FERVID

January 15, 2010

Fervid
\’fer-ved\ adj 1: very hot : burning 2: marked by often extreme intensity of feeling *

If someone were to ask me what is one of my favorite things to do, the answer would be without a doubt, to give back, to serve. I have always been a rash thinker, getting excited quickly when realizing that ever-familiar feeling of a new idea making my brain pulsate. This fervid feeling really started and cemented itself in college when serving with The African American Student League; specifically after arranging a community service event or giving a speech that on a topic I was passionate about.
College ended, as all things do, yet my compulsion to help people stayed with me; I just couldn’t shake the feeling that to rally around a cause whether visiting patients at the Calcutta House, playing air hockey with kids at the Ronald McDonald House, or reading to little children at our school’s nursery school, the idea of community service was no longer just an idea, it was a need.
Recently, the poor nation of Haiti has suffered a tragic natural disaster that has rocked the island and left tens of thousands people dead and even more homeless and in desperate need of aid. When learning of this catastrophe, I knew that something had to be done; I was enveloped by this tremendous urge to help and to enable others to aid in the effort as well. According to Page-A-Day Calendar issued by Workman Publishing, fervid and fervent are very similar and go hand in hand; fervid being a “warm emotion expressed in a spontaneous manner,” while fervent illustrates, “a kind of emotional warmth that is steady and sincere.” The emotion that causes my heart to swell when I know that a simple act may help one person is powerful and once this simple act is complete, it compels my heart to continue to join with others to facilitate kindness yet again.

* letter “e” is upside down producing sound of “uh”