I wrote this after I accepted the invitation to join ALIVE as a board member. I have learned so much in this past year about the work, about our community, and about myself. I hope to share these lessons with you soon, but for now, here’s the backstory of how it started.
As a daughter of immigrants, I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside ALIVE’s staff and board to encourage students and guide them to reach their full potential. There were many obstacles I faced as a young student, from simple things like filling out forms that I brought home in my backpack to trying to figure out how to get supplies for my science fair projects. There were too many obstacles that I didn’t even know I had at the time but now I see as a parent. Beyond my own experiences as a student who could have used extra support, not necessarily in completing the actual schoolwork, but in navigating different programs available in the school in the early years and understanding college admissions tests and career planning, I’m passionate about helping others, especially young people, achieve their dreams. I have seen how communities are transformed when their members receive the resources they need to survive and thrive. It is not just the person receiving the assistance that benefits but families, businesses, and neighborhoods are positively impacted as well. I think it all begins with small things, stories, and smiles.
I joined every club in middle school. I had lunch meetings and after-school meetings for movie club, computer club, bowling club, art club, chair crew, various community service clubs, and academic clubs. I tutored. I was part of the student council. I was in orchestra and choir. They were all amazing opportunities to meet new people, participate in competitions, and learn new things. But in high school, I decided to join just one club. It was a community service club. I remember the first community service project I did in sixth grade. We sorted and packed non-perishable food items, and then we went into the childcare center of the women’s shelter and helped the preschoolers get ready for naptime. Those kids sure had lots of stories to tell us. I remember the smiles on their faces as they laid down on their cots to be tucked in. I remember the smiles on the faces of the people we visited in the senior home. We brought flowers and our listening ears because those ladies sure had lots of stories to tell us too. Do you know who else had stories to tell us? The unhoused guests we served and ate with in a small San Francisco church. We would arrive early on those Saturday mornings to sort through bins of clothes to hang up for guests to select from and then we serve some delicious homemade food and refilled mugs with coffee and cups with water as needed. It has made me see how to live in community and how small things can sometimes might big impactful things that bring transformation.
These opportunities have helped me to recognize where I came from and what I have overcome. It reminds me of who I am and I hope to honor those who have been an encouragement and support to me through my life with the work I do. It allows me to partner with those working directly with the students so that our communities can be one of innovation, growth, and hope. When given the opportunity to give of what I have to offer, I have found that I actually gain so much more. Whether I see measurable results or not from the work I do, learning the stories of those I’ve met in-person or through photos who have been the recipient of donations has made me more understanding and empathetic of others’ situations. And I hope my girls will have similar memories from their volunteer work preparing food packets to send off to those who need them, picking up trash in our neighborhood, collecting items for hygiene “blessing” bags for our church’s ministry to our unhoused neighbors, and now being a part of ALIVE’s backpack drive. Being a part of the ALIVE community has made me realize how we are all more alike than we think but also how our differences make our world a beautiful place.
Here’s another post I wrote about ALIVE: You Are a Part of a Bigger Story
Learn more about ALIVE or DONATE here: https://www.alivestudents.org/alive-giving-tuesday
