Since I have gotten to college, I haven’t really volunteered much at all. But I decided that spring quarter would be different. I went to the adopt-a-block event last weekend and I had a blast! I loved helping out my neighborhood, and it was rewarding to receive a ton of “thank-you’s” from all the grateful residences. I will definitely be volunteering again soon.

– Marisa

“This place might be small, but it is a very special place filled with large hearted people.” Mary said to me and my friend Sean. Mary is an elderly woman who cleans the YMCA when it closes and is one of the funniest and kindest souls that we met during our alternative break in Greenville, Mississippi.  She was one of many kind souls who definitely made this trip. We were in the gym playing basketball and reflecting about the events of the day, two simple things that became nightly rituals on our trip along with our friend Baolun. However, that night happened to be one of the more interesting nights because prior to our “rituals,” we had just finished our nightly session of “highs” and “lows” and there was a bit of frustration about the trip and a little bit of disagreement expressed among all members. This was probably one of the lowest and at the same time, highest days of the trip because even before all this we had just returned from the generous restaurant, Doe’s Eat Place, where the owner Charles Doe, another generous and kind soul, did not make us pay for a meal that probably could earn one if not several Michelin stars all just because we were volunteers. Almost everywhere we went, we were treated with true Southern Hospitality, especially at Doe’s. For obvious reasons, it is easy to see why this day is a high point, but like I mentioned it was a low point because several of us expressed our frustrations and personally I felt that the volunteer work we were doing was not widely, directly, and positively affecting the demographic that I thought we would be helping and being in solidarity with, and to be frank: the socio-economically challenged Black community. Even though we did help at the Sunflower County Freedom Project (an after school program for Black 7th-12th graders) and at Booker T Washington Elementary (98% Black), I felt it was limited. Now, I must stress before I continue that this was half way in the trip and I understand that everything we did, no matter how small, was helping the Mississippi Community in a positive way. However, in my perspective, I felt like sometimes we were helping the administrators of the volunteer sites who seemed in my perspective, sometimes not directly helping the socio-economically challenged community. Some of the tasks that we did seemed like they were only beneficial for the administrators of the volunteer site.  My expectations for this trip were that we were going to be doing arduous work and being in long, constant contact with the Socio-economically challenged Black community who I feel is the community that needs the most help. I was frustrated that even when we were in contact and somewhat in solidarity with the socio-economically challenged Black community like at The Sunflower County Freedom Project and Booker T. Washington Elementary, it was not as much contact as I would have hoped. In short, I felt my expectations were not being met and that I was not really helping. Despite my frustrations, it fortunately only took me a day and some encouraging words from one of the Teachers at Sunflower, Vyish, who said to me that I really have made an impact just by being there and having a conversation with the students. Actually, as I type this on my iPhone on the plane going back to LAX, this statement just reaffirms the idea that even the smallest amount of volunteer work can make an impact on the people I come in contact with as long as I am genuine with them because they truly were all genuine to me. Every single person and I will try to list them but the sad and embarrassing thing is that I don’t remember them all: Kevin, Bob, Mary, Ben, Sandra, Willishia, her son Jeremiah, Sandra, Vyish, Justine, Andrew (Mr. Stevens), Tatyana, Mikayla, Scheranda, Gus Williams, Kontraveis, Dave, Eustace, Rodarious, Quay, Tomas, Jaques, Omar, Antonio, CJ, Soloman, Jordan, Jaylen, Robert, Gerald, Lafranz, Pamaurion, Genesis, Michael, Mr. Milton Bell, Ian, Ricky, Divitri, Bryce, Ryan, and Cindy.  All of these and more were genuine to me and I tried to be as genuine as I could be with them. Once again, despite my frustrations, it was the people that I came in contact with who truly made the trip through their unique stories which definitely helped change my disillusionment in the span of one day. I’ve voiced this before, but not as clear and the best way that I can articulate this idea is in its original form. When you envision yourself as an activist, you are not supposed to envision yourself and your goals, but rather the community and the goals of the community and the cause. In the same way, when you see yourself as a volunteer, it is not about you as the volunteer, but the cause and the people in that community you are helping. It does not matter if my experience did not match my expectations, it is more important that the community that I am helping is getting the required and necessary help and is meeting its goal. My individual experience is not as important as the experience of the community as a whole. I truly did have a memorable experience, but I do wish it could have been more effective in helping the specific community that I wanted to help. While a positive experience would be an added bonus and is a goal of a volunteer trip, I’ve learned that I might not have the greatest most spectacular experience, but rather sometimes an experience that challenges me and makes me learn.  These were actually two goals of this trip that I had: to be challenged and to learn. After this trip, my perspective of volunteering has changed in a very positive way. To me, volunteering which was once a just a way to individually feel good about a positive action, but it has changed to focusing more on the feelings of the community and its goals which in essence has always been the root of volunteering. Though to many this statement is not new, to me it is important that I have come to this realization that not every volunteer experience may be super life changing, but it is more important that I do the volunteering work even if it seems indirect because someone out there in the community that I am helping might be affected dramatically in a positive way. I can only hope that my efforts have changed at least one person because one person is all it takes to make that change.

