Gary Soto

As a student growing up in a world, where people are too preoccupied with themselves to appreciate beauty around them, I noticed that most of the people surrounding me seemed only concerned with making themselves look good on paper. By this I mean, they busied themselves with extra AP courses, proving to themselves and others that they could carry the load of work that would make them successful in the future. I am not trying to say that what they were doing was wrong or bashing them for being over-achievers, but what I did notice was that through all the work they were lacking in emotional maturity, they were too busy to enjoy what was around them and it was when I stopped and looked that I understood that there was something that I genuinely cared about.

I stimulated my emotional growth through my community service project. I was introduced to a lady who ran a foundation named the Possible Dream Foundation, a service that raised kids with mental disabilities, especially Down Syndrome. I offered to volunteer out of politeness and lack of any other community service oppurtunities without knowing how fond I would grow of the people I was to care for in the following years.

At first I volunteered sporadically, often in moments where I felt I lacked the scruples that I should have, but over time I realized that I truly cared for what I did. The innocent, pure faces of children, untainted by the "evil" in the world, visited my dreams, giving satisfaction beyond words. It is indescribable how they make me feel, like there is nothing wrong with the world, everything is perfect in their eyes and just having someone to share their happiness with is for them the most important things in their lives. They live free from a world plagued by self-consciousness, judgment and criticism and other social struggles.

It was because of these lives I was nourishing that I decided to do something bigger. I realized how grateful the children were despite