Community-Oriented

The summer after tenth grade, I went with my team up to Dak Lak. There was a lot packed into the trip: helping run health checkups for students, donating books to a library, learning about the local indigenous culture, and spending a few days working on a farm.

Before we left, I figured I was going up there mostly to help. But the part that stuck with me turned out to be the part I learned, not the part I gave. Things ran on a different rhythm up there than what I'm used to in the city, and it took me a few days to even start to get it.

I won't say the trip changed me, because that sounds like too much. But it reminded me of something I forget when I'm in the city: that helping someone isn't always about handing them something. A lot of the time it's just sitting down and paying attention to what they actually need first.

Uy Nguyễn (Mike)