About the author: Joy, born and raised in China, is a second year graduate student at Teachers College, Columbia University. She likes to journal what she experiences in the U.S. Joy wants to have as many American experiences as possible.

I came to the United States last year for my masters degree at Columbia University. This is actually my very fist time studying abroad. I didn't know what to expect or what to look forward to, but one thing that I knew for sure was that the tuition of graduate school and living expenses in NYC were going to be extremely expensive. Therefore, in order to make the money that I spent here worthwhile, I wanted to experience the U.S. and New York as much as possible.

I was familiar with New York Cares since I came to NYC, but I didn't really get time to register any projects; in other words, I got too lazy and would rather lie in bed than go out even if I had free time. (That's one of the drawbacks of living on campus. Living on campus makes people lazy, and I live on campus.)

Anyway, I finally registered to complete the orientation this June (The orientation is mandatory if you want to volunteer with New York Cares). The website of New York Cares is very easy to navigate. You can choose any project you like and any location that is convenient for you. I chose the headquarters of New York Cares, which is close to Wall Street, because I hadn't been there before and wanted to check it out. I better spend my money well, right? Even money on transportation counts. The orientation basically talked about the general information about New York Cares, including the history, staff, projects, and so on. After orientation, my journey of volunteering finally started. So far, I have been volunteering more than 20 hours and have participated in eight projects; in these projects, I learned so incredibly much.

My first project was Meal Delivery with Goddard Riverside, which is a part of the Meal on Wheels program. We delivered food to senior citizens who were disabled or would find it challenging to move freely. There were four people per group, and each carried a bag full of 20 boxes of dishes. I would say that this project offered us a great chance to exercise. We walked around the neighborhood and climbed all the steps to deliver the food door to door. In the process of doing this, I realized that there are lots of people who are suffering from their poor physical conditions. Most of the families were poor and those senior citizens were not really taken care of-- most of their apartments were dirty. By talking to those people door-to-door, I also realized that not everyone was nice. People were sometimes rude and aggressive. We even met an old male who threw our food on the floor and slammed the door without saying thank you.

I did learn a lot from this volunteer experience. Not only did I explore the Upper West Side neighborhood, but also met lots of new friends. I realized that there are so many people in New York City who would love to do something to give back to the community, people who devote not only their time but their strength and enthusiasm to helping people, and people who are caring and selfless. I also realized that New York City isn't just about rich people, parties and all those other scenes that appeared in Gossip Girl. There are also people who are suffering from poverty and disability. This, however, is what makes New York City one of the best cities in the world in that no matter who you are, where you are from, or how poor or rich you are, NYC always welcomes your presence. New York City is so diverse and open so people never get bored.

I feel so blessed that I can have this wonderful opportunity to be a "New Yorker."