Essay by Sarah Maddox, New Canaan High School, Grade 10

[Note: This is not the article where you should vote for this contestant. This is essayist No. 5, so in the voting article, which is here, just post a comment that says ‘5' to vote for this student. Voting is limited to one person per finalist per day, and closes at 8 p.m. on May 13. The finalist essay follows.] 


As a sophomore at New Canaan High School, it is all too easy to become enveloped in my own world.

I look forward to entering the safe walls of my school every morning. I have friends to talk with and teachers who care about my life, a loving family and a beautiful town to call home. As much as I am aware of the unique prosperity in New Canaan, it certainly does not mean that I understand it. I see community service as the perfect opportunity to immerse myself in situations that much of the world must bear. 

Only steps away from New Canaan High School is the Waveny Care Center, a place where I volunteer often. I put on my yellow name tag and step into a world of different faces and personalities, but all with a common need for help. I hold the hands of men and women and see how easily they can smile. Some enjoy telling their story, and some light up merely at the sight of a young face. Their mouths sometimes fail to communicate what they wish, or their bodies have trouble moving the way they once did, yet they still are able to bring me such joy.

The residents teach me patience and gentleness, two traits that I sometimes forget in my teenage life.

It doesn’t take much to help them, however, just a short time together leaves us both feeling blessed. Community service leaves me with a happiness that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else in my life. The knowledge that I have helped and touched others brings me peace and satisfaction. It supplies me with a different perspective on life, one that I constantly need to be reminded of. It has opened my naive fifteen-year-old eyes up to the fact that life is delicate and precious. 

There are so many aspects and complications to the world that my so-called problems are a tiny speck compared to the issues that community service has allowed me to understand. Community service is a way for me to grow and learn. My experiences volunteering have changed my life, and knowing that I have touched the lives of others is a wonderful gift, one that I hope to experience for the rest of my life.