life’s not a paragraph

last night i attended a benefit dance at MIT. it was called glow 2009: stand up against poverty.

it was a really inspiring event. i went with a few of my friends. when we got there, there was a man speaking about his life. i missed the beginning of his speech, but from what i did get to hear, he has had an extremely hard life, and now he appreciates everything he has in america. after him, a girl from northeastern university (i think her name was michaela) told us about her experiences in venezuela, jamaica, and china building playgrounds and school buildings. to get the dancing started, a drumming group from mali played some traditional music. they were so great! i could tell they really loved the music. they were having so much fun! at 11:30, we all stood up against poverty. they took a video, as did all of the other stand up events across the country, to send to the united nations to show them that we want poverty to be a priority.

poverty, for me, is a really important issue. i wrote my term paper about poverty in latin america for my english 101 class. through my research, i discovered how much poverty restricts development. i found michaela’s speech really inspiring. if she’s already done so much to help the world, why can’t i do something?

actually, thursday i passed in my application for alternative spring break. i have always wanted to go a volunteer trip. i am so excited to have the opportunity to go this year! i don’t know where i am going yet but i know it will have to do with environmental justice or disaster relief. either way, i am really thrilled to do something different and great!