Saint Noel-Rebecca

The last day of a long week. The last gathering of this amazing group of young people from all over the country. The last time I will be in this space as a student. I have learned so much over the past four years, but especially this year. I learned the importance of being not only physically strong for some jobs, but mentally strong. I did not think I could cut down a tree, carry 80 pound bags of cement  on my shoulder, but I did. I did not think I could move a shed with only 8 people and some PVC pipe, or use a jackhammer on cement, but I did. This week was transformative in ways that other weeks were not. We did so much more physical labor than I expected, and that I had done in previous years. My group was not the biggest or the strongest group individually, but together we became strong and came together to do so much. I bonded with my group over our collective sore muscles, and our aching backs, and especially bonded over the accomplished feeling we received at the end of each work day. Overall, this experience is one that I will never forget, maybe because of the people, maybe because of the work, or maybe just because of the experience as a whole.