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One of the best college students on campus here
A couple of months ago I signed up for a volunteer project on campus - to rehabilitate two adjoining rooms in a woman's shelter. The shelter is basically geared towards providing a safe place for women to learn life skills, get back on their feet, and find employment so they can care for themselves. The rooms we had were specifically going to be used by a woman with an infant.
The project took a bit longer than we'd planned for - originally it was only suppose to be two days... I'm not sure how many people they got the first day (I was out of town) but on the second day they told me there were a lot less people... and just today I was told that a lot of the other students were whining about how much work it had been. (and yes it was a lot of work, but personally I thought it was fun)
But the end product was pretty cool. One of the students (a woman in her early 40s) was an interior design major and planned out how everything was going to look. The walls had fresh paint in interesting colors - yellow, blue, green, & teal. Track lighting was installed by a contractor. The original tile floors were still there, but had been covered with hard board and fake vinyl to make it look like hard wood floors. They had really pretty curtains made up for the windows. Oh and since we couldn't get rid of the old plumbing in the corner of both rooms, tension-rods were installed with pretty fabric hanging down as an interesting way to cover it up. And... for the baby's room we even had a working chalkboard painted on the wall, with a wooden border attached to it. (yes you can actually get chalk-board paint).
But the hero of the story isn't the designer... it isn't me either even though I worked with them until it was done..
The hero of the story is a young man (M+).
From what I've been told M+ grew up without a lot. He doesn't talk about himself much but from the bits and pieces people have heard... he grew up between an aunt and his grandmother, lived in one of the shelters as a child, and at one point had even considered joining a gang just because he didn't have family.
M+ is currently in his early 20s. He's very quiet - and as I said he doesn't talk about himself much. He currently lives with his grandmother. He doesn't have a car so he takes the city bus to college.
But why is M+ the star of this?
This project was entirely his. He was the one who came up with the idea, who went ahead with the planning... He ran a fundraiser and got a little bit of $ for it (less than 100). Then he worked a summer job to raise the rest of it himself.
Yeah, this quiet kid who doesn't have a lot of stuff himself went and worked a summer job to raise the rest of the money himself. The contractor I mentioned? M+ paid him out of his own pocket. Someone told me today that he roughly donated $600 to have these two rooms turned into a place where someone can live in dignity.
Yet he still doesn't promote himself.
I'm still thinking of what one woman told me today - how he had considered joining a gang for family... cos I'm so glad he didn't. With the choices he's made... I don't think he realizes just how much people respect and like him. Approach anyone on campus who's associated with volunteer programs and mention M+'s name .. their faces will light up and they'll start talking about how wonderful he is.
To me... He's an example of what more people need to be like.
It's not all about "what can I get out of this system" but "what can I give ?"
The project took a bit longer than we'd planned for - originally it was only suppose to be two days... I'm not sure how many people they got the first day (I was out of town) but on the second day they told me there were a lot less people... and just today I was told that a lot of the other students were whining about how much work it had been. (and yes it was a lot of work, but personally I thought it was fun)
But the end product was pretty cool. One of the students (a woman in her early 40s) was an interior design major and planned out how everything was going to look. The walls had fresh paint in interesting colors - yellow, blue, green, & teal. Track lighting was installed by a contractor. The original tile floors were still there, but had been covered with hard board and fake vinyl to make it look like hard wood floors. They had really pretty curtains made up for the windows. Oh and since we couldn't get rid of the old plumbing in the corner of both rooms, tension-rods were installed with pretty fabric hanging down as an interesting way to cover it up. And... for the baby's room we even had a working chalkboard painted on the wall, with a wooden border attached to it. (yes you can actually get chalk-board paint).
But the hero of the story isn't the designer... it isn't me either even though I worked with them until it was done..
The hero of the story is a young man (M+).
From what I've been told M+ grew up without a lot. He doesn't talk about himself much but from the bits and pieces people have heard... he grew up between an aunt and his grandmother, lived in one of the shelters as a child, and at one point had even considered joining a gang just because he didn't have family.
M+ is currently in his early 20s. He's very quiet - and as I said he doesn't talk about himself much. He currently lives with his grandmother. He doesn't have a car so he takes the city bus to college.
But why is M+ the star of this?
This project was entirely his. He was the one who came up with the idea, who went ahead with the planning... He ran a fundraiser and got a little bit of $ for it (less than 100). Then he worked a summer job to raise the rest of it himself.
Yeah, this quiet kid who doesn't have a lot of stuff himself went and worked a summer job to raise the rest of the money himself. The contractor I mentioned? M+ paid him out of his own pocket. Someone told me today that he roughly donated $600 to have these two rooms turned into a place where someone can live in dignity.
Yet he still doesn't promote himself.
I'm still thinking of what one woman told me today - how he had considered joining a gang for family... cos I'm so glad he didn't. With the choices he's made... I don't think he realizes just how much people respect and like him. Approach anyone on campus who's associated with volunteer programs and mention M+'s name .. their faces will light up and they'll start talking about how wonderful he is.
To me... He's an example of what more people need to be like.
It's not all about "what can I get out of this system" but "what can I give ?"
ed.
to M+.
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