AED Service Coordinator by rula

AED Service Coordinator by rula - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

My name is Rula Al-Azzawi and i attend the University of South Alabama, i am a biology major and am currently pursuing in becoming a dentist. As a freshmen i joined a club called Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) which is a pre-physician society on major healthcare. I immediately fell in love with the club because it was so active and full of great opportunities! Every Wednesday night at six a physician would speak about their job and what it took, and after a board of leaders would talk to us about achieving our 15 hours of community service goal for every semester along with other fun activities. I knew i wanted to be on the board the moment i got involved in volunteering. So the following year as a junior i ran and won the election on the next AED service coordinator.
It is such an amazing opportunity and position to have for so many reasons. I've always been in clubs but I've never been so involved like i have been in AED. It's such an honor to coordinate volunteers to great local organizations that need their help. Part of my job is to speak to the AED member every Wednesday night along with the other board members about what opportunities and steps they can take in volunteering and shadowing in their community. the local organizations i am assigned too are: Habitat for Humanity, Mobile's local Animal Shelter, Greek Fest, and Coastal Clean Up. I'm so proud to have this leadership role because it is one that takes hard work but is for the greater good.
My role as a service coordinator requires that i stay active in answering emails of students questions and organizations, meeting a lot of new people whether its students or people i meet one the job while I'm volunteering, i attend meetings with the rest of the AED board twice a week so that all our events are well organized and planned for the USA member when they are ready to attend the day of the event. It gives me a chance to really get to know my community! Because I'm a service coordinator i plan alone up to three events a month for our group of students and the events can last up to eight hours a day. it requires giving up many Saturdays to helping rebuild homes for people that can't afford contractors, or bathing pets that haven't been cleaned for a month or more at a time, giving dogs walks at the shelters, helping in the kitchen at Greek Fest cooking gyros, or even picking up trash at a beach or local park.
I love the role i have as a service coordinator because it keeps me busy and active in my community, i meet so many new people every week, I've made so many sweet memories that i wouldn't have had if i didn't join AED with my friend's, and this first semester as a service coordinator alone I've accomplished over 50 hours of community service! I'm so proud of the Saturday's I've given up to walk dogs, build houses, worked in a kitchen, or picked up trash. It's 50 hours of my life i wouldn't have had the chance to be as productive or make a difference. it's has given me a better quality of life in all and i wouldn't give up the opportunity for anything.