More Diverse Community Experience example essay topic

Let's face it, we live on the Main Line and the diversity here is almost slim to none. We sit in our nice schools working on computers that the seminar proved that only about 1 person in the statistical village would have. It is sad to know that people around the world have to deal with problems that seem so miniscule to us. I thought very long on where to do my community service because it was important to me to help other people. Since, I plan to become a doctor I felt that it would be best to work at a hospital. The world and my community have a different definition of a diverse population.

At Lankenau I work in a unit called Stage II Ambulatory Procedure Center. It nurtures people out of same day surgery and I get to be a part of that. The nurses I work with are both African American women that have two jobs. I see how they look at the world and get opinions on things that I regularly don't think about such as rape and money problems. The head nurse coordinator is an ultra conservative Caucasian catholic. This racial mix of people makes work at the APC a unique experience.

Since Lankenau is somewhat near St. Joe's and Philadelphia many people from poor neighborhoods end up here. I have on several occasions gotten to talk to patients and see their views on the world. This has in a way brought me to see certain parts of Philadelphia's diversity. There are always ways that I can change what I do to better understand my service to this community.

By working at Lankenau I realized that I am technically only helping people who can afford medical attention a d have enough money to pay for it. Many times we think just because we are helping and not getting paid we are serving the less fortunate. I have now understood that this is not always true. I think I could do two things to understand a broader part of my community and that is, first to help somewhere out of my township. I think this will get me to see a different community. The second thing I can to is to assert myself more at the APC.

A lot of times patients come in and I don't talk to them because I am afraid to. A few days ago I got the opportunity to speak in Spanish to a woman from Mexico who came here for an eye operation. That made me realize how medically advanced the United States is. That was the first time I exerted myself and in the end I received more from that woman then she did from me. The reason that I do community service is not to benefit myself instead to try and help people that are less fortunate then I. It would be more advantageous for me to have a more diverse community experience because it will prepare me for what life outside of Lower Merion and The Main Line is like. The world around us is forever changing and growing into a hungry lonely place.

I feel that if I could reach out to people of different backgrounds and that we could share our stories in the end we would come out as better people.