APPLICANT: Number eight is Jessica Ludwig!
Y&F Alberta TeamJessica Ludwig has entered the competition. She is 19 years old and lives in Spruce Grove, Alberta.
Here is Jessica's video application:
Here is Jessica's current situation:
"What am I up to…hhmmm…. Well, I am one busy beaver (yay plug for CANADA hehe). I am currently in my second year of Psychology at the University of Alberta. It is definitely lots of work – and my brain gets a little tired – but I am loving every single second of it. Also, in addition to being a full-time student I am working so that I can pay for all of my schooling.
I work with really amazing people who add sunshine to my day. When I am not in school, or working, I study to keep my grades up (yes, I am a self-proclaimed nerd…which is awesome…everyone needs to embrace their inner nerd) but I also like to keep myself busy. I love photography, and putting together videos –like the one I got to do here, what an amazing coincidence.
I live at home, and love to just hang out with my parents and my older brother (we all get along really good, and have a mutual addiction to rockband….ya…it’s a little sad). I enjoy playing with my dog. He is a trouble maker, who is an irresistible moocher and, consequently, is a little on the tubby side. But, he is still adorable…and super smart…and yes I realize I am probably bias :). I also have done some volunteering to keep myself busy. Last year I helped with the UofA’s High School Leadership Conference (which was really fun because in high school I got to go as a student for two years); and as you will learn in my blog post, I have worked with an organization that does some work in Ecuador for the past two years.
Ecuador has changed my life, and has been an amazing opportunity. I loved the interaction with the people and their community, and the time I got to spend with my Dad (who joined me both times). I love working with kids, and think that people need to be generally happier (trust me, it makes the world of differences). Oh, and I am totally all for the hugs…seriously…just hug as much as possible….the warm fuzzies..they rock! I think that you never know what can happen until you try, and want to thank Common Wealth Credit Union for such an amazing opportunity – GO TEAM AWESOME !!!!"
Here is Jessica's blog post:
"Volunteering.
Many of us justify our next to impossible ability to “lend a hand” by recognizing our busy schedules and hectic lifestyles as the problem – and thus an unfixable excuse. A lot of the time though, this is a big, stinky pile of bologna!! I mean don’t get me wrong, yes a lot of us have crazy lives that grant us very little free time – BUT, there is no way that each and every one of us is incapable of sparing an hour a week, or even just one hour a month. If you work it out, that’s only about 2 minutes a day!! Do you know how many “2-minutes” a day you could sacrifice (and probably not even realize it) just so that you can collect garbage once a month for an hour, or help out with an environmental group, or a child-care group, or a hospital….
Now, you may be asking yourself “Where could I possibly save two-minutes a day?” Well, for instance:
Don’t take a detour on the way to school, or work, or wherever to get a coffee…save on gas and on, oh I don’t know, about two-minutes by making one from home (and hey, it gives you an excuse to buy an adorable go-mug :D )
If you have the same problem as me with deciding on daily outfits, think about what you’re going to wear when you’re getting ready for bed the night before (look in your closet while brushing your teeth maybe - yay multitasking)…then when you wake up in the morning…VOILA…CUTENESS + EXTRA 2-MINUTES
If you’re completely addicted to a television show (like I know so many of us are, let’s not lie to ourselves) keep busy during the commercials…do laundry, clean up the dishes….each commercial break is at least 2 minutes long so even keeping busy during one of them will be 2-minutes of work that you wouldn’t have to do later
See, just through these three easy suggestions you could free up some time for volunteering. And, I’m sure that there is a million more out there (what one’s can you think of that are relevant to your lifestyle?), which means that there’s a million ways to get out there and volunteer a little bit.
Just think, if 100 people were able to find two-minutes a day to donate towards one-hour a month of volunteering that would be 100 hours of volunteering collectively. Do you know how much of a difference 100 hours of motivated volunteer work a month could make? And plus, there isn’t a more rewarding feeling than going out and helping a community, or a family, or the environment.
I have personally had the privilege to experience such rewards when, for the past two-years, I was fortunate enough to receive the opportunity to complete some humanitarian work in another country, Ecuador. It was hard, hot, and dirty, but I have never seen such sincere gratitude and appreciation from anyone else. The community as a whole, the families, and in particular their children taught me to look at the world from a different perspective. They taught me that life was a gift, and that crappy circumstances were merely the ugly wrapping it sometimes came in - minor details that shouldn’t depict how much we enjoy what’s actually given to us. By donating my time to a third-world country I not only concretely helped in the communities with my physical abilities (painting, building, cleaning, etc.), but also abstractly with my mental abilities.
My presence, my motivation, and my passion for lending a helping hand gave them hope; and helped them feel important as individuals. I was someone who cared and wanted to help which, to many of them, was better than the new schools, homes, and playgrounds we built. And so, I’m not saying to change your entire world to help someone else’s. Just think about how you REALLY spend all of your time, and see if you can spare a few coffees or commercial breaks to help out in some way.
There is no such thing as unappreciated help, and who knows, you might get more addicted to the rewards of volunteering than you are to Thursday night television. Whether it’s an hour each week, each month, or each year, every little bit can help. And remember, just because your life seems to be packaged pretty bad, there is probably someone else whose wrapping paper is uglier than yours.
MORAL :) – Volunteer and ‘re-wrap’ someone’s life, and maybe – in the process – add a pretty bow to your own!
Great job Jessica.
Jere
