March 28, 2023

One hundred seventy-five days ago, I chose to embark on a voyage of empathy by selecting the Give Kids The World program as an Intensive Learning trip here at MFS. This week in Florida has finally arrived after so much waiting. Going into the trip, I set only three goals – so simple-sounding but complex to carry out – to complete by the end of the trip.

I wrote my three goals on a sheet of paper to carry with me in my pocket everywhere I went, but I would lose it on the first day. I wrote and revised them numerous times, including once during the plane ride. I wanted to make sure that these goals were both reasonable and would make me proud of completing them at the same time.

I set my first goal to be to form a bond with a beneficiary of one of the organizations that I will volunteer at: Give Kids The World, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Christian Service Center.

Give Kids The World is an organization that allows terminally ill children who wish to go to Disney World or Universal Studios through the Make-A-Wish Foundation to have a place to stay free-of-charge while they fulfill their wish.

The Christian Service Center and Second Harvest Food Bank specialize in providing homeless and impoverished people with daily food. The Christian Service Center also provides homeless people with shelter throughout the day and helps them get jobs, too.

Helping these organizations would allow me to see the challenges that terminally ill children and people who struggle with poverty go through in their daily lives. As much as I set a goal to learn more about these challenges by hearing about them directly, I recognized that there would be limited opportunities to do so. In addition, considering the nature of the service, I knew that the beneficiaries may limit their contact with others. Out of the three goals, this is the only one that I could understand not completing.

I set my second goal to be to form a stronger bond with the people in my Intensive Learning group. I knew that I must cherish every moment that I get to spend as a full group, whether we’re just bonding as a group or enjoying the many shenanigans that may go on (trust me, as I’m writing this part of the reflection, some of the boys in my group are freaking out over a wasp that’s in their bedroom).

That being said, that second goal has its limitations. During each day, there were times that we were separate, like when we had to split up to tackle service work or split up to enjoy the condo complex’s amenities during free time.

I set my third and final goal to be to internalize the challenges that either I witness or hear about from a beneficiary in a manner that allows me to better understand empathy.

Considering that no beneficiary should ever be obligated to share their story, I realized that even if I can’t hear about a beneficiary’s experience directly and personally, I could still reflect on the things that I saw with my own eyes.

I want to be a more empathetic person. That is why I value the importance of developing empathy, and going into the trip, I thought that the best way to do that was to understand the challenges that I see within or hear about from the beneficiaries.

As I worked towards completing goals one and three, I kept in mind why I valued the importance of these goals: I have experienced some of those challenges myself. Like some of the Make-A-Wish kids staying at Give Kids The World, I have struggled to run and take the stairs, for example.

When trying to complete goal two, I thought about the challenges and limitations of completing this goal. Throughout the week, I found myself alone a lot. Though the rest of the boys were having fun indoors, I was the only boy who wanted to enjoy the good weather, either by doing something on my electronic devices (such as writing this article) on the patio or by swimming in the condo complex’s pools. Only in the pool did I get to enjoy time outdoors with others in my IL group, but I still found myself hanging out with only a few others for most of the time.

On the first day, I could only progress in goal two because there was no service. I also felt that even completing goal two was both a success and struggle. As the plane landed, some people in my group expressed their excitement to go bowling with me in Disney Springs. Bowling is a sport that I enjoy and take seriously, so to hear this hype brightened my day.

In the afternoon, I was alone in my condo for a good period of time, especially because the other boys visited the basketball court, and I had no interest in playing basketball. Instead, I wanted to swim in the pool.

I went to Medieval Times that night. The show was amazing; it used live horses and as a serious horseback rider myself, I thought that the riders rode the horses beautifully. But the food left me feeling bitter and discouraged from completing any of the goals.

Because of dietary restrictions, I couldn’t eat the delicious tomato bisque and garlic bread that they served everyone else. Instead, the staff put celery and carrots on my plate. The thought of getting vegetables instead of soup and garlic bread was repulsive in itself, but to boot, I dislike carrots and celery, even though I don’t mind most other vegetables.

I couldn’t eat the two cakes that they served either. The staff gave me a spoon and a meager ration of shaved water ice that was less than a third of the volume of the two cakes combined. Even worse, it tasted very tart and flavorless. I was excited to see that I was getting water ice at first, but that quickly changed into the same disappointment, frustration, and anger that I had been feeling since they put vegetables on my plate.

For a while, I wanted to speak to no one, which made me do the opposite of completing goal two. When my eyes struggled to stay open, I quickly fell asleep on my bed, even though it had the texture of a jagged rock, came with no blanket, and was lined with a papery stained sheet.

Throughout the night, despite waking up every two hours, I dreamed of what a better day would look like. Throughout the next day, I thought about whether this was a sign of something.

On day two, I enjoyed conversing with a few members of my IL group at the pool and throwing a football around with a few others, but that was the only progress towards goal two.

At least the day’s schedule granted some time to work towards the other two goals. At Give Kids The World, I served families hot food. It was disappointing that this was one of the few jobs where I couldn’t hang around my IL group.

On the other hand, I brought my positive attitude and energy to the families there by asking about their day and adventures. “Anything else?” became a question I found myself asking a lot, or in the case of the few Spanish speaking families that I served, “¿Algo más?”

Throughout the evening, I got to see many kids. Whenever I asked about their adventures, their faces lit up with joy as they shared their stories with excitement. It was amazing to see so many kids having fun. It was even more amazing to see children in wheelchairs having as much fun as the other kids, too.

