Washington, DC
My experience with the real DC, past all of the shiny buildings and popular politics and seeing the city through service.
This spring break, I went on a service trip to DC with my university. I stayed in the basement of a church and slept in a sleeping bag. Every day we would complete different service projects and through a partner program in DC, we were able to participate in sustainable change. On one of our first nights there, we went on a reflection tour of the city where our DC ambassador took us around and highlighted some of the different problems the city faces. Gentrification is a serious problem as affordable housing is getting torn down and luxury apartments for the rich are being built in their place. The homeless are supposed to be guaranteed a place to stay at night and as a result many are staying in an old hospital across from the prison where conditions are almost worse than they are on the streets. I also witnessed many volunteers that really are only in it for personal reasons which made me really start to question intent versus impact which is still something I am pondering today. I witnessed problems with the education system that were very different from the rural area of my university as well as different from the urban area of my hometown which really made me reevaluate the importance of the local government when it comes to policy and effecting people on a very personal level. I was inspired to approach my personal leadership and service differently and to make things more sustainable for my next few years in school. On our last day, I saw a glimmer of hope for the society of DC. We visited a very impactful homeless shelter by the name of Central Union Mission that provides education and shelter to homeless men in the DC area that showed me that it is possible to change things and not all is lost. In the afternoon we went to the office of the advocacy group “Bread for the World” that works to end world hunger. This was incredible and such an inspiration to me. We went to Capital Hill to drop off letters to senators and I was elected the one to do the talking. So I entered the office of one of the Senators for our university’s state and I started talking and asking for people. We were led into a conference room and I was able to lobby for this advocacy group. It set me on fire and I am itching to get back and work on that some more. After this experience I can’t stop thinking about how I can get back and when can I intern in DC. It really changed my goals for the future. I did a lot of soul searching and made a lot of personal growth during this trip. I left with a plan to change many things in my personal life as well as how I am going to approach a major service project I am doing this summer.
As advice, I would say that a service trip like this was the best possible way to see a city and really know what is in the area surrounding you. Yes I visited the Air and Space Museum, saw the new African American Culture and History museum as well as visiting most of the various monuments in the area. These were all breath taking and influential, but it added a whole other level of things to see this gorgeous statues dedicated to people who had really influenced our country and then to go see all of the people living in deep poverty and see all of the change needed and non of it being done. “Who is in charge of this?” I found myself thinking. This is a place where the most important people in the world converge and yet right around the corner people are seriously struggling. It makes you want to take a step back in your own life and see all of the people around you that are struggling and maybe you think “I can be responsible for this.”
I left and made a plan. I suggest you do the same and be sure to really see what is around you instead of being just another cookie cutter tourist.