President of the National Honor Society Essay

As I look into the past several years, there are more(prenominal) accomplishments that I house be proud of. I confirm been adequate to maintain a 3. 95 grade point average while in game school. At the same time, I wee had the good fortune to influence as President of the National Honor Society at Keller superior School. I vex similarly been able to lead the drum neckcloth battery of the school marching band as the Captain. I have also dedicated much of my spare time to working with juvenility at Gateway perform as a Youth assembly Leader. Finally, I was given the chance to be nominated as Keller high-pitched Schools Homecoming King in 2008.All of these accomplishments have helped shape the person I have become. However, the around abridgeificant hatch that has impacted my life was the time I spent at the trance Center in one of the many slum neighborhoods of Los Angeles. No red ink or blue clothing, is what caught my attention as I recruited on the jaunt to Los Angeles. Simply wearing the trademark colors of the famous Bloods and Crips gangs was something to be avoided. This regain stuck with me more than any other rule or guideline that I had been presented with.Suddenly, the task I was about to undertake became palpableistic and I was frankly frightened about what I was going to check off. I had been given brilliant illustrations about the poverty and death that I was about to witness. However, growing up in an upper middle class neighborhood didnt reach me for the reality that many plenty face each day. I asked myself how do I pray for people whose best days are non 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.The building was called the romance Center. The fact that I grew up in an moneyed neighborhood didnt prepare me for the horrid accommodations I would be living with. Before settling in I was given a nametag that ident ified me as a member of the Gateway Church. Although inevitable for identification, my badge was as irrelevant as a Christmas tree on Halloween. For two weeks I would not be known by the affluent suburb of my origin, but I would be known as a fifteen year old(a), six foot two, African American anthropoid who was a temporary guest of a fifteen story unsettled shelter.I accepted my nametag and proceeded to my elbow room. I quickly took in my surroundings and came to the induction 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 do the room appear acidulous and unfriendly. My roommates and I had only three range beds, a nightstand, a closet, a toilet, a sink and six towels, which do for uncomfortable conditions. However, this simplicity allowed us to step outside our comfort order and prepare ourselves for the work ahead.The white-stained walls, questionable mattress stains, unfa miliar smells, and random bed linens left field our young imaginations to do their work, but there wasnt time to dwell on it there was work to do This work was rewarding. There were many opportunities to serve, both individually and as part of a larger group. around of these missions were optional and some were mandatory. However, this didnt matter. What truly mattered was the work I was able to engage in so that I could make a keen attempt to improve the lives of others. I was able to feed the homeless, work with the childrens ministry and work with the food truck ministry.After a very bypass time, I realized the dedication of the permanent staff at the Dream Center. I only had the night to rest and I was constantly meddlesome with one task or another during the day. I began to look up to the people who did this job each and every day. During my free time, I employed in Bible study, prayer groups and devotions in order to prepare for the around challenging and demanding even t that was to come. It was an event that would change my life forever. On July 19, 2007 at 500pm I began to prepare for a journey that would impact the origin of my future.The Skid Row Missions drawing card gave a short thirty scrap preparation speech about the mission I was about to embark upon. You are about to embark on one of the most rewarding, frightening, and most perilous events of your life, are the words that I will never forget. He led a prayer, gave instructions and also gave caution about the danger of the job I was about to do. I looked around at the others in my group and saw similar emotions on their faces I was excited and I was scared but the most intense emotion I was touching was eagerness to go out and do something for person in need.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 relative honorablety 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 move grim and unnoticeable. The skyscrapers were shot into the darkening sky like a poke fired to start the Kentucky Derby. New technology and infrastructure meshed with old landmarks to create eye candy for everyone who paid any degree of attention.My exhilaration began to fade as I saw the sign. The massive green sign that said SKID ROW-NEXT EXIT, reminded me that it was time to become alienated in the new world I was venturing into. I directly began to sense sliminess and death even though it was daylight and everyone around me was alive. My fear short faded and was replaced with an inner peace from God that told me that I was right where I needed to be. One member of our group utterd what we were all thinking, Is this safe? It didnt matter anymore what mattered was that we had arrived and we had a job to do.We couldnt have known that this simple question would come up once more and again as we did our ministry work. We began our ministry by passing out Ozarka water and Famous Amos cookies. We were immediately tested by a large African American mannish in tattered clothing. He asked for two waters but we had been specifically instructed to only give out one water and one sharpness to each person. After five minutes of listening to escalating expletives as aleatory as an F-5 tornado in Texas, we finally gave him a second water. We feared tolerable for our safety that we felt we had no choice.We continued our work under a thinly disguised veil of complete terror. As we proceeded down 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 thi ngs that were on the hearts of these poverty-stricken people. As I prayed, I also began to hypothesize the images I was seeing. The images began to way heavy on my heart and I wondered how people could live this way.The most important question I asked myself was, Why isnt 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 deep fretfulness to help the poverty-stricken people living in Los Angeles. The Gateway Church youth group was able to break apart my arrogant, spoiled encephalon so that I could move toward the mentality of someone who is in choice mode. I stepped into someone elses everyday life, and had to survive based on the little that I knew.I learned that the world is very distinguishable than the small corner of the world where I live. It is my job as someone who has experienced the troubled world to tell other people what the real world is like, so that we can work together to be the voice of the people who struggle to simply survive. I will no perennial consider 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 develop into the man I am today and they also set the precedent for the man I will be in the future.