The service highlight I chose to write about is a trip I went on with my family and another family to California in February. The family we went with, on this trip, was a co-worker’s of my father. They had two sons aged eleven and thirteen, and the eleven year old was autistic. My job during the trip was to take care and look after the two boys while our families were out enjoying theme parks and this new city our family friends had never been to. I chose this as my reflection piece because it was the only service I did during the year completing all of my service hours for the year. This trip included extensive hours for the whole week.
This project enhanced someone else’s life because I was able to s how these people around a place they’ve never been and around a country they have only visited a few times. Coming from Denmark, this family was not used to the American lifestyle. They experienced something that they never have before and I feel like I had a great impact on this experience.
This highlight has slightly changed my outlook on life because I was able to connect with an autistic boy and understand a little more of how his mind processes and thinks. It was difficult handling someone with a disability but I managed and learned from the boy. He made me realize that everyone is different and some people take more time than others. The trip made me realize that I must slow down and enjoy what is around me, to not take certain things for granted.
This highlight has prepared me for the future because next year, there is a great possibility that I attend Concordia University, majoring in Human Relations, which is an extensive program focusing on human sciences and the mind. This trip has almost given me a head start in my future volunteering and has given me the chance to already focus on a boy with a learning disability and understand his point of view.
I very much enjoyed my trip and learning from a family I had never met before. I hope to meet with them again some day and get the chance to experience something new again.
