In a nutshell, this trip was "FANTASTIC!".

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Written by: Anna Kurihara / 2nd year / Int'l Studies & Accounting Minor
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A genuine "hello" and "goodbye", saying "thank you" and "you're welcome", but most importantly, treating everyone as you would to your friends & family with a smile on your face, was greatly appreciated and welcomed by the guests we served at the dining areas (Glide Memorial Church and St. Anthony's)-- something that the majority of the people who surround me, take for granted or do not appreciate.

I had received more smiles, appreciation, gratitude, and thanks from strangers in 1 week of volunteering, than ever in a week of my life.

Tomorrow, I am going to leave San Francisco with many invaluable insights and memories. I won't go into detail on everything because it'll take up pages and pages of writing. Instead, I want to highlight the things that will make this trip unforgettable:

- meeting AMAZING people including the friendships made within our team
- completely changing my perspective about the homeless, the hungry, and the people in need
- realizing the power of a community
- becoming an active citizen

The experiences my team and I have gone through will be tough to explain in a blog that is meant to be short, but it is something that I wish for everyone to try, to see, feel, and think.

You have to experience for yourself the positive impact of volunteering, of acting selfless in a community, that today's media has been successful in molding people into acting selfishly and being overly self conscious.


Fantastic right?