I'm a 21-year-old senior who spent his Spring Break sleeping on a Federal Emergency Management Agency cot in an elementary school and was not allowed to drink a single drop of alcohol.
While this may seem unappealing to many of you, and was to me at first, it was one of the most life-changing experiences I've ever had.
I spent my Spring Break on Student Voluntary Service's Alternative Spring Break. Twenty of us traveled to Galveston, Texas to assist One Mission: Galveston, where damage still remained from Hurricane Ike when it hit in September 2008. One Mission: Galveston "works to bring people willing to serve to the doorstep of those in desperate need."
Our group spent the week gutting a house that hadn't been touched since the hurricane. The homeowner's insurance company refused to release money for rebuilding until everything in the house had been removed. You can imagine how long it would have taken the homeowner to do since it took 20 of us working seven hours a day for four days to do this.
Although I expected to make a difference for the people in Galveston, I wasn't expecting them to make such a difference on me. I learned lessons there that I could never fully appreciate had I simply learned them in the classroom. These are lessons I think everyone should know.
Lesson 1: Greyhound bus stations are scary.
We spent 40 hours down and 33 hours back traveling on Greyhound buses. Of this time, about two-thirds was spent on a bus. The rest of the time was spent in the bus stations, where you're bound to meet some interesting people.
In Dallas, I had a conversation with a mother from Shreveport, La., who was taking her kids to Butte, Mont., to live with her parents. She was running away from her abusive husband who had broken her jaw with a 2 by 4. She retaliated by stabbing him seven times. This was just one of my many encounters.
Lesson 2: Sometimes you need to step outside your comfort zone to help others, and the rules you learn when you're little don't always apply.
While searching for a pair of authentic cowboy boots at Goodwill, two of us overheard a woman talking about how her insurance company refused to pay for repairs on her house.
We've all learned that we shouldn't eavesdrop or talk to strangers, but this was different. We approached the woman and informed her about how One Mission: Galveston could help her rebuild her home. She nearly broke down in tears right there.
Another time, a van pulled up where we were working and asked four of us what organization we were with. Without luck, this woman had been trying for a year and a half to get help for her father's house. We were more than happy to help and called a staff member to assist her. Unable to get a hold of anyone, two of us hopped into the van and we led them to the school that housed the organization.
Riding in vans with strangers? I doubt our mothers would approve.
Lesson 3: Disaster-stricken areas are still rebuilding.
Many of us tend to forget natural disasters soon after they happen. We're focused on the Haiti and Chile earthquakes from the last couple months, but there are still areas of the world that have yet to fully rebuild.
Galveston is one of these places. There are still 25,000 homes that are unlivable as a result of the hurricane. Yet little aid or volunteers are coming to help.
Lesson 4: The good will of those suffering is quite amazing.
You would think those who have lost nearly all they own would be bitter and unwilling to help others, but that is far from the truth. On several occasions, we met people who really needed help but put others ahead of themselves.
After the woman at Goodwill regained composure, she stated she didn't know how to repay us. I told her all we wanted was to know where to get good barbecue in the area, and she suggested a place. She then asked us how we were getting there and offered us a ride.
Seeing as there were seven of us and we had other shopping to do in the area, we declined. She insisted, and she waited for us to finish our shopping at Goodwill as well as at souvenir shops. Then, seven of us piled in to her little five-seat car and she drove us two miles to the restaurant.
We also met a woman who had been living in a FEMA trailer and needed work done for her house and yard. After helping in her yard, we asked her to dinner, where she brought tons of information about Texas and taught us life lessons she thought we should know. She could've easily just taken the help and been done, but she felt it necessary to repay us in any way she could.
Lesson 5: People everywhere are hurting.
Something the organizers at One Mission: Galveston drilled into us was that people everywhere are hurting. This bodes especially true for Muncie.
Driving through some of the hurricane-destroyed areas of Galveston, I couldn't help but see a similarity to the rundown areas of Muncie. The people of Muncie could use some aid and volunteers. This is what makes SVS and volunteer programs so important. If not us, then who?
What started as a cheap way to get out of the state for Spring Break became a turning point of my life. I would suggest to anyone who is willing to get a little dirty to spend a few hours volunteering or give up a Fall, Winter or Spring Break to help those in need.
You certainly won't forget it.
Read More
Ball State launches Division of People and Culture, appoints new VP
By Ball State Daily / 8 hours agoThe new division, launching on July 1, positions Ball State to better support its faculty and staff by modernizing human resources services and aligning them more strategically with the university’s long-term goals.
IPR: 1 in 4 Hoosier households struggle with necessities, despite employment
By Indiana Public Radio / 18 hours agoIn 2023, 29 percent of Hoosiers working the state’s most common jobs struggled to afford basic necessities. That’s according to a new United Way report. Some of these jobs include nursing assistants, cashiers and teachers. The report highlights the potential economic impact these workers experience.
IPR: Indiana Democrats discuss party’s future during Muncie town hall
By Indiana Public Radio / YesterdayIndiana Democrats gathered at a town hall in Muncie Saturday to spotlight the long-term effects of state and federal Republican policies. As IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports, Democrats discussed Indiana’s property tax overhaul and the future of the state’s party.
