Selfless service is the act of volunteering not only your time, but your abilities and skills as well to try and help others in any way that they might need you. I personally had the honor of serving at Waldenbrooke Estates, which is a retirement home in Bryan, College Station. This service opportunity was presented to me through my Freshmen Business Initiative Class and they challenged us to give 2 hours of our time to selflessly serve others in our community. Looking back on my experience now I realize that going in I was hesitant and nervous not knowing exactly what would be asked of me once I arrived. This feeling was intimidating at first but once I arrived all reservations were gone and I was ready to help and serve in any way that I was needed. The Waldenbrooke staff asked me to sweep all of the porches in building C, and to knock on every door and ask the residents if they needed any help with anything. Once I knew my task I grabbed a broom and took off to try help people one “sweep” at a time.

            Once I found Building C I quickly noticed that there were 3 stories of porches to get through, and a lot of doors to knock on in between. I can honestly say that a skill I lacked at this time was communication with people that I didn’t know. Looking back I can remember being terrified to knock on people’s doors not knowing who or what was going to be on the other side. Although I was terrified at first it was an amazing experience to challenge myself in this area while serving others at the same time. Through out my whole 2 hours there I ran across two people who needed a little help; one woman asked me to pull a suitcase out from under her bed that she couldn’t reach, and another man asked me for some help with his laundry.

            The man that I met doing laundry was Bill or BC as his friends used to call him from room 207. He told me this mainly because he wanted me to come let him know when his laundry was done so that he could move it over to the dryer. But when the time came I went and knocked on his door and he never came out. So I walked down to the laundry room and found him there waiting for his clothes to finish. When I asked him why he didn’t wait for me to come he just said that he felt like it was time so he just came on his own. Anyways we got to talk about my future plans and his past experiences and we talked for at least 45 minutes. He gave me advice and challenged me to push myself in my schoolwork and to never stop reaching for my goals. He inspired me; he made me want to be the very best version of my self, and to never settle for being in the background. All of the stories he told me taught me that hard work and passion will push you to be successful and excited about what you are doing with your life.

            Bill was in love with cars and he made a living out of it as a limo driver. The question I find myself asking is what am I truly passionate about? Once I figure that out I know that I will have the opportunity to have an amazing life that I will enjoy every single day. I also found it humbling to sweep porches for 2 hours, this small gesture might not seem like a big deal or much of a service at all to some people. But I know that the people I was serving were grateful for the time that I gave to them. I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to go out and serve at Waldenbrooke Estates my Freshman year in college because sweeping porches and learning to communicate with people will be lessons that I will learn from and appreciate for the rest of my life. So I must say serving others selflessly won’t only benefit the people you are helping, but change your life as well.