A few days ago, I saw this video on The Ellen Show where Ellen brought out two college students that attend Elon University who helped an employee achieve her goal of taking her grandchildren to Disney World. The employee , named Catherine, was an elderly woman who worked in the food services portion of Elon. The two college girls crossed paths with Catherine when she delivered a sandwich to them. Catherine just sparked up a casual conversation with the girls by asking them where they were from. When one of the girls said she was from Florida, Catherine's face lit up and she told the girls about her dream to one day be able to afford to take her grandchildren to Disney World. The girls were so touched that they decided to raise money for Catherine to be able to take her grandchildren to Disney World by reaching out to the Elon community. Many people were touched by the story and they donated enough money to get Catherine and her grandchildren to Disney World and then some extra money. Ellen matched the $10,000 the community raised to bring the total to $20,000 and she even gave the two college students a surprise.
So What?
What stuck out to me about this touching story was that two college-aged students, who had no real connection with Catherine, went out of their way to help her. As a college student myself, I know that there is not a lot of free time to pick up extra projects due to all the homework, studying, and extracurricular activities; However, those girls took the time to research how much it would cost to send a family to Disney World and then started a fundraiser. On top of that, they did it out of the kindness of their heart, expecting nothing in return. It was just luck that Ellen ended up seeing the video. If I had to tell someone about this a year from now, I would remember the look on Catherine's face when the girls announced that she would be able to take her grandchildren to Disney World. I would also remember that they did that selfless act just to bring someone else joy. This makes me think of altruism that we discussed in class. I believe what those girls did was a selfless act. They did end up getting something in return for their actions, but they didn't intend to get something in return when they began the project. This is connected to community as well, because the whole Elon University came together to help out one of their fellow Phoenix (Elon's mascot).
Now What?
This clip made me change my belief on altruism. Before, I had very strong feelings on altruism; I didn't believe in it. I believed that everyone always did a good deed with themselves in the back of their minds, even if it was subconscious. After seeing those college girls, I believe that altruism is a real concept. Those girls did not think of themselves when they decided to help raise money to help Catherine's dream come true. They did end up getting something in return for their actions, but that is not why they picked up and began the project in the first place. In the future, I will remember that altruism is true and I will have a more positive attitude towards people who volunteer abroad, because in the past I have been negative towards many people who volunteer abroad. That is because I often see teenagers volunteering abroad as an opportunity to vacation to a place they had never been to before and then gloat about it on social media by uploading exotic or cute pictures of them in a foreign land with foreign people. Now that this video has proved to me that altruism is true, I believe that there are some teenagers out there who truly volunteer abroad for unselfish reasons.