Hi! My name is Cameron Johnson and I am a recent graduate from the University of New Haven in Connecticut. It brings me great joy to apply to be a part of The Chime In 2016 Youth Ambassador Group! I was born and raised on the East Coast of the United States, in the small state of Rhode Island, but that never stopped me from creating grand scale dreams of changing the world for the better. I thank my parents for that, as they have given me all the tools and lessons through my life, and if they were not able to, they found someone who was able to impart that wisdom onto me. They truly set my life up for everything that I have managed to accomplish today.
From an early age, they made me very aware of how important it was to be considerate of others, and to do my best to give back. I never truly understood at first, but when we started to be more involved with community service was when I had my eyes opened. My first time helping our community was at our local food bank in Lincoln, Rhode Island, which we went to monthly. There we would help with setup and breakdown of the food, and would help those who were unable to load up their food.
By the time that we moved away from Lincoln, I was thirteen and ready to continue helping the world as much as I could. Through high school, I became a part of the student teacher program, Special Team of Role Models (STORM Team), at my karate studio. I also worked with music therapy, aiding children who struggled with learning and physical disabilities. However, I began to feel like I wasn’t making as much of a difference in the world, and as a result, began to struggle to continue doing the work. That was, until my junior year of high school.
We were offered an incredible opportunity- the chance to go on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, working with the Mustard Seed Orphanage. I was one of 15 students selected to attend, but I had no idea how much the trip would change my life. When we finally were in the Dominican, I understood the gravity of the help that we were bringing to the community. For the whole week, we helped begin the construction of a new orphanage, much larger than the previous, to house more severely disabled children. When we were able to work with the 21 disabled children, it was where I had my full awakening. By being with them, helping them, and seeing the gratitude in their eyes, I felt a change in myself. I rediscovered the driving force in me, and that want to help came back in full force. Since then, I have made it my goal to help out whenever I have the chance, and have worked with Habitat for Humanity and Chime In since then, traveling to different places around the world and helping those who needed it.
My goal is to continue to change the world to be a better place, and becoming an ambassador for Chime In will aid me in that goal immensely. I want to be able to work with Chime In for as long as I am able to, and touch lives just as I have in the past, knowing that no matter how small it may seem to me, I have made someone’s life better. With the help from Chime In, I want to create a platform for youth to travel worldwide, following their hearts to help others to their best abilities.