Please shorten the introduction and personalize everything, by carefully more “show not tell” Maximum words is 350 in total. Please refer to the 4 Haas principals Essay 4 What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? Smiles are the ultimate payout, and that is why I’ve continued to do service throughout my life.
Coming from Indonesia, a developing country where there is a great need for help, community service is not an option but a necessity, in my opinion. And there is nothing better than meeting the call, being a leader, and bringing people together to make an even larger impact than what I would otherwise achieve just on my own.
The philosophy that I believe in when it comes to community service is simple: living in a community has its own responsibilities. The cornerstone of our responsibility is to foster positive change within our community wherever we are. Every year of high school, I was continuously elected to be a community service leader, and in my role, I refined my people and leadership skills even more.
A large part of my role was delegating and distributing events and teams to maximize impact. Every year, I surpassed the previous year in the number of events, projects, and funds raised. One project involved Nyata – an NGO that helps fund schooling and further education for children in underdeveloped rural villages.
We decided to fundraise by designing tote bags and ended up selling over 1,000 bags. Another project that I am particularly proud of, as it is a cause close to my heart as a singer-songwriter, was acquiring 20 guitars to teach children music skills and give them much-needed creative and positive outlets for expression.
The smiles on their faces when they touch the guitar strings and play a simple song for me truly convinces me that helping my community to grow is a personal calling that I always find whenever I go. When I came to the U.S. for college, I continued bringing people together by joining PERMIAS, the Indonesian association of students in major U.S. cities.
But this wasn’t enough as it did not have the service component of the community I yearned for. So, I searched for another way to serve and stumbled upon a deactivated club at De Anza – the Music Volunteer Association California (MVA) and set my sights on reviving it. I rallied some like-minded friends, and we were able to petition to reactivate it.
I was elected as the creative director of the club soon after. MVA now performs every Sunday for nursing homes, and I am once again greeted with those familiar but different precious smiles, filling my soul and heart and urging me to continue on for life.
During my first year at De Anza, I yearned to recover my active involvement in community service. Elected as creative director in the MVA club, I took the opportunity to apply my experience in the club, where we volunteered, to nursing homes.
With marketing strategy, the team managed to have this renewed club (it was a deactivated club, but we managed to reactivate it) and manage to perform with a fulfilling heart.
With the nursing homes filled with precious smiles, we were invited to volunteer routinely every Sunday until today. My purpose by sharing my voice and by playing instruments had led me to be an active member of the De Anza volunteering activities.
Beyond my college, I am also committed to contributing in bringing joy and smiles in my community through PERMIAS SFBA, an Indonesian gathering group in the Bay Area. With my team, I have the responsibility to create a “home away from home”.
Through Indomie – Indonesia’s most favorite instant noodle brand – night to cook Indonesian foods together with the members, I see different smiles and satisfaction in my friends’ faces similar to when they get home to their moms’ cooking.
I hope my existence in my community continues to bring warmth and smiles, a simple yet powerful contribution. Essay 4: Nyata NGO Tote bags Teach guitar to the less fortunate Social impact and meaning. KEY: sympathy MVA club Social impact in children nursing homes, hospitals, orphanages, retirement homes.
Last Completed Projects
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