Putting Life Into Perspective

Today’s Guest Blogger is our lovely intern Lauren Falco. Check out what she has to say about gaining perspective.

There are often moments in life that just put everything into perspective; light bulb moments that make you realize just how fortunate you really are.

My light bulb moment came in March when I traveled to Washington, DC with a group from my college during my spring break on a service trip. When I first signed up for the trip I was really excited to be doing something good and to get the chance to meet some new people. However, as spring break grew closer and closer I became anxious and annoyed with myself for not thinking through the fact that I was giving up my precious time off from school to go live with people I didn’t know for a week in a different state, doing stressful and time consuming work. A few of my close friends were going away to Florida for the week and all I wanted was to go with them. I had a serious moment when I considered blowing off the trip all together and saying my Great Aunt Emily died. I don’t have a Great Aunt Emily.

Mustering up every ounce of courage and positive energy I could find and throwing myself into the unknown of the trip was the best decision I have made in a long time and it turned out to be the best experience of my life.

We woke up every morning by 7am and drove in our big blue van to So Others Might Eat (S.O.M.E), a food pantry and soup kitchen, where we served breakfast and lunch to hundreds of D.C.’s homeless and worked to spruce up the facility. Working at S.O.M.E opened my eyes to the size of the homeless community in our nation’s capitol. I have to say that I was appalled. I think that when most people think of Washington, D.C. they think of all of the beautiful monuments and museums and cherry blossom trees, which are all there, but under the surface of the majesty of the city, is struggle and despair.

The first day we served breakfast at S.O.M.E was extremely disconcerting for me. I like to consider myself a person who is pretty well rounded, but watching some of these people enter through the doors, waiting to be served coffee and French toast was an experience I will not forget. My most poignant memory of my experience at S.O.M.E was when one of the regular volunteers asked a man how things were going, and he replied, “I have a mess of things going on in my life, but…I’m OK.” I realized how small many of my problems are and how easy it is to lose sight of just how fortunate I really am.

I will be going on another service trip with this program from my school in December and will be traveling to Ecuador. I look forward to having another life changing experience and the opportunity to help others and also help myself become a more grateful and accepting individual.