By Steadman Graves
Chicago - July 2010
This was my first Care Force event away from home. I think I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time because I didn’t want to mess up. I was a novice to the whole civic engagement thing, but you catch on easily when you have 22 volunteers that are depending on you to lead them throughout the day. I had my first slice of deep dish pizza on this trip, tasty, amazing.
Denver/Chicago - August 2010
Denver was a trying time for me, and at first I hated the team chemistry, this was my second event and I was still in the basic learning process, while everyone else had been on 3 or 4 trips at this point. Let’s just say I wasn’t meeting my team’s expectations, and I felt disconnected for everyone. However, right after Denver we flew to Chicago for two days to finish a ball field that we had not completed the first time around. Even though the week before had been a challenge for me, this was the first time I saw my team truly work together and struggle through complicated conditions to get a difficult task completed. Since this event I have learned that team chemistry is always important, but we must not let that affect the work that we do – because serving the community is what is most important.
Memphis - October 2010
This event was great all over. The project, the city and the people; it was all amazing. This event made my list more for what the city had to offer at night time. I want to say kudos to Project Manager Susan Bensen because this was her first event and she did exceptionally well. She allowed us to really experience the Memphis culture. If you are in Memphis looking for night life, great food, great music and more people than you can count, Beale St. is where you need to be. I was a kid in a candy store when it came to the all the restaurants, bars and bands. It was the closest I got to that Nashville feel, which I am still hoping to experience in the future.
Albuquerque - November 2010
When I landed in Albuquerque, I was amazed at how genuinely different it looked compared to the other cities we had visited. The most beautiful sight that I have ever seen was when the sun set and the sunlight glazed the mountains. I found that so mesmerizing. This was the one event that I stayed an extra day with some of my teammates and we had a blast. We drove through the mountains to get to Santa Fe and we stopped at several shops along the way; these shops really showcased the culture of New Mexico. I had a great time.
Miami - March 2011
This event was very special for me; it was very different from all of our other events. I had the opportunity to lead college students through a week of self-transforming service. Unlike our other events where we work with the volunteers for one day, we worked with the Hillel volunteers for a week. They got to serve in a low income – poverty stricken community which is very different from the neighborhoods they live in. The Hillel volunteers served as team leaders to children who had odds stacked against them. It was wonderful to see the volunteers embrace the children and the experience as a whole. I was satisfied with the growth that I saw in the Hillel volunteers, I am glad that I had the opportunity to witness that.
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