Volunteer Experiences
Below are a couple of ways I try to be an active member of my community and give back to the ones I care about!
credit: Steve Maylone
St. Johns hospital, detroit, MI
Dates: June 2018 - JUNE 2020
hours: > 100
At St. Johns Hospital, I am responsible for a variety of tasks. I stock the shelves with supplies and food, clean the beds, take out the linen and walk the therapy dogs Paxton and Hope. I enjoy volunteering here a lot because it often puts things in perspective. Often times with school and work, I get lost in all the tasks I need to do or the grades I need to maintain, but when everytime I walk into the hospital I am always reminded of the things that are bigger than my education or career. Taking Paxton and Hope for walks allows me to spend time with myself and clear my head. It allows me to focus on things like the grass, the sky, and the birds all around. Also, seeing the smile that Paxton and Hope bring smiles to children’s faces genuinely makes my day. Moreover, being able to see the faces in the Emergency Room and watching patients families smile when they are healed is a heartwarming feeling. Knowing that I contribute to helping the doctors and nurses be as efficient as possible makes me feel content.
Foundation for the international medical Relief of children
Dates: September 2015 - April 2017
Hours: 70
FIMRC is an organization that I was active in during freshman and sophomore year on campus. Throughout my time with the organization, I regularly volunteered at places like adaptive gymnastics where we spent teaching kids to navigate obstacle courses. I really enjoyed this! Helping kids overcome difficulties like autism and learn to navigate courses was honestly quite inspiring.
Moreover, I also volunteered over Spring Break to Peru. Every year, we travel to same area, Huancayo, Peru and check the locals vitals and make sure they do not have diabetes or Iron deficiency as living up in the Andes can make living with those conditions worse. Iron deficiency in hemoglobin means that oxygen cannot be transported though blood at adequate amounts. Up in the Andes, the amount of oxygen is available is already much scarcer then down at sea level. Therefore, ever year we come back to check on the underprivileged areas and try to routinely checkup on the people there.