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#Living as a person, not just a part of society #A profound lesson about helping others' lives #I gained more than I gave
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Near the end of my high school life, already worried about my future path, I suddenly received a great lesson. Watching children who already know how to share and help one another made me reconsider what the ‘life of helping people’ I hoped for really looks like. Of course I cannot be certain yet. I am only nineteen, and I have many days ahead. The answer can be given slowly over the many days to come. But the brightest smile these children gave me—the brightest I have seen in my life—will help me live as a person, not merely a part of society.
-2013 Gift of Music music volunteer gap year |
On July 31, 2013 at 7:25 a.m., when I arrived at Incheon Airport sweating and joined the team after boarding a busy morning train with luggage dangling all over me, I had some doubts about whether it would go well. Because I live in Jeju I couldn''t attend the two pre-orientations, so I didn''t know a single person and felt quite awkward; about half the members were from the same club so I wondered if I''d be able to fit in, and I even suspected that with a documentary crew following us the whole volunteer program might be a façade..
It didn''t take long to realize that all those worries were unnecessary. The people gathered there were truly diverse, but weren''t we brought together by a common purpose? University students from Yonsei’s Piano In, mothers from multicultural families, high school and university volunteers, and the Korea Gap Year leaders all treated me warmly, for which I was very grateful, and it also made me wonder whether I had lived too coldly in my relationships until now. On the plane to Hong Kong Professor Ryu told us many stories, and by the time we arrived at the hotel in Phnom Penh I had already become close with many of the people I had met that day..
On the first day, when the whole group was divided into the performance team and the volunteer team, I worried as someone whose position and role weren''t clearly decided yet. I debated which side would be more advantageous, but in the end I chose the side I wanted, as I usually would, and that seemed to be the right choice for me. After all, this volunteer trip was to share and communicate with people, so wouldn''t it be better for both sides if I did what I wanted instead of calculating advantages? In the end, choosing what you are drawn to is the right thing..
©Korea gapyear
We spent three days at the child protection facility Soban Koma with the children, and I was continually amazed watching them. In the world I''ve lived in so far, people tend to look for happiness relatively far away. Watching people swept up and struggling in society while hoping for better education, jobs, homes, and finances, and then seeing five- or six-year-old children who, upon meeting a foreign volunteer for the first time, tried to give everything they could share, I finally realized that something was seriously wrong..
There are people who want to reach the end of the horizon. But however far they walk toward that horizon, only a new horizon appears before them. Such a person doesn''t even look around to see what''s nearby, nor have time to enjoy the scenery where they stand; they frantically chase a horizon that will never lie at their feet until they die..If by chance one reached the end of the land and encountered the ocean, even after having achieved their goal they would feel nothing but emptiness. What a foolish sight this is. That I am like this,And the children taught me about this foolishness..
© Korea gapyear
Near the end of my high school life, already worried about my future path, I suddenly received a great lesson. Watching children who already know how to share and help one another made me reconsider what the ‘life of helping people’ I hoped for really looks like. Of course I cannot be certain yet. I am only nineteen, and I have many days ahead. The answer can be given slowly over the many days to come. But the brightest smile these children gave me—the brightest I have seen in my life—will help me live as a person, not merely a part of society..
It was a journey from which I gained much: memories, precious connections, great lessons, time to reflect on myself, an escape from the tight schedule of an exam-taker, and one pair of pants that was surprisingly comfortable..Because I received more than I gave on this journey I joined to give, I don''t know how to express my gratitude to those who prepared and provided all of this. This is the kind of gratitude that makes me involuntarily bow my head deeply and join my hands to those who enriched my heart..
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