I’ve realized I’ve been very fortunate throughout my life. Last fall my eyes were opened to the world around me. A world where instead of being concerned with what brand of clothes or shoes worn, it was about surviving the day without being shot or evicted, the real world. How can someone look at these people and not feel the urge to help?

Last fall I went on a trip with my church. We traveled downtown to government housing and split into groups to hand out fliers for a children’s outdoor Sunday school. While walking around we noticed the horrid conditions of the housing. They were small with large families living in them. The children who came to the gathering were sweet and social and we played soccer with them, but after a couple hours of playing, we had to leave. It broke my heart to leave those kids and know they were going to grow up to be in gangs, do drugs, or die at a young age.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if it were the other way around. What if I had a mom who did drugs and never paid attention to me? I know if I were in that situation I would want a good role model to look up to. Young children with parents who make wrong decisions usually end up making the wrong decisions themselves. With people dealing drugs at every corner, it’s easy for them to make bad decisions. Someday it could be me, my dad could lose his job and may have to move into an apartment, you never know. The important thing is to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.

When I see the children, I feel it’s my responsibility to help them. I want to be someone they look up to and someday aspire to be like. I hope to do more work with them in the future. Even if I have to sacrifice some of my free time to help, it all pays off when I see the glowing smile on their faces and to know that I am making a difference in their lives.

I used to look at people on the street and be disgusted, but now I feel sorry for them. I think of what it would be like to be them and I don’t turn my nose up at them, I smile. Because I’m not better than them; the same thing could happen to me, and if it does I hope people will be as kind to me as I was to them.