I have learned so much about myself, the group and what it means to be a part of something bigger. I am endlessly grateful for my opportunity to be a part of this group, and to have grown as a person along side of each and everyone of my peers in this group.
As the week started, I was so overjoyed to be down here in New Orleans for purely service. But what I got out of this program I dare say might be more than I ever could have put out in work. I had my expectations shattered by the group, the individuals and the work we did. The whole program is immensely important and I could not even begin to describe how I feel right now. I am feeling so much joy tonight on the last morning at 12:36 am Saturday morning. But with this joy comes some sadness, I really don't want to have to go back and assimilate back into our everyday school lives. I say that we don't have to, I say that why should the group change back into who we are at school just because this week is over. The sides of people that I see here on this trip are some of the most genuine and kind people I have ever met, and to be honest I did not expect some people to break their shells.
This entire week I hadn't really been thinking about what the end would feel like, I was trying to live in the present moment and enjoy as much as possible while I could. But now that we are here I find myself wishing that we had more time, as I am sure many of us are at this point.
At our reflection tonight I did not share everything that I had on my mind because I wanted elaborate on this more than I may have been able to do at the reflection. I am usually a very outwardly happy or friendly guy, or at least I try to be, but as a few people brought up today they were not as they seemed. I try not to come out of my comfort zone a lot and sharing emotions is something I have an extremely difficult time doing. I spoke to a few people about this during the week, about how I felt that I didn't really fit in or I felt like I didn't belong, I know now and will always know that each and every one of this group in some way would be there for me if I needed it, and for that I couldn't be more thankful.
I now realize that all of my self conscience ideas about myself were totally and utterly wrong, and that each person and individual would gladly help me or anyone out if they were ever in need, whether it be rebuilding a house or just offering a condolence or some support to anyone who may be feeling down.
I would like to end this blog with a quote, and here comes the nerd in me, it is from J.R.R Tolkien.
"Courage will now be your best defense against the storm that is at hand." I chose to include this quote for a few reasons, but the most significant reason being that it takes courage to be a volunteer, it takes courage to give up so much of your time, it takes courage to offer yourself unconditionally to assist anyone in need, to be selfless, and that courage is something each and every one of the individuals in this group possess.
-Tyler Ruf
No comments:
Post a Comment