Love Notes Meeting

It was great to able to write love letters to those in need. This was a new experience, and I would definitely go again! This was the first volunteer opportunity I took since transferring to UNCW, and it encouraged me to do more.

I volunteered with Brush of Empowerment, a club that works with the nonprofit association Operation Pretty Things. During the opportunity, we wrote letters to women who may be experiencing struggles such as abuse or similar situations to provide them some encouragement and remind them that they are not alone. Throughout this experience, I realized how just a few words can have a meaningful impact for someone. This allowed me to give back to my community while also reminding me of the importance of empathy, kindness, and supporting others.

Together, we wrote brief ‘love letters’ to women who are likely experiencing hardships and struggles, recovering from cases of violence or abuse. We made sure to avoid negative connotations, not focusing on their struggles but instead writing uplifting messages and words of encouragement. We also used donations of women's items that had been collected prior, to organize small gift bags that were paired with these notes. Although these tasks were simple small gestures, I realized how little impacts and efforts from strangers can have a positive and meaningful impact on someone who may benefit.

After reflecting on the work that I did and reviewing my personality assessment from PathwayU, I found several of my strongest personality traits stood out during this experience. My primary personality traits were stated as conscientiousness, emotional stability and honesty/humility. Not only did my consciousness help me simply by staying focused and organized during these sessions, but also remaining careful and aware of the words and tones I used when writing the letters. I ensured that I only used positive words with thoughtful meanings while still keeping them versatile for different possible situations. With my strong level of emotional stability, I was able to approach the experience with a positive, empathetic but not pitiful attitude for those who I was writing to. This allowed me to be highly considerate of the women who were receiving these notes and gifts, focusing on giving and supporting, not reminding them of hardships. My honesty/humility was the trait I found to be the most relevant, since the purpose of the service opportunity was to be able to give back without expectation for anything in return. In all, the experience was highly reflected by my top personality traits by allowing me to participate in an emotionally-involved task.

After performing the community service and reflecting on the experience I had, I feel like I have gained a better understanding of the importance of giving back. This opportunity taught me just how meaningful it is to others to be able to show support by providing positivity and uplifting words, even if you don’t know them or their situation personally. Even small efforts that don’t require a ton of time and effort can have a lasting meaningful impact for someone, which I find to be very rewarding.

This experience has definitely made me more likely to participate in volunteer opportunities in the future. I have learned just how important it is to give back to my local community, since others may not be able to. I enjoyed being able to contribute to something that wasn’t simply for myself, but for someone who may benefit from my small act of kindness.

At this community service event, I was able to write loving and caring notes for women around the Wilmington area that have struggled with abuse or sexual assault. It was a really great environment with a class full of girls writing notes. It was really cool to write notes and know that someone struggling will receive it and hopefully make their day and give them some encouragement. We were able to write whatever we wanted and could customize it however we wanted our notes to be. I think this was a great way to help out the women in the community that are struggling and opened my eyes to how many people we are helping with a small task like writing notes.

It was so nice and I was so glad I got be a part of making a difference in those girls life.