I can’t believe it’s already been a month since I started my
internship! It has been an amazing month! The best part of it, so far, has been
the people that I have been able to meet. On my first day of desk hours I was
able to meet Marissa*. Marissa is a homeless neighbor who spends a lot of time
at the KCB offices, and I had heard a lot about her, so when she came in I was
excited to be able to talk to her. She sat and talked with me as she waited for
Ethan to come and meet her.
The first thing she told me was that she didn’t like me and
asked me why it wasn’t Kendall at the desk! After that, we ended up talking for
about 20 minutes and she told me a little bit about herself and the struggles
she had gone through the night before. Her strength was evident as she talked.
She began to say how tired she was, then stopped herself and said "but you
know I’m a survivor.” Hearing those words come out of her mouth after all of
the tragic things that she had just told me inspired me to hang on.
So many times in my own life I get so caught up in what I’m
going through, that I can forget that other people go through things too. If
Marissa can survive and keep on, then I can too. Also, as she was leaving, she
informed me how much she liked me.
I also got to meet one of the organizers of national night
out, an event that I am helping to plan. Her name is Sharon and I was able to
hear about her vision for national night out and also why she does what she
does. It was inspiring to hear her passion and to see her face light up as she
showed me pictures of previous events. Meeting Marissa and Cheryl* really
inspired me and made me realize that everyone has a purpose. Sometimes the
people that you think you are helping are really meant to help you. I love
finding hope in the most unexpected places.
*Name changed
Written by: Jennifer Willis
No comments:
Post a Comment