One key value I carry and will continue to carry is “Service Above Self.” What I mean by this saying is that I prioritize others above myself.

In high school, I joined the Youth Community Service Interact Club (YCS-Interact). The club emphasized community service on new levels for me to engage in. One of these ways was through international service. These international service trips were very selective and were only offered for juniors and seniors.

Once I was a junior, I quickly applied for a service trip to Antigua, Guatemala. In Antigua, the trip’s focus was to help lay concrete for a deserving family, providing school supplies for the children at a local elementary school, and renovate that same elementary school. Luckily, I got in and had the best time of my life helping the children and family with any of their needs. Their needs are significantly lower than any of the needs we possess here in the US.

4th Grade Classroom in Antigua, Guatemala – Source: Cory Gong 2015

I found it quite shocking that some students just wanted a pencil or a notebook, where in the US we strive to earn enough money to keep up with the latest Apple merchandise. After that trip, I was so moved by how little people outside of the US had to live on that I wanted to ensure that other students were aware of the hardships people face.

So then, during my senior year, I applied and received the co-leadership position for the next international service trip. For that trip, my co-leader and I chose to take the group south to Tijuana, Mexico. In Tijuana we helped alongside a family to build a house from the ground up. What was interesting was that the family we were helping did what we were doing. In other words, the families only get a house of their own by volunteering to help build other family’s homes. I found this gesture and process interesting and brilliant.

The First House We Worked On in Tijuana – Source: Cory Gong 2016

In all, the service we did in Tijuana was even more meaningful because we had to experience what ordinary families were experiencing to receive just a roof above their heads. Compare that to here in the US, where we can just pay lots of money and get the same thing. As far as I’m concerned, Tijuana builds better houses because they have a better community; something money can’t buy.

The Hardest Day of Our Service in Tijuana – Source: Cory Gong 2016

International service, to me, has been the biggest influence on how to view others and our communities as a whole. I have a better understanding of the real differences between us and them. The only difference I see, however, is that those who are less privileged gain a better sense of gratitude for what and who they have in their life. These communities all across the world are so much further in creating the sense of community than we currently possess here.