President of the National Honor Society Essay

As I review the onetime(prenominal) several years, there ar m both accomplishments that I can be proud of. I have been able to maintain a 3. 95 grade point average while in high initiate. At the same judgment of conviction, I have had the good fortune to act as President of the National Honor Society at Keller High School. I have also been able to lead the drum line battery of the school marching band as the Captain. I have also dedicated much of my spare time to working with y discloseh at Gateway Church as a Y placeh Group Leader. Finally, I was given the chance to be nominated as Keller High Schools comeback pansy in 2008.All of these accomplishments have overhauled shape the person I have become. However, the most significant bang that has partakeed my life was the time I spent at the Dream Center in wholeness of the many slum neighborhoods of Los Angeles. No red or blue clothing, is what caught my attention as I embarked on the journey to Los Angeles. Simply wearing th e trademark colors of the famous Bloods and Crips gangs was something to be avoided. This rule stuck with me more than any other rule or guideline that I had been presented with.Suddenly, the task I was somewhat to undertake became concrete and I was h one(a)stly frightened ab prohibited what I was going to see. I had been given vivid illustrations about the poverty and death that I was about to witness. However, growing up in an upper middle mannequin neighborhood didnt prepare me for the reality that many peck face each day. I asked myself how do I pray for commonwealth whose best days are not even comparable to my lather days. Soon I was able to see firsthand where I would be staying for the next two weeks as I tried to find an answer.The building was cal guide the Dream Center. The fact that I grew up in an tri besidesary neighborhood didnt prepare me for the horrid accommodations I would be living with. Before settling in I was given a nametag that identified me as a memb er of the Gateway Church. Although needed for identification, my tag was as irrelevant as a Christmas tree on Halloween. For two weeks I would not be know by the affluent suburb of my origin, but I would be known as a fifteen year old, six foot two, African American priapic who was a temporary client of a fifteen story homeless shelter.I accepted my nametag and proceeded to my room. I quickly took in my milieu and came to the conclusion that my temporary living quarters could certainly be compared to a prison. The room was stark and indigent of any emotion or color. The white walls made the room appear harsh and unfriendly. My roommates and I had lonesome(prenominal) three bunk beds, a nightstand, a closet, a toilet, a sink and six towels, which made for disquieting conditions. However, this simplicity allowed us to step outside our comfort zone and prepare ourselves for the work ahead.The white-stained walls, questionable mattress stains, strange smells, and random bed line ns left our young imaginations to do their work, but there wasnt time to watch on it there was work to do This work was rewarding. There were many opportunities to serve, both individually and as part of a larger group. Some of these missions were optional and some were mandatory. However, this didnt matter. What truly mattered was the work I was able to engage in so that I could make a small attempt to better the lives of others. I was able to feed the homeless, work with the childrens ministry and work with the food truck ministry.After a very short time, I realized the dedication of the permanent staff at the Dream Center. I only had the night to rest and I was constantly busy with one task or other during the day. I began to look up to the people who did this job each and every day. During my free time, I diligent in Bible study, prayer groups and devotions in order to prepare for the most challenging and demanding showcase that was to come. It was an event that would chang e my life forever. On July 19, 2007 at 500pm I began to prepare for a journey that would impact the course of my future.The Skid Row Missions leader gave a short thirty minute preparation spoken communication about the mission I was about to embark upon. You are about to embark on one of the most rewarding, frightening, and most dangerous events of your life, are the words that I will never forget. He led a prayer, gave instructions and also gave caution about the danger of the job I was about to do. I looked around at the others in my group and saw similar emotions on their faces I was excited and I was scared but the most intense emotion I was tactile sensationing was eagerness to go out and do something for someone in need.Be smart, be alert, be careful, and trust in God, our perform leader warned as we boarded the fifteen-passenger Ford vans that would take us from relative safety to the harsh and dangerous lane known as Skid Row. The van weaved in and out of the notorious Los Angeles traffic making me feel as if I were riding a rollercoaster. I took in my surroundings as they turned ill and dark. The skyscrapers were shot into the darkening sky like a bullet fired to start the Kentucky Derby. New applied science and infrastructure meshed with old landmarks to create eye candy for everyone who paid any degree of attention.My fervency began to fade as I saw the sign. The massive green sign that said SKID ROW-NEXT outcome, reminded me that it was time to become alienated in the new founding I was venturing into. I immediately began to finger darkness and death even though it was daylight and everyone around me was alive. My fear soon faded and was replaced with an national peace from God that told me that I was right where I needed to be. One member of our group piano what we were all thinking, Is this safe? It didnt matter anymore what mattered was that we had arrived and we had a job to do.We couldnt have known that this simple question woul d come up again and again as we did our ministry work. We began our ministry by passing out Ozarka water and Famous Amos cookies. We were immediately tested by a large African American male in tattered clothing. He asked for two waters but we had been specifically instructed to only give out one water and one snack to each person. After five minutes of listening to escalating expletives as unpredictable as an F-5 tornado in Texas, we finally gave him a second water. We feared enough for our safety that we tangle we had no choice.We continued our work under a thinly disguised veil of complete terror. As we proceeded down the dark streets, I had to constantly remind myself that I was not watching a movie. The people I saw were real and were suffering from very real afflictions. I was able to look past this reality by praying for the people I came into contact with. I prayed for healing, strength, jobs, addictions and sickness and many other things that were on the hearts of these pov erty-stricken people. As I prayed, I also began to ponder the images I was seeing. The images began to way weighed down on my heart and I wondered how people could live this way.The most important question I asked myself was, why isnt anyone doing something about this? I received my answer when I realized that I was doing something. It was something small but it was something. As the trip to the Dream Center came to an end, I was left with a heavy heart and a deep passion to help the poverty-stricken people living in Los Angeles. The Gateway Church young group was able to break apart my arrogant, spoiled wittiness so that I could move toward the mentality of someone who is in survival mode. I stepped into someone elses everyday life, and had to survive based on the little that I knew.I learned that the world is very different than the small corner of the world where I live. It is my job as someone who has experienced the troubled world to tell other people what the real world is like, so that we can work together to be the voice of the people who push to simply survive. I will no longer consider perfect grades and being crowned Homecoming King as my most important accomplishments. Instead, I now know that the events of this trip did more to help me develop into the man I am today and they also set the precedent for the man I will be in the future.