“A New Friend”

It was a Wednesday morning, my alarm clock rang and I hurried to my dad’s car. The twenty- five minute drive, in spite of the fact that it was time consuming, gave personal time to consider my day and anticipate working at the hospital. My position as a hospital volunteer was the most exhausting activity ever. I knew Nathan would be waiting for me. He was always waiting for me. I envisioned that he’d have officially set up the table game “Battleship” so that we’d squander no time when I arrived. I expected a heap of DVDs on the table close to his bedside, one of which we would watch that day. In any case, I was additionally mindful that he was powerless, maybe, excessively frail due to the side effects of chemotherapy. As I gazed out  the car,  warm air blowing into my face, my I reminisced about the first occasion when I met Nathan.

The first month I volunteered at Kings ‘s County Hospital was extremely hard. It was saddening for me to see how sick the children were. I recollect at some point amid the summer of my junior year, I was walking around the floors giving out little presents such as dolls, toy trucks, and books and that’s when I met Nathan. In Intensive Care, a five-year-old kid with a wide range of machines hooked up to him. At the beginning, I was frightened; I didn’t know how he would react to me giving him a present. I had bought him one of my favorite childhood books. It is called, “Last Stop on Market Street”. The book was about the value of helping the less fortunate and how to grow up to be a good person. When I was young, this book helped me a lot in terms of building my character. I believe that if I passed down this book to Nathan, he would also think about different to improve his character and the way he views society. Nathan reached his hand out, took it, with the greatest smile on his face, and mine. I played with him for the remainder of the time and toward the end I didn’t want to leave him. I was so amazed that a child this small and this sick could have so much spirit. I wanted to learn everything about him and do whatever I could to keep that smile on his face. Every week,  I would come and visit him with a little present and every time that little hand would reach out, accompanied by a smile. I began to realize that Nathan was beginning to become strong again. His parents notified me that the cancer was starting to go away. Overjoyed by the news, I ran to Nathan’s bedside and gave him the tightest hug. He began to thank me for giving him that book and he expressed to me that reading it starting to make him want to live again. As he was telling me this, tears started to stream down my face. This was the first time someone ever expressed to me how much I impacted their life in such a short amount of time.

The experience with Nathan drove me to continue volunteering. At the point when another class began at my school, Community Service Leadership Seminar, I applied, feeling it would enable me to build up my leadership abilities. By becoming a leader in my school, I could change individuals’ perspectives about community service and also get them involved in their community..

At King’s County Children’s Hospital we do a wide range of things. The work ranges from playing Nintendo with children to watching over a girl who has given bone marrow to her younger brother. We tutor children and furthermore let guardians have a little break while we watch the children. Now and again we are given office work or craftsmanship ventures and, since I have volunteered there for some time, I presently prepare other volunteers. Inspired by Nathan ‘s spirit, I am ready to see the advantages of contributing my time to community service as I do at Kings County Hospital. The relationship that I had with Nathan inspired me to always live life to the best of my abilities. He taught me how to always smile, even when the circumstances are quite challenging. He has also motivated me to read more inspirational books to help strengthen my character. Now, I share these experiences and knowledge I gain from this experience with everyone I know.

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