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About Mary Elizabeth Jackson...
Hometown: Greenville, S.C.
Degree Objective: Political Science/Latin American Caribbean Studies
Minor: Crime Law & Society/Hispanic Studies
Expected Date of Graduation: May 2010
Volunteer History: Save Darfur, Convoy of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Adopt a Highway, Greenville Family Partnership, Rage Against the Haze, Operation Christmas Child, Hurricane Katrina Relief in Mississippi
Current Volunteer Activities: Darfur Week, Amnesty International, Baptist Collegiate Ministry
What drives you to volunteer? The people you get to meet and experiences you have along the way is what drives me to volunteer. Nothing allows you to gain understanding as much as being there, in someone’s shoes. When I volunteer, I get to talk to people that have been changed in ways that I may never even begin to understand. I volunteer because everyone has a story that is so radically different from my own and I will never hear it until I listen to it and I will never understand it until I live it. I have been so truly blessed in my life that I feel like I need to share hope with those people that may have lost it. What you may not realize is that when you volunteer, you not only make an impact on people’s lives, but they make an even bigger impact on your own.
What is your favorite volunteer moment? My favorite moment would be in the Dominican Republic when I got to look into the bright brown eyes of a little boy who finally figured out how to write the number five. He was so excited when I told him he did it right and gave him a high five. He was so proud and he wanted me to write the numbers again so he could write them over and over. At the end of the week when it was time to say goodbye, this same little boy came up to me with tears in his eyes and asked me if I was coming back tomorrow. I reluctantly had to tell him no and between sobs he said “Ok, so the next day then." I started to tear up a little bit as I had to tell him that I wouldn’t be coming back. As he stood there staring at me with tears running down his cheeks he asked how he was supposed to write his numbers without me there to tell him he could do it. I told him he knew it and that his teacher would help him. He looked up at me and told me that I would always be his teacher that told him he could do it. That was definitely my favorite moment not only in volunteering but it is probably one of the highlights of my life this far.
What inspires you most? What inspires me most is bonding with people I barely even know. For some reason, going through experiences with people forms an unbreakable bond. For example, for the week I spent in the Dominican Republic, I gained a family of about 20 people. I don’t really know them, but there is an unexplainable bond there. The bond you form with your fellow volunteers is also indescribable. There’s stuff you go through together that only your group can understand so that when you look back on it there are no words to describe it, but you can look at each other and just know. That combined with knowing you have made an impact on someone’s life is what inspires me.
What is the biggest challenge you have overcome? The biggest challenge I’ve overcome would be recently in the Dominican Republic. We had on thing after another happen. From bathing with pigs to spider bites to not have plane tickets to being left downtown and getting lost for three hours. But the challenges are what make it all worth while. Without the challenges there are no stories and no learning experiences. The challenges are what make it interesting and prove that your group is capable. ###
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