Each year, the Rotary Club of Novato Sunrise (RCNS) club sponsors a writing contest for Novato middle and high school students.
The contest is dubbed "The Laws of Life Essay Contest." A contestant is asked to formulate a essay on a life lesson learned, a lesson they can use as a template for success in life. The contest found its way to Novato when Robert Kuchem visited a Rotary International Convention 8 yrs ago. Bob was so impressed by the concept; he introduced the contest to the Novato schools. Bob organizes the Novato Unified School District (NUSD), middle school and high school English teachers for this collaborative contest.
As part of the NovatoAVID blog, we highlight the everyday work people do. Find a Law of Life Essay submitted by Henry Jarjoura of San Marin High below:
It was a boring, lazy afternoon at my dad’s restaurant. I had finished all of my homework and was waiting for my mom to come and take me home.
I had nothing to do, so I just sat there and people-watched through the window. People didn’t really notice me sitting there because most of them were in a rush to finish whatever they had to do. As I was sitting there, sipping on an ice cold soda, I noticed one elderly lady who was walking towards her car with her arms full of groceries she had purchased from the store next door.
She seemed to be in quite a rush. As she reached her car and tried to open the trunk, she accidentally dropped all of her groceries on the ground. As I saw this unfold, I felt sorry for her because now she had to pick up all of her groceries off the ground.
A man, walking out of the gym in the shopping center, saw the elderly lady drop all of her things. He then proceeded to walk toward the lady, and he helped her pick up all of her things. As I continued to watch, I thought, “Oh that was nice of him”. The lady thanked the man and she drove away. The man walked away from the spot where the lady had dropped her things and towards the other end of the parking lot.
I wondered to myself “Why is he walking all the way over there? Is he going to another store?”. But it turned out that he was walking to his car. I then realized that the man had walked all the way across the parking lot and gone completely out of his way to help the lady.
After witnessing that incident, I started to take notice of people who needed a hand and I started to give those people a hand. For example, I would hold the door open for people as I exited. This made me feel good because I was helping people. As I started to help people, the people around me also started helping people. For example, I was in the supermarket with my mother, picking up some groceries. As we were leaving the store, an elderly man dropped his bag and all of groceries his fell out. I stopped to help him pick up all of his stuff.
As I stopped to help, so did a young woman. After we helped the elderly man pick his stuff up, she said that I was a very nice boy for helping the old man. I thanked her and wished her a good day.
So now I try to help people as much as I can because it makes me feel good and also because I hope that the people I help and the people who see me helping, start helping people as well.
Henry Jarjoura
San Marin High School
English 10
2-9-13
