Reflections

 Jog For Hope: A personal Tranformation

Description

I used to be a very introvert person living in my own world while neglecting others. However, since my enrollment in Canadian Pre-University I am exposed to a lot of things. Firstly, I am a MARA scholar so mainly my friends are in that same group of scholars.  One day, my Earth and Space teacher, Mr. Joel Cressman told us about this event called “Jog For Hope” and invited us to join as the volunteers team. At first, I was very lazy and ignored it. Eventually, due to peer influence me and my fellow MARA scholars joined in which I glad I did.

On the day of the event, 14 September 2014 we had to gather at Taylors Hartamas prior the opening ceremony for preparations. We were asked to be there before 5.00 a.m. in the morning which was a hard thing for me but fortunately I managed to wake up on time. We rushed to the site from Shah Alam and arrived safely, briefings and division of labors we assigned to each of us. Next, the distribution of food and event t-shirts took place. After that, we had to go to our respective positioned site.

As for me, I was in charged for check point E with 2 others. We had to guide the runners for the 10km participant to make a U-turn on the road. Although we just met that day, but the chemistry we showed really astonished me. We placed a cone in the middle of the road to indicate the runners on exactly where to turn so they would not get confused. We stood there showing the runners precise directions until about 10.30 a.m. Amazingly, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I enjoyed my time, seeing new faces, making new friends, observing the diversity of participants and actually taking part in society which I never thought I would never do. The closing ceremony was held around 11.45 a.m and it was very joyous with the prize-giving, speeches and the gathering of people from the volunteers and participants side of the event.

Interpret

Firstly, I did not expect anything from this activity because I just wanted to join my friends. Gratefully, a whole new level of unexpectedness overwhelms me. This is because not only I got to hang out with my friends, I also got 7 hours of community service credits, goodies, a certificate and something that is really valuable to me now. I must say, that this thing which I described is not something that can be bought or founded anywhere. This rare thing is a new perspective towards society. Honestly, I view the society as a cruel place filled with judgmental people. From that day onwards, I realize that the society is actually filled with people who are acceptance, helpful and supportive.  They really proved me wrong, from how we managed to work together really well, how they organize the event and how the participants react after I showed the directions. Lastly, like Michael Jordan once said “I can’t accept not trying”. Remember, try prior assumption.

Evaluation

This community service also showed me to treasure my time and effort more. Rather than wasting my time at home playing games, I should find something productive to do like this which not only improves my social life but also affect others as well. In the context of social life, I made new friends from other races and religion along the way throughout that day. Although, we only interacted for a few hours but I managed to save their phone numbers so we could keep in touch. On the other hand, in affecting others is that my effort in guiding them really eases their run. I felt proud with myself that day, like Heywood Hale Broun says sweat is the cologne of accomplishment. Start doing community service in your life, you will find more than you seek.

Plan

                This is my launching pad for further enrolment in this kind of activity, because from my preference it really had an impact on how I evaluate myself. I had just been shown a glimpse of what a community service really looks and feels like and I can tell you that it is really worth it. All the sweat, time and effort put together to serve a concoction of accomplishments to me and the event. As a result, I would preferably join other events with the same cause of helping others. My next plan is to join the Canadian Pre-University Jumble Sale, organized my Ms. Queenie. To sum it up, a helping hand really goes a long way, trust me.