During the first week of my winter break, through an organization at the University of Cincinnati called Serve Beyond Cincinnati, four other students and I traveled to Atlantic City, NJ to help repair the damage that Hurricane Sandy caused in 2012. We volunteered with a local organization called A Future with Hope, which included of painting the interior of a house; soil transportation and yardwork; as well as cleaning and touch ups. From talking to workers at A Future with Hope, members of the church that we stayed at, and New Jersey locals, we learned the extent and influence of the effects of Sandy. This made our work more meaningful and gave us strength when the work got tough. Meeting the future residents of the houses that we worked on also added purpose and passion to our work experience. Outside of our work, we toured Atlantic City and even got to visit New York City on our half-day. At the end of the week, we left Atlantic City with pride in the work we accomplished and people that we helped.
I learned many things from this experience. This type of volunteering was very different than any of my previous volunteering experiences. I'm so glad I tried something new, because I look forward to participating in service trips like this one in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed dedicating a full week to service, instead of volunteering a couple of hours each week. In addition to the volunteer work, I loved getting to know and become friends with the people on the trip with me. We started the trip as strangers, but ended as good friends. Without this trip, I never would have met the four other amazing people on the trip. On a similar note, I was able to improve my teamwork skills. Completing specific tasks with a small group of people requires good communication and awareness of my strengths and weaknesses and those of the team.
Clearly, I was able to take away many things from this trip, but above all, it reaffirmed my passion for service and helping others. At the end of each day, I went to bed knowing that I was able to dediate my time and energy to help another person. In the future, I intend to continue to volunteer and help others.
Throughout my trip, I reflected on my experiences and thoughts at the end of each day. These reflections exemplify my learning because they show change and improvement of my thoughts over the course of the trip. They can be found by clicking here. Enjoy!