What have you done to make your school or community a better place?

My favorite philosophy states that doing things for others is what will make you
happiest, not doing things for yourself. Though I do not hold much power or money to do
something big for my community, I do my best to give back little by little with what I can
afford to lose. I like to start small with basic morals we can all agree on, such as treating
others with kindness, respect, and keeping empathy in mind. Something as small as
complimenting someone’s style could make a person’s day a great deal better, and in
turn they will spread their newfound happiness to others.
I have become a regular blood donor at Vitalant and am a registered organ donor.
My interest in blood donation started for selfish reasons- I wanted to face my fear of
needles. Contributing to saved lives while also confronting and defeating one of my
biggest fears has been a life changing experience. The first time left a horrible taste in my
mouth to say the least. After managing to stay conscious during the withdrawal of blood,
I sat down with my sister to drink orange juice and relax before we left. My head began to
pulse as I watched her lips move and started to lose my hearing and vision. You’re fine,
stay awake, you’re fine, stay awake, I chanted to myself, unable to absorb her words.
Unsurprisingly, my poor sister had the pleasure of watching my eyes roll back as I lost
consciousness and slumped face-down onto the table. After waking up on the ground
with two nurses hunched over me, I felt nothing but determination to come back and do it
all over again. Weeks later, I got a text notification that stated my blood was used in
someone’s transfusion and had helped save their life. Since then, I’ve set reminders to
give up a pint of blood every eight weeks in spite of my fear and aversion, which has
made me proud of myself and happy... which we all know is contagious.