However, I thought about how being unable to walk could limit the ways in which they could have fun. I considered how going to Universal Studios or Disney World may be a challenge because although there is wheelchair accessibility on most of the rides, in cases where there isn’t any accessibility, they would have to sit on the sideline as they watched other kids having a blast.

Though I know that this may not be the case for all wheelchair users and their families, this thought struck a chord with me because I have felt that way before, too. Many of MFS’s assemblies try to involve the community. In two different assemblies, one with a guest Latin dancing instructor in October and the pep rally in January, I remember that we were supposed to dance.

Both times, I had to stay in my seat because I struggle to dance for long periods of time due to medical reasons. It also made practicing and performing in Airband a challenge, too, and I ended up only doing one dance. Perhaps these thoughts were a step towards completing goal three because in consideration of those thoughts, I could empathize with the kids in wheelchairs.

Day three began for me at 7:30 AM. With only having service in the evening, I took day three as a rest day. I went to a warmer pool in the early afternoon, where I conversed with some of my IL group. I finally started feeling happy and content.

At Give Kids The World, I worked at Amberville, the arcade. I was responsible for sanitizing games and providing sports equipment for games like ping-pong, billiards, and mini golf.

Unfortunately, as a part of the sanitation process, I had to take down the LEGO artwork that the kids created. It was a disheartening experience that made me feel sick to my stomach because I had to destroy something that could immortalize the presence of a child who would most likely soon face mortality.

Because the kids were anxious to play games, I didn’t get much of a chance to connect with the Wish Kids. This was the point in time that I started thinking that I would never complete my first goal.

On the other hand, I saw something that warmed my heart. A child who suffered from paralysis from the neck down was struggling to play miniature basketball and miniature bowling, but for both games, their family helped them throw the ball.

Some members in my IL group didn’t finish their service until 10:00 PM or later that night. As my group was about to leave Give Kids The World, I asked my two best friends on the trip, Katie Kirchhoff ’24 and Nicole Jung ’24, to do me a huge favor.

My grandmother provided me with some money to put towards my Intensive Learning experience, so the least I could do for her was give her a photo of my best friends and me. The three of us stood in front of Towne Hall (a building containing a café and hotel rooms) smiled for the camera, and then departed from Give Kids The World. I was extremely joyous and I felt one step closer to checking off goal two.

I woke up on day four at 6:00 AM, as the service at the Christian Service Center began at 8:00 AM. I worked in the kitchen doing various jobs throughout the morning, so I didn’t get to meet any beneficiaries.

The best way to describe my task working in the Give Kids The World café in the early afternoon is, “sit in a chair and do nothing for three hours.” Because so many families were at either Universal Studios or Disney World, almost no one was around at Give Kids The World.

However, after the shift ended, there was something that I realized. Even though I couldn’t use the amenities, my time serving Give Kids The World provided me with a very similar experience to the Wish Kids that were benefiting from Give Kids The World.

Throughout this week, the Wish Kids get to leave their medical issues behind and get to have the best week of their lives. I get to do the same, too. My doctors allowed me to have this week without as many limitations.

I get to come here to beautiful Florida; I get to be myself and enjoy the week without being in pain from the treatment for one of my medical conditions. I get to do all of this while having the best week of my life. Unfortunately, even though I will almost certainly live to share this experience with my kids and grandchildren, most of the Wish Kids won’t. I thought about all of this for the rest of the night.

I rose once again on day five at 6:00 AM. It was hard to believe that today was the last day of service. I had to help families carry trays during the breakfast shift. There, I got to meet a long-term volunteer. Through our many conversations, we formed a bond. I inadvertently extended goal two to a volunteer.

It was also enjoyable to get the opportunity to talk to the Wish Families for more than ten seconds. Since this was earlier in the morning, I asked what they had planned for the day. If they told me that they were leaving, I replied with my wishes that they could return and volunteer when they get older. However, in the end, I never got to complete goal one. At least I knew that this failure would likely happen.

In the afternoon, I helped restock the Second Harvest Food Pantry. As a team, we made 8,400 meals in just three hours. It was the best teamwork experience that I have ever had. It made me feel just a little bit closer to my IL group.

In the end, if I could describe this whole experience in one word, it would be “empathetic.” I would say that I successfully completed goals two and three. I’m satisfied with that result. I also consider that there will be opportunities to further goal two throughout the remainder of our time here in Florida. I have been keeping this article a surprise for the whole week. Only the members of my IL group in WordsWorth know that this is happening. I wanted to leave this a surprise because I didn’t want knowledge of the article to affect the group dynamics. But I guess that now, I must think about how to reveal it. I realize that today is the perfect time to reveal it.

March 30, 2022 – A final note

It is hard to believe that I am here in Florida on an IL trip and building empathy. I say that because I think back to the fact that two years ago, I chose to come to MFS over a few other options. In fact, April 7, 2023 marks two years of my first day at school at MFS and a day that turned my life around 180° towards a much better and happier direction. I look back at that time, thinking about how I could never see myself in Florida two years later with people who I had not yet met.

Before I close the article, I have a few people who I would like to thank. I would like to thank all of the volunteer coordinators for giving me an outlet to complete service. I would like to thank my trip leaders for creating a trip that allows me to serve people who really are in need of help. I would like to thank Katie and Nicole for making the past week extra magical. I would also like to thank the editors of this article for supporting this article helping me push it out so quickly.

And finally, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this article. To me, this is the most special and powerful article that I have ever written in my almost-four years of journalism.