Service

I have a world map above my bed and I put blue thumb tacks in all the places I want to go and red for all the places I have been. There is a high concentration of tacks in Europe, but for a couple of years, there has been one blue tack right over the word Africa . It’s one of least specific destinations I had planned. Somewhere in the back of my head I knew I would want to go Africa . So part of the reason I want to go Tanzania is because I will get to travel. And that means a lot to me because I haven’t done a whole lot and what I have done has been unforgettable. The opportunity to go with Teen Insight Leadership, the people I have spent my Insight Seminars with and be of service means even more.

Service is one of those things that’s kind of a paradox to me. While I do it to benefit someone else; I almost always get something out of it even if it’s just being in a better mood. I really saw the value of being of service after Leadership this past summer. I assisted a Teen Insight I in December, which I don’t know if I would have done if I hadn’t done Leadership. What I learned is to accept the present moment. Which kind of covers a lot for me to say the least. Being of service is probably the best way I could spend my time, most of the time, and it feels good.

So far I have really enjoyed the planning and fundraising. I feel like everyone is really focused and there is also a lot of enthusiasm. The seminar feels like has already started for me and I find that there are more and more opportunities, in my life, for me use the skills I learned this past summer.

-Angela Parkes