The World
The Earth is a wonderous and beautiful place. Exploring the world can occur anywhere. It amazes me the magic that one can find within a simple adventure in the woods. Water can carve pathways out of rock and create large drops, trees fall and re-grow, and humans find ways to make their mark and document their existence when one embarks on a journey within nature and self. On a Monday afternoon, a classmate and I ventured out into the wild. A hike over the river, through the woods, and adventures here we go! Little did my class partner realize, how much I love to take that one extra picture and where we might find ourselves. We discovered that no matter how one cuts it… 
Up hill via ramp is just as hard as up hill via steps. And the first half is always slower than the second half. Park guides are to be respected. And a 6-mile hike can be done in two and a half hours. In order to preserve parks like the one I visited in Ithaca however, requires every citizen inhabiting the Earth to do their part.
In the tale, in the telling, we are all one blood. Take the tale in your teeth, then, and bite til the blood runs, hoping it’s not poison; and we will all come to the end together, and even to the beginning: living, as we do, in the middle. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin
In our busy lives however, we as a society often forget to stop and admire what we have before it becomes an issue or disappears all together. Isn't it funny how time can be such a fickle thing. It comes and goes; always a companion in life, dependable, but not truly a friend, and not quite enemy.
When an individual is performing a task of dislike or anxiously awaiting for the clock to tick closer to that hour, denoting their freedom to socialize with a friend, spend time with family, or explore new lands, time can seem to stand still. However, if asked to clean the kitchen, assist in a local fundraising event, or offer your talents and services for a few hours for a friend or complete stranger, one’s time seems completely occupied by other more pressing or important commitments. I grew up learning that you can never be too busy to assist and aid those who ask for help. If one can find time to watch their favorite television show or frivolously spend money, then that individual can give of himself or herself to help another.
One small action has the power to benefit many. I had once read that individuals who are involved within the community before the age of eleven are more likely to partake in community service in their adult years. Why then does one find the requirement for an individual to do community service in higher education? Is it that younger generations view us as role models and society hopes that children will mirror the good deeds of their leaders or to remind us in our busy lives that even children with mountains of obligations find time and enjoyment in assisting a neighbor in need? I like to think it to a mixture of both. Our actions influence the actions of others, in addition to finding that childhood joy, and excitement in knowing you made one person’s day slightly better.
~ David McCord
Whether it be walking the extra few steps to place a bottle in the recycling bin, volunteering at the local food bank, or cleaning a park, serving the community has made a beneficial impact on my life and who I have become. Although all my experiences no matter how small or large a task are special and important, there resides a few very special projects that have captured my heart.
~ Anonymous
Over my lifetime I have had the opportunity to assist in projects to benefit communities, individuals, and the world. Perhaps one of the most life changing events for me however, occurred when I ventured out on my second trip to Russia. I did not expect to find myself discovering the past on the road of life. On a battlefield Nevsky Pyatachok (Neva Bridgehead) history lies littered across the ground. Forgotten and hardly remembered. Walking among ghosts of soldiers’ remains, the vast understanding of the lives lost, 
and destroyed becomes evident in the masses of undocumented personal artifacts, gas masks, shoes, spades, ammunition, among other vestiges left from the war.
The War within St. Petersburg
By,
Michelle L. Kilgour
Listen to the heartbeat of the city
A tear of snow
Saved as glistening salvation
This is their Road of Life
Soil, glue, and food
A staple for survival
Bodies litter the streets
Perished and abandoned
Bombs light up the skies
Fear reflected in their eyes
And the Bronze Horseman
Remains, protecting a dying city
Remembrance of history
Litters the ground
Discovered over years
As memories, compiles books
Forgetting the forgotten…
Forgetting the forgotten…
HOBY Maine and WLC, Gifted with the experience to join more than four hundred high school sophomores for a two-week summer leadership conference, I was able to assist in the renovation in a park located in our nation’s capital. I had the chance to reflect in the watchful eye of our great leaders while walking within the reflection pool, and I had the chance to converse with individuals from forty-nine countries. I learned the world was bigger than what I could conceivably imagine, and there is so much that needs to be addressed to make our own nation better. Issues do not just exist in far off lands. For the next two years I took the lessons I had cherished and continued to improve and grow the program in my home state.
It is the service I have performed at Burdett Presbyterian Church which influenced me the most. I started working for the Burdett Presbyterian Church as a favor for a friend. Each Saturday, 
I organized office files, folded bulletins, created a church newsletter (which has evolved into a website), cleaned out closets, and assisted in secretarial work. As I continued my education at Elmira College, My involvement with the church increased. 
They provided me the opportunity to conduct market research on church attendance. I started attending the church and assisting with Sunday School care. I began to create activities and projects for the children, aid in the execution of meals offered by the church, 
and assist with special holiday activates. As an individual I grew under the support and guidance I received, and the church members became my second family.
Therefore I invite you to go out into the world and join me in making a diffrenc in the one home that maters most, Mother Earth!