An ASB Shoutout

There was a quote on the wall of the Sheltering Arms Early Education Center that my group went to that read, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Our trip to Atlanta showed me how true that quote really is.

As the big purple bus pulled away from Centre, I wondered what sorts of things we would be working on in the week to come. I think I expected something like the putting up of big walls of soon-to-be homes or being given a set plot of land to clean up without having to leave a speck of trash behind. I envisioned doing projects that had clear beginnings and ends; projects that we would complete from start to finish. I imagined myself being absolutely covered in dirt and mud from head to toe. I imagined that the place in which we were to stay would be huge and full of hundreds of people. Boy was I wrong.

We didn’t put up any big walls. We didn’t have a specific piece of land to rid of pollution. We didn’t have any projects that had specific beginnings and endings. We didn’t begin a project nor did we really completely finish any old ones. Not once was I completely covered in dirt and mud from head to toe. We stayed in what was once a small church, the cots set up like an American Red Cross disaster relief station. There might have been a hundred people in the place we stayed, maybe.

It was nothing like I imagined.
But it taught me so much more than I ever anticipated.

We cleared a building in a children’s home so that flooring could be put down and more walling could be put up. I had no idea it took so much work to simply clear a building out. My group on the second day helped a woman clear out her old home and move into her new home after it flooded. There was no way she could have afforded a moving service or done it on her own. On the third day, my group went to Sheltering Arms. The women there really impacted me – they stay with and teach the children from the time they are 6 weeks old until they are 5 years old. How incredible is that...? We were able to play with children of various ages and we helped with paperwork during our lunch break/the kids’ naptimes. On the last day of service, we went to a park where we cleaned up as much trash as we could before lunch (we filled a truck bed high with full trash bags), and then we removed an invasive plant species.

Each day, we made small differences that moved each project towards its completion. We weren’t the highlights of each project. We weren’t the ones who put up the walls and we weren’t the ones who completely cleared a section of land. We weren’t the ones who decorated or the ones who laid the foundations. We were the middle ground, the ones whose impact will be undistinguishable from the finished project. We removed debris to allow for further development. We organized and cleaned, things that eventually will need to be organized and cleaned again. We played with children for a day, making an impact on them in small ways that we may never fully realize. No one will be able to look at them and tell us exactly how we changed them. They wouldn’t be able to tell us that as they grow older. But we did make an impact, no matter how small. We cleaned up trash in a park, but trash remained in areas we could not reach or did not have time to clean. We cleared out patches of invasive species, but hundreds of acres were left untouched.

My intention is not to be negative. Completely the opposite, in fact. We made small differences. Great things are made up of small pieces – there can be no great change without small changes along the way. Small changes make all of the difference. We, a relatively small group of Centre students, contributed to the Atlanta community in many, many small and positive ways on this trip. Those small contributions made differences that will continue to pave the way for others to step in and help. What we did may not sound like much when we explain it to others, but we were all a part of something greater than ourselves on this trip. When people ask me how my spring break was, I tell them it was life changing and eye opening, because it truly was. It was quite an experience.

At the end of each service day, we did “highs and lows” and on the last day we also added a “shoutouts” category. So I want to give a “shoutout” to everyone who was on the trip. Each one of you is incredible, thank you for being a part of this trip. I had a blast with you all. Something my parents have always told me about life is that it’s not where you are or what you’re doing; it’s the people that you are with that really make experiences incredible. And that definitely rang true on this trip. So, thank you for that. I feel so grateful for having been given the opportunity to go and help, but I know that I got so much more out of it than I was able to give.

Here’s to Alternative Spring Break becoming an annual event at Centre!

Anne Evans
Class of 2012