As the van drove through the streets of downtown Houston, I continued to look out my window. The Texas air was hot and I longed to be outside because back in Wisconsin, it was less than 20 degrees.

The van was pulling around the corner to Minuet Maid Park where a marathon was ending. I didn’t have a clue to what the marathon was for but what did get my attention is when the van was going under a bypass, my best friend Ashley was tapping on my arm and pointing out the window. I leaned over and looked out to one of the saddest scenes ever.

We had just finished a teen conference that is about helping your community and your school. I learned a lot from it but it was now time to head for the airport. The conference meant a lot to me and I wanted to do something for my world.

So when I looked out that window, I saw about five mattresses lying under the bridge and on two of them, were homeless people sleeping on them. I wanted to tell the van driver to stop the car so I could do something about them. But we kept on driving.

Till this day, I still wished that I did stop the van and did something for them. I never wanted to see that scene but sadly I had to and it changed me forever.