My Service Work

Doing service work has always been something that gave me a lot of satisfaction.  I've never belonged to an organization or non- profit of any kind but I do have several examples of when I've taken it upon myself do to services for things that I believe in. 
        I've always done landscaping and for a good part of my life I worked either for myself, or for my cousin where I had complete freedom to run the day as I wished.  I would often do services for free if I truly believed the customer could not afford it.  I would form relationships with my customers and I would make it a priority to come by without being asked to offer my help with snow removal, leaf removal, hanging Christmas lights, and whatever else I was concerned my customer needed and could not do.  I can also think of several occasions of when I did there snow removal and did the neighbors house as well without being asked.  Sometimes I would see an older man shoveling snow and I would come help without expecting anything.  A lot of the time money would be given to me and that was nice but I did not do it for money and would have gladly done it without it.
      Thinking back I can begin to understand why I was and am this way.  My parents used to drop me off out in the country for weeks at a time in the summer and I would do manual labor my whole stay.  My grandmother who was in her late seventies at the time would wake me up at dawn and we would get dressed as if we were going to work.  We would chop wood, pick weeds, cut grass, shovel snow plant trees, and whatever else that we could think of doing to make the 24 acre property look nicer.  I did this all just to receive the satisfaction and pride of the outdoors and manual labor.  Many times she would send me home with a twenty dollar bill and I was very grateful, but again, the money was just a bonus.  The real gift was what I felt inside.  A connection with nature, with myself, and with God.  When I wasn't at her house I was at home doing work.  Every week when I was finished cutting my lawn I would cut Ms. Nellie's.  She was my neighbor and was in the better part of her eighties.  I would do whatever she needed.  Her husband had died and I could sense that she was lonely.  We would have tea together and she would tell me of her adventures as a young woman.  I loved listening to her and I always felt better about myself.  After tea I would begin on some of her house chores like putting things in the addict or moving furniture.  Then when the sun began to go down she would hand me 2 dollar bills and I would go to the corner store and get a snack. 
       Today, I'm a 27 year old man and I still have elderly people in my life that
I visit on a weekly basis to do yard work and house chores for.  Often I get paid and although the extra cash is appreciated, the way I feel inside is far more rewarding.  I go to Mr. Hardimans, who is in his eighties every Saturday and for four hours he has me for whatever him and his wife need done.  He's a millionaire and used to be the CEO of the New York stock exchange but  none the less, we sit and talk for at least one of those hours as if we were equals.  He doesn't act any different than anyone else and you would never know he was a millionaire, in fact it feels as if he treats me like a son.  It is truly a pleasure to spend Saturday mornings with him.  I also have a snow -plow for my truck and I plow my whole alley for free as well as touch up the street out front when needed. I also drive to my grandmother's property who is no longer with us and plow her driveway for my dad,(for free).  Every week when I cut my lawn, I also cut my neighbors, then I walk across the street and cut my mothers, and then I cut her neighbors.  So for lawns every time I cut and I do it for free.  Sometimes it takes longer then I want it to because I'm very busy, but I know I'm doing a good thing.
       So you see, I may not already belong to a non-profit organization but I do as much service work as I can reasonably fit into my schedule.  I always have and I always will.  Now I would like to take it a step further and not just help the elderly, but also help children.

My Future After CCBC

Knowing what my major would be before I started school turned how to be very helpful.  I just started here at CCBC this semester but I know what it is that I have to do while I'm here and where I am going when I'm finished.  My goal while at CCBC is to earn my Associate of Applied Science in Biotechnology.  This is a difficult degree to earn because it includes many high level sciences and maths.
      Once I have earned my A.A.S. I will then transfer to UMBC to continue pursuing my degree in the medical science field.  I will need to get my Bachelor's in Biotechnology but I am also hoping to get my PH.D.  While attending UMBC I am hoping to work part-time in a lab and then once I am finished with school it is most likely that I will work for a University or a hospital doing research.  Another job prospect at that time may be Phizer or some other large pharmaceutical company, where I'll be designing new drugs.
      Medical research and science has always been a major area of interest for me.  In the ninth grade I read the entire Pill Book from front to back and studied each drug.  I would quiz myself just for fun until I began to memorize every drug in the 1998 edition of the Pill Book.  I then took Chemistry three years in a row because I enjoyed it so much.  As I approached my mid-twenties I began coming up with therories for medicine based on my understanding of neurotransmitters.  I cannot remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday but when it comes to medical terminology I just remember.  Mostly because I want to I think.  So there you have it, I'm going to be a Medical Scientist and I figure what better place to start then to study Biotechnology right here at CCBC.