Giving blood was something I was too scared to do for a very long time. My mom is a scheduled donor who gives every few months and always told me how important it was to donate and how many lives are saved because of it. I have a fear of needles and I was selfish in thinking my needle pain was a good excuse for not saving three lives from a blood donation. One day I went with a friend who was going to donate blood and she asked why I was not going to donate. I told her that it hurt too much and I hated needles. She pointed out how ridiculous that was because people everywhere needed our blood to survive. She pointed out how lucky we were that we weren’t ill and the least we could do was donate. Of course, I tried to further explain how I could not help that I was so scared to donate. I was terrified because of a bad blood donation experience. Every time a blood drive came around, I was disappointed in myself because I did want to give, but once again, I passed it up selfishly because of fear.
I am a student at East Central University and I am a part of the nursing program and sometimes our program volunteers to work at the blood drives for the Oklahoma Blood Institute. When the next blood drive rolled around on campus, the nursing program was working it. Several of my friends signed up to work for the drive, but I could not due to prior commitments; however, I did see it as an opportunity to finally donate again after almost a year and a half. Many of my peers were donating since they could not work the drive either, and I decided to go with them. I was not brave enough to do it on my own yet. I ended up giving blood, and I felt so great that I contributed to saving lives with my blood. I ignored the pain (which was not bad at all) and realized it was worth it to help others. It was such an amazing feeling that I could not wait until the next blood drive. I was excited to give and decided that my pain was nothing compared to the pain felt by those in need of blood donations. When the next blood drive came around I wanted to donate. All of a sudden, I understood what my friend Nicole meant when she called me selfish. I was ashamed that for years, I did not give blood because of such a stupid reason.
In December, the Oklahoma Blood Institute called me to set up an appointment to donate. I had never given outside of a blood drive that was not held at East Central, and usually would have said no. This time, I was very eager to say yes. I got there and the woman asked if I had the time to donate plasma. That experience was more uncomfortable than giving blood, but I understood people needed it more than I did and that it was worth an hour and a half of my time. After that, donating blood did not scare me at all anymore.
Now when a blood drive is coming up, I immediately decide to do it with no hesitations. Although I have never had to receive a transfusion, or know somebody who has, giving blood has changed who I am as a person, and helped me become more selfless. Every time a friend of mine does not give blood because of a selfish reason, I empathize with them, but I try to explain how important it really is. I don’t think many people understand how many lives are saved from donations, and it is a truly wonderful feeling to donate. I ignore the pain because I realize now it is not relevant. What is important is that I realize I am a healthy individual who is more than capable of donating, and so it is my duty to help others by doing so. I consider other people more now because of donating blood, and it has helped me consider other situations in which I choose not to do something for selfish reasons. Donating blood and having the understanding of how important it is will also help me be a better nurse. I believe others need to give blood whenever they can, because people need our help. I know if I was sick and needed a blood transfusion of any kind, I would be completely grateful for all the people who donated blood. I completely agree and understand that giving blood saves lives, and I am so excited for when the next blood drive rolls around. I will absolutely be there, hopefully bringing some friends to donate as well. I believe that this experience can help anybody to become selfless and to understand the joy it brings to help others. Thank you for reading!