My
Saturday morning started out bright and early; I had signed up for LEAPS, TCU’s
campus-wide day of community service. My group included several girls from my
sorority, and we were paired with a fraternity (to remain nameless) with whom
we really don’t get along with. Don’t ask me how this happened. Our
organizations attract very different
people so we knew that this would be an interesting experience, to say the very
least.
What
was our first clue? The fact that at 8 AM, when we were all supposed to be
there to load the buses, approximately five members of the fraternity were
there. When asked where the rest of the group was, the men that were there
responded nonchalantly, “a bunch of guys are at the house recovering from the
bars last night. They’ll be here soon… Hopefully.” Well, alright.
When
the men finally showed up, our next clue came from the young man who boarded
the bus, held up two large bags of Whataburger, and announced to the bus:
“Y’all want a taco?” I think I’ll pass. However, I think it was this moment
that made us all realize that we were in this together. We were all here to
serve the community. Additionally, maybe I should have a little more respect
for these men; yeah, they did go out last night and they still made it in the
morning, no matter how bad the hangover they were battling was. These men offered us tacos; I guess that’s an
unconventional form of a peace offering.
The
site we were serving was Harmony Health Harvest, located at Harmony Missionary
Baptist Church. It sits in a not-so-nice part of Fort Worth but the people that
work at this church are some of the best people I have ever met. The church is
in the process of developing after-school programs for area schools, but in
order to do so, they must develop new buildings so they have places to hold the
programs. We split up into three groups: one group (the rough-hands, AKA the
fraternity men) were responsible for cleaning up the property, one group was
responsible for planning a Vintage Christmas Fair in order to raise money for
their building projects, and a third group (my group) helped to beautify the
road the church is situated on by picking up trash. It amazed me that a group
of college students got up early on a morning when they could’ve been sleeping
in, and selflessly served the community without an ounce of complaint.
The
head pastor at this church introduced us to this idea of “communiversity.” In
addition to my sorority and the fraternity we were partnered with, the church
had been working closely with Tarleton State University and their social work
program to improve this church for the after-school programs. Not only were we
working alongside a fraternity from a different part of campus, but we were
also working with a completely different school.
Through
this, I was really made aware of the fact that service truly brings everyone
together. If we put aside all of our differences for just a few hours, we can
make an impact on the community. In this service-learning experience (that was
slightly uncomfortable at the start), a positive attitude led to learning
important lessons. Love, peace, tolerance, and service are simple ways to bring
everyone together. If we put our differences aside, everyone can work together
to make a collective difference in the lives of people that need it.
Hey Brittany! Loved this post. Back in high-school we had a day like LEAPS where everyone would go out and help the community. I love seeing how people can put aside their differences and work together for the collective good. Really cool seeing more than just the TCU community reaching out to help others!
ReplyDeleteThis rocks. I was going to write something similar about my first LEAPS experience last weekend. I think it is incredible and special that we go to a school that not only takes the time and makes the effort to give back to the community, but that it has such a great and successful turn out with support from the students. I wasn't too excited about waking up earlier than I consider enjoyable to go, but when I got there I realized how selfish that was. My sorority participated in Graffiti Wipe-Out by beautifying a gang-tagged tunnel in a not-so-nice area of town. While the site was primarily my sorority and other TCU students, a small group of Hispanic high school students that lived in the area were there as well. They were all lined up on the opposite side of the site hardly speaking to each other while the overwhelming amount of TCU students laughed and hung out together on the other side. When I first noticed this, I didn't think anything of it and thought that they were all content working within their own group and remaining segregated, but I soon mustered up the courage to go strike up a conversation with them. After some awkward ice-breakers and the initial feeling that they didn't care to speak to me, I finally had them laughing and comfortable in no time. I ended up learning a lot about them, being involved in the same organization as them, having a mutual friend, and making some pretty cool friends that I was able to serve alongside that day. I had similar first thoughts of doubt and pessimism when I saw a group of quiet and reserved high school students at what I thought was supposed to be a fun experience for me and my sorority, but once I gave them a chance and took the time to get to know them, I realized we were all there for the same reason and to work together to accomplish something great. I'm really glad LEAPS gave you such a similar encouraging experience!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, now I do want a taco.