Saikumar Dass Honors Community Service Robert Arnold November 14, 2013 Changing the environment No idea is simple

when you need to plant it in somebody elses mind. Cobb Inception I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still here. Do I believe the world's still here? Is it still out there?...Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different. Memento Leonard Do or do not. There is no try Yoda (Star Wars) What we do in life echoes in eternity. -Russel Crowe (Gladiator) A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. Cobb Inception Those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.- Nick Cage National Treasure

According to Websters Dictionary the official definition of volunteer is a person who does work without getting paid to do it. So this entire time I have been doing Habitat for Humanity I have been a volunteer. But after just volunteering for a short period of time I realize that it means so much more than that. But if you apply Nicholas Cages quote from National Treasure to the definition of volunteering it makes it seem more like a civic responsibility. Those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action- Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage) National Treasure. Looking back at the semester thus far I have enjoyed what I have done, but there is still a lot of work to be done. I have enjoyed the work I have done up until now, and hope to continue to help people in the Habitat for Humanity program. There have been many interesting and enjoyable experiences in the events I have done. Through Habitat for Humanity I have learned so much not only about building things, but also about helping people in general. I look at my volunteering the way Morgan Freeman stated his view of life as Red from The Shawshank Redemption Get busy livin' or get busy dyin. My very first experience with Habitat for Humanity was with the Habitat of Humanity Cabarrus. We helped a man named Dwayne build his future house by putting up the main frames and the interior walls. He was working right alongside us pounding in nails and screws. That was when I first realized how much work the people who are actually getting the houses have to do as well. Along with learning some valuable skills I was able to help a person get one step closer to their future home and it all happened while I did something I enjoy.

My second volunteer experience for Habitat for Humanity was actually on campus here at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. It was the homecoming build during the week of the homecoming game against UNCP on the 12 th. The idea was based the build off the success of similar builds across the country at other college campuses. I worked with fellow UNC Charlotte students taking off supports from the roof and adding shingles to help protect the roof. Yet again I was able to help the community while I did something I enjoyed. The latest volunteer experience with Habitat for Humanity was actually back in the Raleigh area near where I live. It was in Apex, North Carolina (a few miles from my house) and it had the most volunteers I have seen at any of the events thus far. There were about 30-40 people there in multiple groups, and then there were a few individuals like me. It felt good to be back in the Raleigh area and it felt even better when I was giving back to the community that I was able to call home. We did similar activities to my first Habitat experience by putting up walls and frames. I was not fortunate enough to meet the homeowners because we were working on a total of 12 houses at once. I was only working on one house, but from where I was working I was able to get a good view of the entire community. There were already 4-5 houses in the community that were previously built by Habitat, and we were just going to add on about a dozen more within the next few months. I also had one more volunteer experience, but it was unrelated to Habitat for Humanity. I did it through the honors college for the Second Harvest Food Bank. We were standing at a shopping complex collecting money for the food bank. Thanksgiving is coming up and many people are in need of food for the holidays. We were able to just

stand in the intersection and actually get hundreds of dollars of donations. There was one person who stood out the most in my time volunteering there. While we were standing on the side of the intersection on lady came up in her car with a donation and told us her story. She told us how her brother was actually able to get help from the Second Harvest Food Bank and then he was able to get back on his feet. It is the experiences like this that help me want to help people and make a change in my environment. The reason I mentioned all these experiences was to show how much the volunteering has impacted me over the semester. I have been able to help so many people and gain so many memorable experiences from what I have done so far. And for now I will have to end on this quote by Liam Neeson from the movie Batman Begi ns If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely.