"This I Believe" Essay
The
following essay is a response to the national "This I Believe" essays. The goal
of this essay is to analyze deep personal values and how they guide our daily
lives. More information can be found about "This I Believe" essays at
thisibelieve.org. My
essay is a reflection on what I believe to be my calling and how it came to be.
Although it is an assignment for Gateway to University Honors, the value in such
writing goes far beyond a grade.
Enjoy!
I believe in
serving others. Be it through providing emergency
medical care, helping
with studies, or offering emotional support, I consider
service to be one
of the most fulfilling experiences. I feel called to offer
myself in
service, however, not for my own benefit, but rather so that the
person I’m
helping would know that they are cared for, that their needs are
legitimate— and most importantly—that they know someone actually
cares.
In my opinion, no need is too
little or too great to not deserve all that
I can give. Take for example my
first ever emergency medical service call. The
dispatch message for the
fire department was “Injuries from a fall.” As with
many EMS providers, I
did not know exactly what to expect—nor could I. After
arriving on scene
and meeting the patient, thorough questioning and examination
revealed no
obvious injury or evidence of a fall. Our patient, however, was
clearly in
distress and pain. As we helped her onto the ambulance cot she
shrieked
with every movement. We administered oxygen to our patient, but aside
from
that, there was not much we could physically do for her. Tears continued to
stream out of the corner of her eye, soaking the white pillow under her head.
She was clearly frightened, stating that she did not want to die then. In
this
case, although there were no real medical emergencies, our patient
clearly
needed support. Furthermore, her issues were no less legitimate
than someone
with other needs; they just manifested in different
ways.
Although I could
contribute my belief in service to many experiences in
my life, I think the
single greatest factor would be how I was raised in my
faith. My entire
family emphasized living strongly through my faith in Christ.
Having said
that, my faith in Christ is not merely something that I do out of
habit or
tradition, but rather out of true belief. It is through my belief in my
faith that I feel called to serve. Under all circumstances and with all people,
I truly consider it a calling to serve and care for all people
equally.
Although this
belief in service is integral to who I am—or who I am
trying to be—I have
to be honest: sometimes I fail. Through experiences yet to
come, however, I
hope to improve the ways that I serve others. This improvement
could
present itself in the form better emergency medical care by advancing my
training. Or perhaps it might progress from an Honors experience such as the
alternative service spring break. No matter what, my goal for all that I do
is
that I would learn how to better serve others. I believe this is what I
am
called to do and believe that no person or need is too small to not
deserve all
I can give.
The
following essay is a response to the national "This I Believe" essays. The goal
of this essay is to analyze deep personal values and how they guide our daily
lives. More information can be found about "This I Believe" essays at
thisibelieve.org. My
essay is a reflection on what I believe to be my calling and how it came to be.
Although it is an assignment for Gateway to University Honors, the value in such
writing goes far beyond a grade.
Enjoy!
I believe in
serving others. Be it through providing emergency
medical care, helping
with studies, or offering emotional support, I consider
service to be one
of the most fulfilling experiences. I feel called to offer
myself in
service, however, not for my own benefit, but rather so that the
person I’m
helping would know that they are cared for, that their needs are
legitimate— and most importantly—that they know someone actually
cares.
In my opinion, no need is too
little or too great to not deserve all that
I can give. Take for example my
first ever emergency medical service call. The
dispatch message for the
fire department was “Injuries from a fall.” As with
many EMS providers, I
did not know exactly what to expect—nor could I. After
arriving on scene
and meeting the patient, thorough questioning and examination
revealed no
obvious injury or evidence of a fall. Our patient, however, was
clearly in
distress and pain. As we helped her onto the ambulance cot she
shrieked
with every movement. We administered oxygen to our patient, but aside
from
that, there was not much we could physically do for her. Tears continued to
stream out of the corner of her eye, soaking the white pillow under her head.
She was clearly frightened, stating that she did not want to die then. In
this
case, although there were no real medical emergencies, our patient
clearly
needed support. Furthermore, her issues were no less legitimate
than someone
with other needs; they just manifested in different
ways.
Although I could
contribute my belief in service to many experiences in
my life, I think the
single greatest factor would be how I was raised in my
faith. My entire
family emphasized living strongly through my faith in Christ.
Having said
that, my faith in Christ is not merely something that I do out of
habit or
tradition, but rather out of true belief. It is through my belief in my
faith that I feel called to serve. Under all circumstances and with all people,
I truly consider it a calling to serve and care for all people
equally.
Although this
belief in service is integral to who I am—or who I am
trying to be—I have
to be honest: sometimes I fail. Through experiences yet to
come, however, I
hope to improve the ways that I serve others. This improvement
could
present itself in the form better emergency medical care by advancing my
training. Or perhaps it might progress from an Honors experience such as the
alternative service spring break. No matter what, my goal for all that I do
is
that I would learn how to better serve others. I believe this is what I
am
called to do and believe that no person or need is too small to not
deserve all
I can give.