Rekindling My Passion For Instruments through Volunteering
Gina K., Commack High School PR Officer, describes how volunteering allowed her to revisit her passion for playing instruments and shares several anecdotes about her volunteering experiences.
In our busy daily lives, it is easy to deprioritize the seniors of the family. Especially when they are staying in senior homes they have no other family members to lean on. And not all family members are available when seniors truly need them. Moreover, senior isolation can make them more vulnerable and put them at higher risk for a variety of mental and physical conditions. In this community, GlamourGals is what we truly need. Its mission is to end senior isolation by building companionship through beauty makeovers. The extensive impact of the small actions that GlamourGals can make to brighten up the senior community is priceless. Formed by the members who voluntarily try to make a difference in the lives of the isolated seniors, we GlamourGals change our perspectives by making emotional connections by giving joy to others.
From the GlamourGals experience, I was able to rekindle my passion for playing instruments in front of seniors. I have prior volunteering experience as a flute player at 'House of Sharing'--an organization that provides shelter and various services to Korean women who were sexually enslaved during World War II– in Korea. Ever since I became a part of the GlamourGals community, I learned that interactions and music are a source of medication, expression, and imagination that should be shared with others. In hopes to bring that service-oriented perspective to the bigger community, my friend and I set out on a mission to perform a duet in the local community.
At Barnes and Noble, I performed a flute duet with my friend before Christmas. We played around five holiday tunes. Many seniors, including my grandma and grandpa, and even little children joined us in the back corner of the bookstore. This experience evoked our individuality and a sense of commitment to each other and those we perform for. In between the tunes, I realized that some of the audience were recording us with a big smile on their face. I was honored that I could remain in one of someone's unforgettable holiday experiences. After the performance, one of the senior audience members stood up, applauding enthusiastically. At that moment, my heart intensified with a sense of satisfaction and joy. Without GlamourGals, I wouldn't ever be able to enjoy this kind of happiness I give to the seniors in my community.
As someone who has a Korean native grandmother who cannot speak English, I know how physically and socially isolated my grandma is in American society. In my freshman year in high school, when my grandma got hospitalized, my family was so worried that the hospital staff might neglect my grandmother's unarticulated needs. However, when we reached her room, we found her lying calmly in bed, with a nurse who continued to reassure her in a slow, patient tone. The nurse not only addressed my grandmother’s discomfort--demonstrated by only body language--but also lent her enough comfort to express herself in English for the first time. At that moment, I felt the power of companionship my grandma and the nurse created and its positive impact on my grandma. Witnessing this made me realize how offering comfort and warmth to vulnerable and insecure seniors can make a huge difference.
In my high school senior year, GG brought me a special opportunity to have hands-on experience: to have active interactions and to build emotional connections with the isolated senior residents from the senior homes. And being a leader of the community of high school students, who are willing to do the same, made me feel like a wonder woman. I truly harness these experiences from GG, and I believe that the experiences that GG has offered me helped me who I am today and to follow the nursing career to become a nurse, who prioritizes patient needs and expands quality care. Also, as my grandma remembers the day she got hospitalized as an unforgettable and heartwarming day, I hope to make a difference in the community with such GG experience. In college, I hope to be part of a bigger community like GlamourGals or start a GlamourGals chapter at the University of Michigan, where I'll be attending.
