A Hope to Build A Dream Upon

             Service isn't something that becomes a part of someone over night. There are people and moments captured in instances of time that mold who one is suppose to be as an active member of the  global community. Over the course of the past few days, my understanding of my position and responsibility as a global citizen has shifted tectonically beneath my seemingly planted perspective. To be honest, the central thematic top of our immersion is something that I am somewhat uncomfortable with. I never understood or even more so wanted to understand what a homeless individual goes through on a daily basis. The homeless population, as a whole, makes me nervous and I think those nerves stem from the stereotypical judgmental view I was baptized with time and time again through different societal mediums who preached that homelessness was for criminals and the evil of the evil, who will harm at any cost to gain what they want.
             I couldn't have been more blinded. Homelessness is a result of unfavorable events piling up upon the shoulders of a neighbor, or a brother, or the nurse who just administered the saving dose of a concentrated anti-biotic to one's ailed family member. It is something that exists on every street corner, at every turn, and yet as a society we brush it under the rug and are taught to fear those who live in the darkness of instability and severe poverty.
             There was a gentleman yesterday that Grace, Abby, and I had the pleasure of conversing with after we handed out hot dogs and coffee in one of the many occupied parks around the St. Pete area. The man stood a good ways off the path way that the side walk followed, standing watching the privileged pass him without any regard for his existence. I walked slightly behind the other two girls watching, reading faces and seeing the pain and hungry of the community peppered along the cold, hard cement street. He looked concerned, slowing stepping backward and away from us when Grace called up to him and asked if he wouldn't mind us learning more about the people and the culture of the area through his eyes. He gladly shared his vantage point and his position as a member of the homeless community. His main point stemmed from the idea that it is our responsibility as members of our local and global communities to serve one another and go out of the way to ensure that every member of our interconnected populations and nations are taken care of, regaining their humanity and identity as a part of societal normalities.

         
   I learned so much. I've been challenged by different beliefs, different leadership ideologies, and all around different people and yet some how the one thing that has kept us united, kept us engaged with one another was: service.
             If we all took the opportunity to even once a day do something out of our conditionalized tunnel vision walks of life to help another human being, what would the world and the posture of humanity look like?