For those of you who think I had a bad experience, that is not what I am trying to say.  Overall, I had a wonderful experience.  In short, what I am trying to say through my long blog post is that not every volunteer experience is going to be life changing, but it is important to do every volunteer opportunity because each one will truly make an impact in some form.  Volunteering is not only just about feeling good about oneself, in my opinion, that is one of the least important aspects of volunteering.  Volunteering is about the community and making sure that the goals of the community are accomplished and put before the needs and goals of the individual.  It is much better that I took away a lesson than just having a great time, even though I did have a great time.  I’ve learned so much from this experience, even more than from the experiences that might have poignantly or especially moved me.  My expectations might have been high, but the students who lead these breaks and most importantly, the two strong women who led this past one did their best and in my opinion, that is the greatest thing anyone can do: just to do their best.  When I came to them with my frustrations, they listened, understood, and gave me the support that I needed in order to give me some composure.  Words cannot express my gratitude because my gratitude is more than words.  They did an amazing job, one that I know is much more difficult on the side of the organizer.

The alternative spring break or any volunteer break is definitely one I believe that everyone should go on because anyone can go have a typical spring break swimming, tanning, and possibly drinking, but not a lot of people can give up that time focused on the individual and instead focus on the community.  This trip has only taught me to remember that in regards to volunteering, the individual is not the most important figure, it is the community.  Like the Pilipino and Mexican Migrant workers would yell in unison at the end of the day of work in the fields, I end this blog post with the infamous statement which translates to One down, One Fall.  When one falls, the whole group falls.  But when one rises, the whole group rises.  Isang Bagsak!

(Shoutouts to all the other strong women on this trip as well! Y’all are fierce)

– ayeldarb

In freshman year, I didn’t click with anyone on my hall. We didn’t have drama but it wasn’t what I thought meeting a hall of high achieving students was going to be like. I just spent time in people’s rooms, not doing much, feeling like I was wasting my time.

Then in spring quarter freshman year I went to my first CAB meeting. And it just clicked. The people were friendly and  genuinely interested in making the world a better place. They cared. They took action.

So I applied to be historian my sophomore year and got the position. CAB Board is where I made my best friends in college. We spent so much time together at meetings and then it carried over into our personal life. We hung out, ate meals, and watched movies together. I grew to love the organization and the people involved. It became the family I was looking for my freshman year and it’s carried me throughout my four years here. I have no doubt that I will remain in contact with friends I’ve made in CAB.

Joining CAB Board was the best decision of my college career. So you should join too! Even if it doesn’t end up being like my experience, I’m sure it’ll be fun! We’d love to meet you and become friends. 😀