https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bYKniAAAMWUpvdCtmvVFU0HyukG7Cl_Z/view
While developing the proposal, I found myself very interested in what I was researching. It felt very introspective to find a service-related project that interested me. This made me contemplate what I was truly passionate about in terms of social issues. This is when I came to the conclusion that mental health was what interested me. This organization I talked to was The Autism Society of NC State. In their description, they state that they “provide volunteer and potential job opportunities to students interested in learning about about intellectual developing disorders.” My experience was pretty close to what I expected. I wanted to be able to understand the “behind the scenes” aspects of the organization and how they operated. After this interview, I can definitely say that I found myself interested in their motives to spread awareness about mental health disorders and their backgrounds. It was significant because it gave me a reason to be interested in mental health organizations and their important in promoting goodwill throughout a community.
I have always been a huge supporter of mental health and it’s been a monumental aspect in my life. This interview only served to help me understand the importance of mental health care and how it is crucial to spread awareness of it. The interview opened my eyes to the aspects of a community service organization that I did not know about, such as the operations and plans behind it.
My Strengths TalentThemes were primarily revolving around being affectionate and motivated. I utilized my themes of affection to realize that I wanted to discover more about caring in the mental health field. I motivated myself to look for organizations that fit this desire and I became more interested to see where it could take me.
The root cause of my issue before creating my plans was that there was a lack of understanding in the general public surrounding mental health and how it was being reacted to. Despite our generation being very open-minded, I feel as if there is still a stigma surrounding mental health. Therefore, I wanted to create a proposal that showed how the ILV was a community that accepted and understood those who were suffering from mental health as actual people with their own individual personalities.
The success of projects like mine is the belief that the people who participate are sympathetic and understanding. If they all share the mindset of caring and understanding, then they will put their effort into writing these letters to these children. What hinders success is the skepticism of anyone. Apathy and closed-mindedness can hinder the genuine nature of the project. This is why it is important that everyone involved in the activity should show love and respect to those who are the recipients of the letters.
My key takeaways from this process is that there is always a service activity revolving around some form of a issue, as well as the merits of having an organization to manage it. The world has many issues and it is up to many individuals to stand together and handle these issues in a unified organization. Mental health awareness is one of these issues. General society contains its own stigmas, and it is up for organizations such as the Autism Center to take initiative to change it. The ILV is meant to make change in its community one step at a time. This means that joining projects such as these can be crucial to making more change.