It's All About the People

The first time I went on a service immersion trip, I was a freshman pledging in the spring of 2014. We were in Knoxville, TN and the only other pledge besides me was my twin, Sean. About half of the group was on the APO exec board, which made me even more intimidated to be there. That was the dominant emotion going in—feeling intimidated. APO was still so new to me, and I was still trying to overcome some of the shyness and self-doubt that had plagued me through high school. I decided to go on this trip to prove to myself that I could do something that made me a little uncomfortable. (That mindset continues to motivate my actions to this day.) We helped members of a nearby church assemble thousands of packaged meals that were going to be sent overseas. We also went to a soup kitchen where we served dinner to members of the local community. We were even able to explore Knoxville a little in our downtime. I participated in my first service reflection and I was surprised at how open and vulnerable was. One member of exec said that she had felt so disconnected from service until that trip. Her passion for service was reinvigorated when she interacted with the people we were serving at the soup kitchen. I knew then that I made the right decision to go on that trip. I was a part of something special. I decided that I would try to go on every APO service immersion trip until I graduated college. I am writing this about a month after going on my fifth service immersion. The trips I’ve been on have focused on a range of topics including domestic violence, food insecurity, poverty, and incarceration. I’ve had to reflect on my experiences and ask myself some tough questions. One of them is: what makes service immersion worthwhile? Some people might question why people travel to faraway places to do service when there are issues to be dealt with in local communities. So why do it? This is what I’ve come to find. It’s really all about three categories of people. The people that you serve, the people that you serve with, and the people that serve you in return. I met a homeless man in Charlotte, NC who had a degree in Culinary Arts from Wake Forest. I was serving him breakfast underneath a highway overpass as he spoke about how much he missed his six year old daughter. We talked about our passions and interests and learned that we both enjoyed playing musical instruments. While we toured a high security prison in Charleston, WV, we listened to some of the inmates talk about their dog training program. These seemingly tough guys talked about these dogs with such raw emotion and gratitude. Some of them were serving long sentences and this was something that gave them hope to keep going. With every trip, my assumptions were constantly shattered by the stories I heard. I’ve gotten to know my fellow brothers a lot better through these experiences. I’ve sat through some very interesting car rides talking about anything from pop culture to our parents. I’ve witnessed brothers lead by example by stepping up to a challenging task at a project, doing things without being asked, and going above and beyond what was asked. My favorite part about spending time with my brothers on these trips is listening to them during reflection. Some of the most special moments have been listening to brothers talk about how much they connected with a project. Each of us has our own motivations for doing service, and hearing them verbalized so vulnerably is such a sacred experience. The most unexpected thing I discovered was the kindness of those we encountered wherever we went. We’ve stayed in churches where parishioners have provided meals for us, and let us freely use their facilities. APO alumni have opened their homes to us and done the same. On our most recent trip to Washington, D.C., we ate at a restaurant and one of the managers was an APO alumnus from Michigan. Some of the friends he had made as a brother in APO are his closest friends to this day. He told us to cherish the time that we spent together in college. Hearing those words from a complete stranger gave them more gravitas. I believe that the purpose of service immersion is to influence others in a positive way. It gives us an opportunity to act on a scale that is greater than the everyday. I have seen proof that if you put good things out, good things will come back to you. And even though I’ve been on so many trips, yes, I still get a little intimidated by gravity of it all. Hopefully it means that I’m doing something right.