Why I am Doing Mission Year

I'm doing Mission Year because I've always felt that God was calling me to serve in the community. I've worked at a non-profit called The Pittsburgh Project which is in Pittsburgh, PA since I was 14 and I've always felt like that was where I was meant to be and what I was meant to be doing: being a servant leader and serving my community. I grew up poor. I grew up in a single parent home. I grew up in communities similar to the ones that we will be working in during our year in whatever city we are placed. Neighborhoods filled with addiction, latch key children roaming the streets, gang violence and drugs. I've done countless hours of volunteer and community service doing the same things we will be doing during our year. And at the end of service my heart has always been pulled to stay...or has made the promise to return to help those in need. I want to do mission year because for me Loving God and Loving People isn't something that I want to do for a couple hours a day maybe once a week. I want it to be a lifestyle. I want to go to school for Social Work (I changed my mind from medical school) to do some of the same things we will be doing in Mission Year. I think I avoided the idea of doing community justice and service for a long time because I felt that it wasn't as "legit" of a career as being a doctor. But you can't ignore what God is calling you to... And I feel as though Mission Year is the first step of many where I stopped listening to my own thoughts about what I want, and started listening to the desires that God has implanted in my heart.