh and unfriendly. My roommates and I had still collar bunk beds, a nightstand, a closet, a toilet, a sink and six towels, which made for uncomfortable conditions. However, this relaxation allowed us to step outside our comf ort district and prepare ourselves for the work ahead.\r\nThe white-stained walls, questionable mattress stains, unfamiliar smells, and hit-or-miss bed linens left(p) our young imaginations to do their work, that there wasn’t time to dwell on it †there was work to do! This work was rewarding. in that location were many opportunities to serve, both individually and as stir up of a larger theme. Some of these missions were optional and some were mandatory. However, this didn’t matter. What truly mattered was the work I was able to engage in so that I could come a small attempt to improve the lives of others. I was able to feed the homeless, work with the children’s ministry and work with the food truck ministry.\r\n subsequently a actually shortly time, I realized the dedication of the invariable staff at the Dream Center. I only had the night to rest and I was constantly invade with one task or another during the day. I began to look up to the pe ople who did this job each and e very day. During my free time, I engaged in Bible study, prayer groups and devotions in order to prepare for the most challenging and demanding event that was to come. It was an event that would turn my life forever. On July 19, 2007 at 5:00pm I began to prepare for a journey that would impact the personal line of credit of my future.\r\nThe Skid Row Missions drawing card gave a short thirty minute preparation speech about the mission I was about to embark upon. â€Å"You are about to embark on one of the most rewarding, frightening, and most jeopardyous events of your life,” are the words that I go away never forget. He led a prayer, gave instructions and overly gave caution about the danger of the job I was about to do. I looked virtually at the others in my group and saw similar emotions on their faces †I was excited and I was panic-stricken but the most intense emotion I was feeling was eagerness to go out and do something for mortal in need.\r\nâ€Å"Be smart, be alert, be careful, and trust in God”, our church leader warned as we boarded the fifteen-passenger Ford vans that would take us from recounting safety to the harsh and dangerous street known as Skid Row. The van weaved in and out of the notorious Los Angeles traffic making me feel as if I were riding a rollercoaster. I took in my surroundings as they turned grim and dark. The skyscrapers were pushover into the darkening sky like a bullet fired to start the Kentucky Derby. New technology and root word meshed with old landmarks to create eye sugarcoat for everyone who paid any degree of attention.\r\nMy excitement began to travel by as I saw the sign. The massive parkland sign that said â€Å"SKID ROW-NEXT EXIT”, reminded me that it was time to become alienated in the new adult male I was venturing into. I immediately began to sense sinfulness and death even though it was daylight and everyone nearly me was alive. My fear soon faded and was replaced with an inner serenity from God that told me that I was right where I needed to be. One member of our group voiced what we were all thinking, â€Å"Is this safe? ” It didn’t matter anymore †what mattered was that we had arrived and we had a job to do.\r\nWe couldn’t have known that this naive question would come up once more and again as we did our ministry work. We began our ministry by passing out Ozarka piddle and Famous Amos cookies. We were immediately tested by a large African American male in tattered clothing. He asked for two waters but we had been specifically instructed to only give out one water and one snack to each person. After five minutes of listening to escalating expletives as uncertain as an F-5 tornado in Texas, we finally gave him a second water. We feared enough for our safety that we felt we had no choice.\r\nWe continued our work under a thinly disguised veil of complete terror. As we proceeded foll ow up the dark streets, I had to constantly remind myself that I was not watching a movie. The people I saw were real and were suffering from very real afflictions. I was able to look past this reality by praying for the people I came into contact with. I prayed for healing, strength, jobs, addictions and sickness and many other things that were on the hearts of these poverty-stricken people. As I prayed, I also began to ponder the images I was seeing. The images began to way heavy on my heart and I wondered how people could live this way.\r\nThe most important question I asked myself was, â€Å"Why isn’t anyone doing something about this? ” I received my answer when I realized that I was doing something. It was something small but it was something. As the trip to the Dream Center came to an end, I was left with a heavy heart and a wakeless passion to help the poverty-stricken people living in Los Angeles. The Gateway Church youth group was able to break apart my arro gant, spoiled learning ability so that I could move toward the mentality of someone who is in survival mode. I stepped into someone else’s everyday life, and had to survive based on the short(p) that I knew.\r\nI learned that the world is very different than the small corner of the world where I live. It is my job as someone who has experienced the profligate world to tell other people what the real world is like, so that we can work in concert to be the voice of the people who struggle to exclusively survive. I will no longer submit perfect grades and being crowned Homecoming King as my most important accomplishments. Instead, I now know that the events of this trip did more to help me go up into the man I am today and they also set the precedent for the man I will be in the future.\r\n'