After a week of manual labor and sleeping on a cot, one would expect to be dead tired and ready for another week of Spring Break. However, this past week has left me nothing but rejuvenated and inspired. I spent Spring Break helping the residents of Joplin, MO with the continual (and seemingly never-ending) clean up from the F5 tornado on May 22, 2011. It was unbelievable to see that almost a year later, the high school is a pile of rubble, trees are naked and houses sit deserted and in pieces. Our tasks varied day to day, but often centered around picking up debris from the tornado. I’m happy to say that our group got along famously—it was actually really surprising. 12 strangers (we’d met before, but were essentially unfamiliar with one another) transformed into 12 people that connected, laughed, shared, sweated, ate, slept, cooked, cleaned, talked, played board games, swam in a river filled with giant toe-destroying boulders… The week was unforgettable and I am so thankful that I was privileged enough to experience it. Hopefully the people I met will take up a permanent residence in my life. Experiences like the past week inspire me to keep believing in the generosity of the human spirit. I want to thank Mizzou Alternative Spring Break, the city of Joplin, AmeriCorps St. Louis, the amazing people in my life that donated money to help fund our trip, our awesome leaders Ryan and Nick, and my fellow ASBers for an amazing week of memories and laughs. (P.S.- rocks on rocks on rocks)
MU ASB Joplin @ Grand Falls waterfalls
