Day 4:

When Jeremiah and I got on the lightrail to head to Friendship Trays, he had mentioned, “Today if they need help in the assembly line, I'll volunteer to go.” Ironically, since there were only a few volunteers today, I had to go help in the assembly line. As I am usually flexible in completing majority of the tasks that are assigned, today made me feel a little uneasy as I would be having to interact with the fish. This was a little tough for me as I never wanted to touch meat and Jennifer was usually accommodating to that. Being a vegetarian due to my religion, Hinduism, I felt as though I was betraying my morals by touching meat. However, in our ancient scriptures the concept of ‘seva’ (volunteering) and ‘dharma’ (one’s duty) are emphasized, teaching us that it is your duty to complete your seva whole heartedly and with a positive attitude. Since I wasn’t being forced to consume any of the meat, I would not be breaking any personal ‘moral codes’ and that assurance motivated me to become more flexible. I was able to adjust and work in this new environment even though at first it had made me very uncomfortable. Today also had a big impact on me as I had met many new volunteers that were a part of InReach. InReach is a program that empowers individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Working with these volunteers brought me hope as they were not only extremely hardworking, but also highly determined while completely the tasks that given to them. Overall, today was a day full of many new eye-opening experiences.