The Woman's Club of Medford Alice Mietz Scholarship

Please explain how your experience volunteering and participating in community  service has shaped your perspective on humanity:

Participating in community service and volunteering has

shaped my perspective on humanity in that I have been able to

see the positive effects of my service on others. Growing up, I

was fortunate enough to attend Saint Mary of the Lakes School.

There, the importance of community service was instilled in me.

Through the years, I have learned that the needs of others may

be vastly different from my own, and that when I am able to help

others, I should do so in any way that I can. By serving people

who are experiencing both the lowest of lows and the highest of

highs, I have gained a deeper understanding of the meaning of

community service overall. Witnessing the impact that I have

made has molded me into a more understanding, compassionate, and

empathetic young adult whose perspective has shifted to one that

focuses on the fact that you can never truly know what someone

else is going through. I have been blessed to live in a community 

that puts so much emphasis on giving back, and it is

because of this that I have been able to give back to so many

members of my town. As a result of volunteering, I have formed

so many connections throughout my community, and I have been

able to broaden my perspective even further through the diverse

groups of people I serve and serve with. Additionally, seeing

diverse groups of people with sincere intentions come together

for a greater purpose has allowed me to see that there are good

people in this world and that anyone can make a difference,

whether it be locally or globally. Having the opportunity to

volunteer with and serve so many different people has given me

an understanding of how people from all walks of life can come

together to achieve a common goal. It has been an eye-opening

experience to witness the impact that my service has created on

people throughout my life, and I have learned so many valuable

lessons from that. One of them being that no matter who you are

or where you come from, you can always make a positive

difference in the world, and that even a seemingly small gesture

can have an enormous impact. Positive change is always needed,

and volunteering has made me understand that.