Reflective Writing

Reflective writing about volunteering and a life lesson I learned:
I will never forget those eyes. No matter where life may take me, no matter how my path unfolds, that moment, that look, that face, those eyes will remain etched in my mind. In every lifetime, there are a few moments that can be deemed life-changing and are capable of defining one's time on this earth. The summer of 2008 was one of those moments, when a small and innocent child deeply impacted me through those ineffable, poignant, unforgettable eyes.
We as a society, or a least the society I grew up in, is governed by materialism as many of us go through life looking solely for self-improvement and self-happiness. As much as I loath to admit, this was exactly how I was, and even when I did volunteer to help others, it was for the volunteer credit, not for the people themselves. In the summer of 2008, this all changed when my family took a trip to India. I had of course been there before to visit my grandparents and other extended family members, but never had I ventured into the rural depths of the country as I would do that summer. When we landed in India in June of that year, my parents first broke to me the news that we would be visiting a school in a small town near the place my dad had grown up as a young child. At the time, I was not sure whether I should be excited to see how far my dad had come from his poverty-stricken town or disappointed that I wouldn't be able to spend my time in the luxury of my grandparents house in the middle of the Chennai, a major city in South India. As we left the city to head into the rural areas, I noticed that the further away from the city we got, the worse the living conditions were; the streets got dirtier, the buildings looked more archaic, and evidence of malnourishment was shown in the people on the sides of the street. It was during this time, that I felt a small doubt creep into my mind on how I had been living up to that point in my young life. I began to notice how fortunate I was to live the way I did, and that there were people in the world who truly needed help.
When we finally reached the rural school, I was dumbfounded. I couldn't move from where I was, not because I was in awe, but because I was in shock at the conditions of the school. It literally looked like a shack, and once inside, I saw that there were no desks and no blackboards, and the extremely meager school supplies, consisting of a few books and posters, that were there were out of date. How could any school function on so little? While I was walking, pondering this appalling thought and how I could help out, I saw one young boy sitting outside of the school staring at me. Seeing the school itself had left me with an unforgettable image, but those eyes that seemed to look into the very depths of my soul were on another level. The child looked to be raised in poverty and had a sort of malnourished look to him, but his eyes told a story their own. They told a story of the hardship he had likely faced trying to make ends meet in the poverty-stricken town; they told of a life where having two meals a day was a luxury; they told a tale of deep sadness, a tale he had remained strong through, but that he was ready to give up. But, there was one other thing I saw in his eyes that struck me; it was a small glimmer of hope, a hope that maybe he could live on and persevere, and that maybe I could help him leave the poverty cycle that had trapped him. If a child who had endured so much in such harsh conditions could have hope for a better future, shouldn't I, someone who has lived in relative wealth, do all I can to help him. Wasn't it Thomas Jefferson that stated, "All men are created equal." If this is true, then isn't it our duty to do everything in our power help those with less than us and raise them to a level of equal opportunity.
When I got back home from the trip to India that summer, I sat down and thought for the first time in my life that maybe I could do something to help someone outside of myself. I realized that even helping that one child realize his hopes would be enough for a lifetime of contentment and accomplishment. Since then, I have founded a club in school to help raise money to send to underprivileged children in India, and have also participated in other charity activities geared towards helping those less fortunate than ourselves. After seeing those eyes, I can truly say that I will never forget that boy and that my very soul has been changed. I have become enlightened to the fact that if you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.

This recently came up in a college essay I had to write and it brought back old memories that I thought I would share.