Features: A Message from Claes Nobel Meet your new Student Council Partner News College-Bound Advice Q & A on the SAT from the College Board Choosing a College Spotlight on Service Fulfilling F.U.N. at Day Camp for the Disabled Visiting the Philippines: A Life-changing Experience Non-Sibi: "Not for Oneself": Tsunami Relief Truths about Tutoring A Super Summer: Controlled Chaos at the Library Summer Experiences Summer Alternatives: Building the Mind AND the Body Summer Dreams: Friends and Fun at the World's Fair in Japan My Summer in Medical Research ICE in Summer: Georgia Tech Institute for Computer Education Learning about Leadership: National Student Leadership Conference Summertime... and the Living is Busy: from Houston, to Harvard, to Oxford Fulfilling F.U.N. at Day Camp for the Disabled Kristina Connors The Mary Louis Academy of Jamaica Estates, Class of 2007 Bellerose, New York As honor students, most of us take advantage of our intelligence. We don't think twice about being able to make daily decisions, form opinions, spend time with friends, go to school, etc. These actions seem typical enough to any average person. So, why have I decided that these apparently trivial things are actually of extreme importance? Well, the answer is something I discovered in my summer volunteer experience. Volunteer work had always enticed me. I knew that I could certainly benefit by assisting the community, but like the next average teenager, I never seemed to have enough time to make a prolonged commitment. Sure, I did perform charity work here and there, and enjoyed it immensely, but with all of the other activities to which I was committed, I doubted whether I could fit anything else into my schedule. Well, there is a time when a teenager seems to have all the time in the world, especially when unable to find a job. Summer of course! So, this summer, I volunteered at a day camp called Operation F.U.N., whose purpose is to Fulfill Unmet Needs. Whose needs would I be working to fill in  order to live up to the camp's motto? The needs of the happy faces that greeted me every day on the bus. These children, teenagers, and adults suffering from mental disabilities, have lives much different from mine. These "campers" each day must deal with the stares of ignorant people, as well as medical setbacks that cause much grief. Yet, despite setbacks caused by their disabilities, they are often better able than the average person to enjoy life. These wonderful individuals have the ability to see life's magnificence in such things as a sprinkler on a hot summer day, in an art session involving paper chains, in being able to finally put a basketball through a hoop, and in dancing to the "Cha Cha Slide." These ordinary activities, which we would normally consider humdrum,  are the essence of what gives their lives meaning. The volunteers, at first hesitant, by the end of the day received a superb reward--seeing again with the perspective of early childhood. Fortunately for me, I have now regained this delight in life through the kindness and joy of the campers at Operation F.U.N. where "fulfilling unmet needs" works both ways. << Back to Journal Home page