Annaliese Edman

Please include a 2-paragraph reflection about the importance of gratitude and giving back to your community. You may want to even talk about the connections between gratitude and social justice.

Gratitude and giving back to your community are two things that are incredibly important to living a happy and fulfilled life. I think that living with gratitude allows me to reflect and stay humble. I began keeping a gratitude journal in the middle of this semester because I was feeling lost and frustrated. Sitting down and finding at least one thing to be grateful for each day has helped me tremendously to find positive, fulfilling things that remind me of why I am here.
Being grateful for what you have can go so much further than keeping a gratitude journal for yourself. I find that I am more appreciative of what I have and the opportunities I am provided with when I extend my resources to others. Engaging in community service and volunteering allows me to view the world in perspectives other than my own, and to form relationships with people of varying backgrounds and communities. I am grateful for the ability to help others in need and for the ability to learn and grow from the experiences I have in community service. The world can only become a better place if we each make an active effort to reflect with gratitude and learn with humility.