Faith guides teen's life

ST. MARYS - Carla Cooper said it is her responsibility as a Christian to help people. As a result, she is involved in a number of volunteer efforts at school and church.

"I take my faith very seriously," Cooper, 18, said. "Christ calls on us to serve our community like he did so I do my best to love people like he did. I'll always be a volunteer, definitely."

Cooper has been on two work-camp trips to Illinois and Kentucky with her church, Missionary Alliance. She is looking forward to a third in June to Pennsylvania.

"We build houses, walls, paint, siding, roofing," Cooper said. "I love helping people. It's really great to see you made a difference in people's lives, to look into their faces and see a happiness you put there."

Cooper said the work has other rewards.

"It's great having an experience outside the normal high school experience," she said. "I've accomplished something not every person my age has done."

Cooper, who is a senior at Memorial High School, also participates in volunteer efforts with the National Honor Society, St. Marys Goodfellows and a second program at her church.

"We have in-town work days," Cooper said. "We help elderly people with housework or we just visit and talk. That's a lot of fun. Old people are awesome. They have great stories. It's good to meet new people and of course, there's that look in their face. That is priceless."

The Honor Society holds recycling projects and highway cleanups, while Goodfellows hosts annual Christmas drives for toys and food.

Besides her other efforts, Cooper, who works part time at the Celina McDonald's, gives money to what may be her favorite cause.

"I sponsor a child in Honduras through World Vision," Cooper said, "which means she gets access to an education, food, clean water, clothing. It's important to me because it's about hope, about making a difference in a life.

"We write back and forth; well, she's only 3 so she draws pictures," Cooper added with a grin.

Cooper is a member of the school's band program, playing several instruments, including flute, piccolo and trombone.

She also studies a number of languages such as Spanish, Latin and American Sign. After high school, she plans to study at Bluffton University with a major in Spanish and minor in youth ministries.

For fun, Cooper reads, writes short stories and poems in English and Spanish, shoots photos, scrapbooks and hangs out with friends. She said she is working on several ideas for novels and is reading "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte and "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.

"I love the classics," Cooper said. "I like the philosophies behind it, how they do things, why they do things. Books today don't really have that insight."

Cooper is the daughter of Jim and Lynda Cooper. She has two sisters, Angie, 37, and Julie, 35.