Imaginary survey, by Ioana Andrei, student at Costache Negruzzi National College, Iasi
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm,” said Winston Churchill once. Now I am saying it because I whole-heartedly believe that you could not possibly achieve a goal without faith and perseverance. As it happens, volunteering is one of those deeds that one cannot engage in unless they have a sincere and indomitable urge to change the world for the better. To exemplify, let us picture walking through an array of modern, busy citizens and surveying them on the meaning and importance of volunteering.
Speaker 1 may state that “Time is money. The best way to help yourself and others is by getting your money’s worth for the work you do. You cannot change things overnight, especially when there is no reward involved. Whoever thinks that the ozone layer will build itself back up if we plant trees is living a fairytale”.
In other words, some people are complacent about the condition the world is in nowadays simply because they do not find themselves in a distressing situation. What is more, some cynics believe that if not lucrative, an action is futile and that, in our evolving society, the only way to survive is by the law of the jungle – each person caters for their own self.
However, there will always be a Speaker 2 to avow: “You should always think in perspective. Even if you are content with your life and even though you are aware that far too many problems need to be resolved, you must realise that major changes take time to make.”
Speaker 2 is the one we should give credence to, inasmuch as he epitomizes the socially active citizen our planet needs. In its essence, the act of volunteering is a selfless decision that is in the aid not only of the assisted, but of the helper as well. The feeling of usefulness and of defying the current global encouragement of commercialism and egocentrism will certainly help a person develop spiritually; not financially, unfortunately, because volunteering is non-profitable. But this is only a logical component of the “trying to make the world a better place” circle. Clearly, the issues that need to be resolved are in a critical state because of not having enough funds to keep them at a normal level in the first place. These being said, can’t we perceive volunteering as an ethical investment in the future?
Finally, after the imaginary survey, we come to the point where we acknowledge that, no matter how few people choose to walk down the long road to “salvation”, with determination and zeal we can dispel the word “impossible”. So, whether you begin a foray into planting trees or cleaning parks or help improve education in Africa as part of a large-scale organization, you are on a one-way street. Paraphrasing the words of Neil Armstrong, each act is one small step for a volunteer, one giant leap for a brighter future.
Acest eseu este castigatorul mentiunii in cadrul 2011 Shakespeare School Essay Competition, grupa de varsta 15-19 ani, avand ca tema rolul si importanta voluntariatului. Premiul a constat intr-un cadou surpriza din partea librariei Carturesti, dictionare Cambridge/Oxford + CD ROM sau album British Churches, de la Fischer International , un voucher pentru achizitionarea de articole sportive din Puma – Cotroceni, un voucher de reducere 50% la orice curs de vara de limba engleza la Shakespeare School, un rucsac si alte surprize din partea British Council Romania. Dorim sa o felicitam pe Ioana pentru faptul ca s-a evidentiat din peste 5100 de eseuri trimise la concursul national de creatie in limba engleza organizat de Shakespeare School si ii uram mult succes in continuare!
