Realistically, what is the worst thing that has happened to you recently? A bad grade? Being an A-Rod fan? Missing an opportunity to get Bob Saget’s autograph? Understandably, we’ve all been upset over something trivial in hindsight, but it’s time to start putting things into perspective. Yes, we lost power for a few days due to Hurrican Sandy, and it was torture. However, people in third world countries live without power their entire lives and sleep on the ground instead of on a comfortable cot in the Kimmel Center for University Life. We should all be thankful we’re even afforded the opportunity to attend a university like NYU and have the chance to drown in debt for the majority of our lives. Unfortunately, some will never even have the chance to experience some of the things with which we are blessed.
This past summer, I started to volunteer with an organization dedicated to helping out families with children who have cancer. The goal of Candlelighters New York City is to cheer these families dealing with such trying circumstances by giving tours of the famous FAO Schwartz store and hosting frequent parties among other events. One of the first children I got to meet was a little boy named Connor. He flew to the United States with his mother, Tania, from Cape Town, South Africa to get treatment for Stage IV Neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer that quickly spreads throughout the entire body. Despite an up-and-down fight with cancer, my first impression of Connor was that of a jovial kid laughing at a Family Guy DVD he was watching on the couch. I often called Connor the most polite 11 year old I had ever met because he always said please and thank you in his South African accent.
When I went Halloween costume shopping with Connor and Candlelighters last month, he had a ball trying on all the different outfits. I think I saw more smiling and laughing people at that store than I see on campus all day. Despite having been dealt with one of the worst hands anyone could possibly get, Connor still remains one of the happiest people I’ve ever met. When I heard the news that Connor had flown back to Cape Town because the doctors told him there was no more they could do, I was devastated. However, I know Connor remains positive to this day, and I pray to see his memorable smile once again.
It is people like Connor and Candlelighters’ president Barbara Zobian who have helped me figure out what is truly important in life. I’ve witnessed Barbara run out of her house countless times, scurrying to the hospital to give children anything from baby wipes that weren’t provided to them by the doctors to Ugly Dolls to brighten their day.
These children have to fight every second of the day to live, but people like us are hung up on ultimately unimportant things like grades and our social lives. We are all guilty of this, myself included. It’s not enough to just sit there and feel awful for complaining about still having the iPhone 4S instead of the 5. We should go out of our way to help those whom were not afforded the same opportunities as us in life. I’m not talking about hastily signing up for a hospital volunteer job that would stand out in a medical school interview. I’m talking about finding a specific passion to pursue in order to make a real difference. Thanks to Connor and Barbara, I found mine. What’s yours?
Brandon Jacobi is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].