This Friday I volunteered at a soup kitchen, called A Just Harvest in Chicago, in order to receive a few hours of community service for class. I was there from 5 to 8 and stayed a bit after to help clean up before my father would pick me up. I went with a group of students who were also in sociology. I completely put myself out of my comfort zone to volunteer on a whim. Although sociology taught me how diverse the communities are that I'm not apart of, I primarily learned to not judge individuals' intellect based upon their social class. I encountered a man who took philosophy courses at a community college who was excited to rant to me about his epiphanies about life. Meeting this man altered my perception of the negative intellectual stigma associated with lower class individuals; for they may strive to be educated intellectually, as well as educated about the society manifesting around them.
While I was serving one man his water, he had the propensity to thank me for being there. He was the only person to do so and caught me off guard, so all I managed to do was look back at him with a smile and reply "Of course." Although I knew that volunteering at the soup kitchen was good in itself, it was important for me that the person I was helping validated that what I was doing was important and recognized.
More so than being a learning experience, volunteering at the soup kitchen inspired me to continue doing community service, for it's a moral obligation to give back to your community.
Which soup kitchen? Who was in charge? Where was it located?
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