Perspective

July 30, 2010

The last two weeks have been insane.  My internship with GAP is getting exponentially stressful as the entire team is preparing for our fundraising event, scheduled to occur at the end of August.  Today, the three of us hit up LA "Beach Cities" to ask small boutique stores for in-kind donations.  This was the second time that we had gone around together; last week, we hit up the Melrose and Larchmont area.

It was extremely daunting at first to go around random stores asking for donations, but what really surprised me was this: everyone was extremely nice.  And by everyone, I mean literally everyone.  The places that said "we can't donate this year" were even apologetic.  Some gave us donations on the spot.  Even when we walked into a restaurant that was extremely busy, they paused and listened.

Today, a few of the stores told us something that our stressed-out team really needed to hear: "Thank you for doing this.  Somebody needs to do this, and you guys are making a difference."

And I thought that we were going to be shunned for being intrusive.


As I conveyed to the team as we ended the exhausting day, it's really nice to know that people are generally nice and do care for something more than just profit.  Even in such a huge city as LA, where people are thought to be disconnected, people still care.

I found that as I got caught up more and more into the whole planning the fundraising business, the actual cause of my efforts was long forgotten.  Last week, when the LA team went out to canvas for the first time, I came home absolutely exhausted to find this on CNN that put everything back to perspective.  That news story is exactly why GAP was founded, and why I am working hard on this event.  The voice of the mother in the 911 call is disturbingly calm, but I can't imagine how helpless she felt from this condition that penetrates entire families to the core.  We're looking to prevent such incidents that might and do occur around the world with regards to children with autism, to help educate and aid families through raising a child with such a difficult condition.

Again, I am forced to face the realities of autism every Monday and Wednesday when I teach at my parttime job at the Learning Center: one student in my classroom of seventeen has autism, and everyday is a struggle for us.  On good days, I can get him to write me a couple of sentences for Journal in 3.5 hours.  On bad days, he initiates arguments with other students who are still too young to understand.  Everyday, other students complain nonstop, "how come he doesn't have to do anything?!?".  Yet, there is something that sets him apart beautifully from the other kids.  Something pure and genuine.

Perspective.  It's really all about perspective.  Depending on the perspective, my internship can be a huge, stressful event.  Or it can be a tiny, small step - my little contribution to a cause that affects so many individuals all around the globe.