While I cannot share those particular memories, I can say
that over break I did make many memories from my own service.
I guess that is what this blog is really all about: recording
our experiences to reflect and remember. It is safe to say that I cherish my
whole Sandy Relief experience…especially those few days that I was working with
Bonner.
Perhaps my favorite part of those couple of days was on the
second day at Ortley when all of us were digging up this monster of a sand dune
that had washed up against this small beach house. We were told that there was
a “beautiful deck” underneath all of the sand, but it was hours before we even
got the chance to see it.
That single moment when a small piece of the deck
surfaced and everyone gathered around to see it was definitely a moment to
remember for me. To me it felt like we had conquered the impossible dune just
by seeing that tiny piece of wood. I know that for many of us, including
myself, it was aggravating shoveling one scoop of sand for more to just slide
back into the cleared spot. For most of that day I felt like I was making no
progress, but when I saw that deck, I finally saw progress.
Now I know that in the grand scheme of things we were just
one group of students shoveling up one single backyard for that whole day, but
we did leave our mark and help out that homeowner. I suppose that is how
we all should really look at the whole Hurricane Sandy disaster; we should
think that every little bit helps because every helping hand leads to progress.
Little dents from everyone eventually add up.
However, there is still much work that needs to be done
before New Jersey is up and running again. I know that some of the AmeriCorps
members at Ortley said that they were going to be stationed there clear through February. But despite all of this, I am glad that I could help in any
way that I could over Christmas Break.
I hope that all of you feel the same way with the service
that you did in both New Jersey and down in New Orleans.
I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow!
--Shayna Innocenti