Achieving Small Dreams
Indonesian focused on impact in WA
Hi everyone! I’m Felicia, a YES exchange student from Indonesia. Currently, I’m hosted in Washington State. I have a dream to change the world. That may sound too dreamy for you, but not for me. I know that every big dream should start from the small things.
In my country, volunteering is still not a big thing. That’s why I feel like my experience in the United States really changed me as a person in many different ways. Before I arrived in the United States, I set goals to maximize myself and share positivity with people here. I try to achieve those goals by doing positive activities that I am capable of, including community service.
So far, I have spent 119 hours doing community service and giving back to the community. For me, hours don't really matter. The main point of being a volunteer is to impact others. It also helps me to improve myself and become a better person.
Doing volunteer work helps me be a better communicator, socialize more, be more confident in myself, and it pushes me to always have the courage to learn from others. It is also a great place to share and introduce my country and culture by also showing it through my behavior.
The main point of being a volunteer is to impact others.
I celebrated Global Youth Service Day by doing four community service projects in my community. On April 12th I helped make the crossword puzzle for the kids who stay in Camp Korey in our community. The purpose of the crossword is to give kids something to do when they have free time at camp. They have fun while learning through the crossword puzzle.
On April 21, I volunteered at the Salvation Army Food Bank. I helped arrange and pack up food supplies, so that people who need them can take them easily. Afterward, I helped in the clothes closet. I help there almost every week.
The clothes closet is free clothes that the church gives to people who need them. I helped arrange, fold, and hang up the clothes. I love volunteering there, because the community is so positive. I learn and share a lot with the people there.
On May 1, I helped watch the kids in the children's ministry at my church. I helped the kids with the bible activity in class.
Every volunteering experience allows me to meet people from many different backgrounds, of different ages, and with different perspectives. That teaches me to open my eyes wider to new things, positive things, and diversity.
I enjoy volunteering, and I love doing it. Everything that I learned through this experience helped me prepare myself to achieve my small dreams. I get to be a change-maker with every small thing that I do. Instead of saying the word “impossible,” I just believe in myself that “I’m possible.”
—Felicia (YES, Indonesia), hosted by the Heeter family (WA)
