This I Believe

I believe in Humanity. I don’t need to believe in any higher power in order to live my life in the least harmful way possible; I do that for my love of other people. I am in awe of the great lengths people will go to in order to help another human being, even at great personal/emotional/financial risk.
My family inspires me and reconfirms my belief in Humanity everyday. My mother, father, six of my aunts and uncles, and a few cousins, are all social workers, albeit in different fields within the profession. They inspire me because they give their working lives to help others; day after day they do their small part to help out. Although many might not see what they do, in terms of their day to day jobs of paperwork and meetings, as very inspiring, I look at the bigger picture. When people ask me about why I am a sociology major, an Americorps Bonner member, why I want to get into some sort of social work after graduation, I always tell them that I really had no choice; I can’t turn away from the “family business.” Many people don’t understand why I would choose a profession in which there is little chance of getting wealthy, or indeed making very much money at all. To this I say that, although we never had much money growing up, I never wanted for anything, and I am grateful everyday that my parents are in the jobs they are, and not doing work in which they might make a lot of money, but which would be meaningless, a mere job. And so, thanks to my parents and the rest of my family, I believe in Humanity.