Service Project

In the past year, I have spent many Saturday's volunteering at Good Shepard Hospital in Barrington. At first, I just did it to get my mom off my case, but then I began to really enjoy going in. It started off being pretty lame but as the weeks went on I found myself thinking about the new people I have met. Going into the experience I thought I was just going to be surrounded by sick, old people all day, but that's not all it was. Yeah, I did love visiting with the elderly, but what I really enjoyed was being with the "normal", mid-aged people. They never really seemed to have anyone around visiting them. What my job was to do at the hospital was to go from room to room, and simply just talk with the patients. I knew I would be perfect for this, considering I never stop. But the second I walked into my first room, I stood there in complete silence. I froze and had a loss for words. I think that was the first time I had nothing to say. I don't think it was because I felt bad, I just think I was scared. Instead of me talking for once, I listened to about a dozen different people speak. Conversations ranged from hospital talk to fighting in the Vietnam War. Me, having no grandparents left, have always felt a sense of emptiness. Maybe this was my way of filling up the space? After that first day of volunteering at the hospital, I talked about it with my dad. My dad, always being in and out of hospitals, told me he always respected volunteers such as myself. He told me it takes a lot out of someone to hold back the tears in a scary situation and put on a smile. It really means a lot to these people to have someone to talk to when no one else is around. Not only did the volunteering make a difference in these patients lives, but it also did for me. It changed the way I see things. Sometimes the best conversations are the ones you do not speak at all, but simply just listen.