What Matters Most | Shenel Ekici

As a member of Downbeat, I always look forward to our annual holiday tour when we take the day off from school to travel around the Bay Area, spreading holiday cheer. In addition to being a great opportunity to perform and bask in the applause of hundreds of people, it’s also one of my favorite community service events of the year. When we visit Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, the Alzheimer’s unit, and assisted living facilities at The Forum, we go caroling in the halls and in patients’ rooms– it’s those moments I remember long after the sparkly dresses go back in the closet. The incredible people I've met in such instances have taught me that giving back to your community doesn’t always entail long hours of volunteering at a soup kitchen. It can be something as simple as encountering a sick child in a hallway, their parent following with an IV pole or oxygen tank and seeing a gleam come into their eyes as they join in on “Frosty the Snowman.” It’s watching a peaceful smile spread across the face of an elderly patient as you take song requests by their bedside. Sometimes it’s just sitting there, holding their hand and listening to their stories. In its simplest form, it’s connecting with people. The human ability to share such profound moments with complete strangers and the joy and gratitude received in return…that’s what I’m thankful for this holiday season. That’s what makes this world so wonderful.

Learn from the Young | Shenel Ekici

At first, it was just another fun Eagle Buddies event—Katherine, my blond angel of a buddy, hugging me excitedly, talking my ear off with breathless stories of her summer, and enticing me into playing the kind of games only a fourth grader could love. Soon, though, we arrived at the main activity of the day: assembling kits full of holiday treats to give to children in impoverished schools. You’d think that kids that young wouldn’t be very interested in what seemed like such a serious activity (at least, I thought), but Katherine was all over it. Racing across the gym to grab the necessary materials, she plopped down beside me on the ground, eagerly proclaiming that our crafts were going to be “the BEST ONES!” As we fashioned a string of beads into an ornament, I asked out of sheer curiosity:

“Hey, Katherine, why do you think we’re doing this?”

“So this kid gets to have a nice Christmas too!” she replied with a toothy smile.

The simplicity and truthfulness of her answer stunned me. I expected her to say something vague about how every small deed helps make the world a better place, perhaps parroting a parent or teacher, but she had this innate understanding that her actions, right here and now, were going to directly affect someone else’s life. This nine year old was more generous and willing to help others than most “honorable” adults I knew. Her acts of charity stemmed not from a sense of obligation or a need to appear charitable, but from a simple desire to make other people happy. Though I had originally approached her to teach her about the importance of community service, I ended up being the student. Ever since that exchange, I’ve been thinking about how I can become more honorable myself, trying to approach each community service opportunity I encounter as something I want to do to help people rather, not something I have to do. I’d encourage everyone to do the same.