A Renewed Sense of Petrel Pride

After serving at various organizations like A Community Voice, Boys and Girls Club, Second Harvest Food Bank, and New Orleans Mission...

I realized why I fell in love with Oglethorpe University. Our ability to find common ground with one another, our drive to exceed expectations, and our compassion for others are the things that make us petrels. As a group, we learned about social and political issues that we were uninformed about. We also learned a lot about ourselves. In reflections, we looked at what we had accomplished through service and the purpose of it all. In the end, we all concluded that we could do more. More importantly, we wanted to do more.

 Whether it be on campus, in Atlanta, in New Orleans, or elsewhere, we all have something to give. When we are honest about the issues like poverty, education, racism, and disaster relief, we remove the optionality of service. Big thanks to the entire CCE staff for making this possible and to our group members who made it wonderful. 

Sincerely, 

Yasmeen Alim

Advisor Perspectives

As an AmeriCorps Member, I spend the majority of my time in service with various non-profits and causes, either as an individual or as a member of a team. This in turn leads to a lot of reflection. Participating in an Alternative Break, in a lot of ways, is not very different from a typical day in the life of an AmeriCorps Member. Lots of service, lots of questions, lots of discussion, and lots of learning. However, usually these things are experienced and absorbed through the perspective of a participant. The opportunity that Alternative Winter Break offers me is a chance to experience these things an an Advisor, and more importantly, an observer.

I've known since I accepted my position at Oglethorpe University in 2013 that it is my duty as a staff member of the CCE to do everything I can to provide transformative service experiences for our students. It is my job to challenge them and to offer new perspectives and to provide a welcoming environment for critical discussion and questions. Alternative Break really allows me to watch these transformations in action.

From the first reflection, where students were expressing concerns and even confusion regarding service, what service means, and whether or not their service made a difference despite the level of their own personal fulfillment, I knew that this trip would be special. These questions and concerns are real and worth asking, and they show a true desire to know and understand what it means to really help a community become healthy and self-sustaining. If all of the discussions we had during AWB had revolved around these subjects, I would have been happy, even proud.

But in just a few short days, these AMAZING students have already shifted from asking questions about whether a small service project fulfills their own personal expectations and needs to talking about how to take what they've learned and become ACTIVE citizens in their own communities. Basically, we've had students come from "how does service affect me" to "how can I affect change."

Most importantly, I really had nothing to do with this change. Like I said. I'm just an observer. Each project, each plan, each discussion has been entirely student lead. But I have had the gratifying privilege to watch the power of service immersion work in others, and I am astounded.

-Rebekah Stewart

The Other Side of AWB

Each day we set out as a group to take on major social issues in New Orleans. These issues included homelessness, hunger, education and poverty. I enjoyed directly and indirectly serving the New Orleans community on each project we attended, but my favorite part of each day was the reflection circle we attended each night to speak about what feelings,thoughts,emotions, successes and failures occurred each day.

I found that during the day each student and advisor was cheerful and hardworking. We were able to bond during each project by putting our heads down and working hard to reach a common goal. At first, everyone seemed super human to me, as if it came naturally for everyone to be so selfless and carefree in their service. So I was more than surprised to find everyone had the same questions and concerns about service as me each night during reflection. "Am I doing enough?" "How do I actually make a difference?" "Why isn't there a sustainable solution for poverty?" 

Overall, we all had endless questions as to WHY the world was the way it was, without a HOW to permanently fix the problems we addressed. Reflections allowed us to move past why and find how by examining ourselves. I realized that while I have volunteered for years, I have never taken the time to voice my global concerns about service and the nonprofit world out loud. 

AWB gave me a platform  I could use to voice my opinions. Even greater, AWB provided me with a small community to build my opinions and ease my concerns. I'm am extremely grateful that each member was openly honest and 100% willing to break down any barriers and remove any preconceived notions we had about each other and New Orleans. Therefore, we were able to create a community while aiding in the rebuilding of another.

-K.L.

Lower Ninth

Being an international student you see the U.S. as perfect country but in some aspects it is not, the media never show the problems that communities are going through.Coming to New Orleans for the first time I didn't expect it to see certain areas , especially the ninth ward ,in the state that they were in nearly 10yrs after Katrina.

Yes, there problems here but the way the community has come together is something special. Today we worked in the community garden. Gardening is something I don't mind doing but I avoid it. Today was better than I ever expected, it was a lot of work but having great company made the experience fun. And knowing that all the work that was done made the community look better and all the product from the garden goes back to the community. This is something I believe all communities should show and I would like to take this back home and show them that even first world countries have their problems but when the community gets together a lot can be achieved.

- M.N