Alternative Winter Break 2016 Post A Whole New Perspective – Hannah Baron

Today, we went to The Alexandria House, where victims of domestic abuse stay while they get their lives back on track. I helped take down Christmas decorations and play with the little kids that lived there. Each one of those kids had such a distinct, unique personality, and I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to them to make them the way they were. A girl I played with, Jade, was very sensitive to what everyone else said and did. She wanted to be just like all the kids around her, and negatively interpreted many interactions. A contrasting personality, Kingston, was very dominant and aggressive, and he was very much a part of everything. But the way all of the kids craved our love and attention made me fear to wonder what they had been through and how their lives shaped them. It was such a powerful experience to get to interact with the children because, living in a community such as my own, I can’t really comprehend how those who are truly struggling live. Seeing how little it took to please these kids opened my eyes to a whole new perspective that I wish everyone else could understand, too.

~ Hannah is an 11th grader from Woodland Hills, California. She is an active leader in the Los Angeles Young Judaea community.