"First Year" reflections from the bus ride home

SOMEWHERE IN IOWA - 11:35am

On the bus ride home, two First Year students (Morgan Harden and Signe Knutson) saved me a seat in front of them. I'm not sure if they realize how uncool I actually am yet, but while I had a captive audience, I used part of the time to convince them that this blog I'm working on is cool, too. I asked each of them to contribute their own post--a reflection on the work we've just completed on the Gulf Coast and the experience as a whole. Here's what they had to say:


Harden: I came on this trip to gain perspective. At St. Olaf, I live a life of luxury. Everything I want is within my reach—a roof over my head, food in my stomach, friends surrounding me. The people affected by hurricane Katrina didn’t have these luxuries after the hurricane hit, and some still don’t have them. I feel it my duty to help those in need because I have been so fortunate. I expected to see destruction. I expected to also see the beginning processes of rebuilding. I expected to see people sad and depressed. I did see destruction. I helped in the rebuilding. But I didn’t see sadness and depression. I saw people united and stronger than ever before because all they had were each other. My favorite part of the trip was while we were painting an elderly lady’s house. She was so grateful and so happy to see young people working so hard to help her, and knowing we were doing this out of respect and not for our gain. My least favorite part (considering there really wasn’t a part I didn’t like) was having to get up so early. My perception on the victims of Katrina changed to one of respect and admiration for their strength and commitment to themselves, each other, and the country. I don’t know if I can say that I’ve necessarily changed on this trip, but I definitely feel that I have done something good and for the right reasons. Without a doubt, I would go on this trip next year. And I would go for the same reasons I went this year—to give of my time to those who need it most.


Knutson: I came on this trip to give of my time. I wanted to help those in need and make a difference in the lives of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, if only for a short week. I wanted to give of my physical capabilities to those who have lost so much in order to speed up the process of getting their lives back on track. I expected to work hard. I expected to be tired for much of the time. And I expected to broaden my perspective on the effects of Katrina. In many ways my expectations came true, but there were also so many factors that made this trip more into an experience rather than just a service trip. My expectation of hard work was accurate, but I did not anticipate the kind of work we would do. My favorite day was when we had to gut a house. Basically, a group of about fifteen of us walked into what seemed like a completely finished, but empty, house and assumed that we would be possibly moving in furniture or doing some other odd house jobs. Instead we were given gloves, safety goggles, mouth covers, and hammers and were told to tear down the walls and ceiling because there was water damage within. It was amazing and liberating. There is something about smashing into a wall with a hammer that just frees you of any stress. Tearing down walls does come with downsides. The cleanup was labor intensive and meeting a group of cockroaches was not uncommon. However, nothing could take away the greatness of demolition. My favorite part of this trip [was meeting people]. Relationships were a huge part for me. Getting to know the victims, my fellow Oles, and the leaders, all combined to make every minute of this trip a worthwhile experience.