Change

What strikes me as interesting in life is the fact that when we are overseas the idea of 'contributing' seems to have so much of a pull factor. Is it just because there is already a system in place to which we can contribute to that makes us so gung-ho about signing up? Or maybe the idea that CV padding has to occur in US universities otherwise the big banks and companies would never ever consider your resume? Regardless not every volunteering really has to be self sacrificing to the extent of gandhi-ism I guess.

But what really is the point? Volunteering is definitely soul sucking because you wonder what on earth you are doing and whether all your grand delusions of 'helping' are really helping anyone at all. I remember trying to teach the group of 10 year olds and attempting to engage them enough for them to read a paragraph in a book. It was scary when I realized that at age 10 I was reading novels and these kids could barely get a sentence together properly let alone with intonation and pronunciation intact, and this was in America, supposedly the most developed country in the world.

Right there is where you suddenly realize how much education exists as the one tool to really make a difference. Everything I know right now I have every single teacher in my life to thank. Who knows at what point I suddenly saw words and realized their meanings, where 26 alphabets combined plays host to a world of meaning.

In the past 2 hrs of sitting in the office kinda feeling guilty that I'm getting paid for not really contributing anything productive to society (which I might regret soon when I'm plonked with work), I've somehow decided that I've had enough with being complacent. Of course illusions of grandeur seem to always come with daydreaming but I guess I'm all up for volunteering time for things. Now to erase the guilt of self-congratulatory notions.