Doing Something
Written by: Claire Yazel
Do you ever wonder what teenagers do all day? After school is over for the day,
everyone goes their separate ways. Some kids play sports, some kids play music, and
some kids play video games. I know a girl who gives up her spare time to help the
community.
Jennie Vance is a thirteen year old girl who has lived in Huntington her whole life.
If you were to see her out in town, you would think she is just another American
teenager. From her Pumas to her Hollister sweater, she is just another American kid.
Have you ever heard the phrase: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”?
Jennie starts her Mondays like every other kid. She goes to school and learns for
seven hours. When school lets out, she heads straight for The Heritage of Huntington.
Then, for about an hour, Jennie helps out in the Activities Department. She plays the
Wii with the residents and gets to know them.
Jennie’s Tuesdays start off the same as her Mondays: with school. During the
evening she goes to Teen Court. Teen Court is a place that helps kids who have gone
down a bad path in life become better people. It also is a place where teenagers can
learn about and be a part of the legal system. Jennie participates as a jury member, but
hopes that her experience in Teen Court will help her, one day, become the successful
lawyer she has always dreamed of being. Her charitable actions don’t stop there.
On Saturdays, the average teenager would prefer to sleep until noon. For Jennie,
noon on Saturday is reserved for The Historical Museum. This is where she goes to
work for about an hour, dusting, mopping, and filing things. This is the first place Jennie
started regularly volunteering at. She started in 2011, in the middle of June.
After hearing about her busy life, you would think that the extent of her “good kid”
personality would stop there, but it does not. Jennie is a great student and maintains
high grades. Whenever she gets the chance, she is out running, watching scary movies,
and listening to the latest songs. Her family and friends are very important to her. Her
volunteer work is also very close to her heart.
To Jennie, volunteering is all about the satisfaction of helping. She does not
believe that she should be rewarded for her work and says, “The whole idea is to benefit
others, not me.” She does not ever regret her volunteer work and believes “It’s one of
the best things I have done.”
Jennie claims that her oldest sister, Jamie, was her inspiration to start
volunteering. Jamie had done volunteer work when she was Jennie’s age. She loved
volunteering, so Jennie thought she might enjoy it, too.
Out of all of the places she volunteers at, she enjoys working at the Heritage the
most. She likes working with older people and hearing their stories. She also likes
meeting new people there. All of the people in every place she volunteers at are very
sweet and appreciative.
Jennie’s life has definitely been impacted by her volunteer work. She says that
the people she has met have changed her outlook on life. They have made her more
easygoing and relaxed, even with her hectic schedule. Jennie’s life without volunteer
work would be dull. She claims: “I’d have less to do.”
Jennie enjoys her work and thinks it is a great opportunity to get involved in the
community. When she has had a bad day, she puts on a smile and goes off to help. She
claims that her work is fairly easy because she “just helps with the little things”. The
Heritage, The Historical Museum, and Teen Court would all agree that even those little
things mean a lot.