(Lauren Goodpaster, Director of Outreach and Service-Away Programs)
It’s hard to believe it has been over a month since the five Sewanee outreach teams left campus for their spring break adventures! Overall, close to 50 students and staff journeyed to communities near and far to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones, to work with community partners to create positive change, and to consider their role as active citizens. Projects included building wheelchair ramps and completing home repairs in Grundy County with Mt. TOP; working with local youth programs in Quito, Ecuador with Education Equals Hope; farming and environmental work in Costa Rica; supporting lowernine.org’s post-Katrina efforts in New Orleans, Louisiana; and creating and building new community partnerships and relationships in Selma, Alabama.
To say that we were all excited to be back traveling and reconnecting with the world is an understatement. There is just something about stepping outside of your community - your comfort zone - and immersing yourself into the lives and cultures of others and with others. It takes learning outside of the four walls of a classroom and brings it to life. While working on short-term volunteer projects in each community, participants also spent time thinking about the values they brought with them to their experiences as well as reflecting on new ways of thinking and being, including learning from the community leaders and organizations with whom they partnered.
Sewanee first-year student Daphne Nwobike, who was a part of the Selma team, had this to say about her experience:
“My time in Selma will forever hold a special place in my heart. From the moment I stepped into the city, I was engulfed by a tidal wave of humility and vulnerability. In every aspect of the trip, from meeting various community members to serving at Bosco Nutrition Center preparing and delivering meals to tornado victims, I realized that empathy and servitude are inextricably linked to progress. Being in Selma helped me believe I was genuinely involved in a movement much bigger than myself—something I still struggle to wrap my head around. Seeing the derelict conditions in which Selma's residents reside—characterized by run-down buildings and homes ravaged by the destructive tornado—I cannot help but admire Selma and its residents for their tenacity and resolve. Selma abounds with fire, passion, and zeal, such that I'd never witnessed before. There is no denying that our time in Selma benefited the community, but work remains to be done. When it comes to service, change may not be immediate, but it is inevitable.”
Daphne and I talked after she submitted this reflection, and we both agreed that, without question, we gained more from the experience than we ever gave, and we learned more from each community member than we could have ever imagined. And we are confident that every other community in which we were invited provided just as rich of an experience for its Sewanee students and staff. We are incredibly grateful to all of our outreach communities, and we are eager to continue to build on our relationships with them and continue to work towards positive change together!
To learn more about and to support Sewanee’s outreach and service-away programs, please contact Lauren Goodpaster.
