| About Lara |
Our # 3Top Honors Fly High Award Recipient $1250 awarded!
Transformed by a trip to rural Guatemala, Lara has an incredible devotion to community service and global humanitarian needs. Her million dollar smile mirrored with a golden heart to serve others is contagious!
By far, the most life-changing community service activity I participated in was my first Humanitarian trip to rural Guatemala during my sophmore year of high school. This trip completely transformed my outlook on service, and aroused in me the passion to serve others for the rest of my life. It also taught me to be a more open person, and spurred in me the desire to try and explain to people that we are all one: peoples of all different backgrounds are more alike than we realize.
I was part of a small group of students who had decided to travel to help those in need. I knew we all shared a similar vision as to what our intended purpose was, and what we expected the outcome of our trip to be. In the weeks leading up to our departure, our lives were totally consumed with collecting all the school supplies we had planned to bring. We bonded as a group, and bubbling with the same childish excitement that comes from buying new school supplies in the fall, we maneuvered our giant shopping cart up and down the aisles, scouring them for the perfect binders, pens, and pencils. Passing satisfied looks amongst ourselves, we eagerly filled the backseat and trunk of our SUV with our prized possessions.
Then, before I realized it, we were assembling our tables outside under the hot Central American sun of the approaching day; anticipating the Mayan Q’eqchi’s happiness and gratitude for all the things that we had brought. But something changed in me when I saw Josephina’s hesitant look as I handed her the binders and yellow pencils. Instead of feeling appreciated and fulfilled, I felt naïve and ignorant. When I looked again at the tables set up, stacked with all the school supplies, I felt let down. It was as if everything I had planned for the trip to be was unrealistic, and I found myself questioning my own motives: Why did I think that I could make it “all better” by bringing material things from my life to help these people whom I really didn’t know anything about? I felt vulnerable because I realized my ignorance, and felt a certain disappointment in myself. Foolishly, I had allowed myself to think that a box of school supplies and 10 days of goodwill could make a significant difference in the lives of these Guatemalans. In the days that followed, I realized that these people had unknowingly “supplied” me with the tools to look at my life and reevaluate my idea of volunteering.
It became apparent that the Q’eqchi appreciated the volunteering of our time more than the actual gift of school supplies. From then on, I was convinced that I wanted my life to be one of service. I realized that I wanted to be a humanitarian, and continue volunteering for the rest of my life. When I got back, I began to do this. I was inspired to help people in any way that I could, knowing that the mere gesture was enough to make a difference in the lives of those I helped. It is safe to say that without this trip, I may have not discovered this passion for helping people so early, and may not have partaken in the sheer amount of community service projects that I was passionately involved in. I was also changed in that now, I am constantly trying to show people our "common humanity". This trip has inspired me to try and show people that even though we are all different on the inside, it is the freedom to be who we are that makes the world the remarkable place that it is.
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| Activities |
1.) I spearheaded a CYD initiative, the YES! (Youth Engaged in Service) Board. I have served on this youth-adult board for 3 years (2006-2009); I was Co-Chair for the first 2 years, during grades 10 and 11, and was elected Chair in grade 12.
2.) I was the Co-Vice President and later, Co-President of People to People International's (PTPI) Turning Tides Student Chapter (2006-2009), and helped organize and participated in, a Humanitarian Trip to rural Guatemala during my grade 10.
3.) I was a dedicated volunteer for the BWFC (The Better World for Children) Foundation Hands of Hope Project during my junior year (2007-2008)
4.) I volunteered every summer for three years (Summers of 2006, 2007, and 2008) at the Villa Retirement Home and Lodge in Canada, where my family spends the summers.
5.) During grades 11 and 12 (2007-2009), I was nominated and qualified for the United Nation's Fund for Women's (UNIFEM) Learners to Leaders Program.
6.) In my junior year (2007-2008), I organized a Food Drive for a local Hurricane Pantry.
7.) I also interned in the City of Sarasota's SAVE Program (Sustainability Activities Volunteer Educator) during grade 12 (2008-2009).
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| Future Plans |
My specific career goals are not yet clear to me, but I plan on studying international affairs and political science, as well as environmental studies in college. Because of my love of traveling, and of working with diverse groups of people, I would love a career in international policies and laws, and for this reason, a career in foreign diplomacy has recently piqued my interest. I have also considered a career in Environmental Policies because I recognize the importance of timely environmental action in the fight against global climate change.
I also plan on volunteering with Non-Profit Grassroots Organizations around the world, and trying to make a difference in any way that I can. The only career goal that I am sure of right now, is that one day, I hope to manage my own Non-Profit Organization. My true calling is to work with and help all kinds of people, and I know that I will be doing this whether it is part of my job description or not.
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