Fifty Forward: Day 5

The rest of the group taking an awkward family photo at Belmont University in Nashville.

This morning, after visiting the Parthenon replica in Nashville, we showed up to work at the same Fifty Forward site we were at yesterday, at the Presbyterian church. Upon arriving, we realized no one was there. We then called Shannon, the woman who was in charge of our itinerary all week, and she confirmed that the metro schools in Nashville had been closed for the day for a ‘snow day.’ We thought it was crazy because there was hardly any snow on the ground; granted, the roads were a little icy, but nothing like it gets in Kansas. We realized that everyone in Tennessee likes to overreact to the weather, and we had a good laugh about it. Since it was almost eleven and we were only supposed to work until noon, we decided to try and not find another volunteering opportunity but would just site-see.

Since we did not volunteer at all today, I do not have too much to talk about. So instead, I’ll talk to you about all of the people I have gotten to spend the week with and how awesome they are.  Going into this week, I did not know what kind of expectations to have for the trip. I was hoping to get to know the other people on the trip and to have a good time working with the Fifty Forward organization. However, I did not realize how good of a time I would have.  Getting to know the other people on the trip has been such an awesome and fun experience, and I am so glad I got to meet and spend time with each and every one of them.  At first, it was kind of intimidating to know that they were all older than me; and a lot of them already knew each other through the scholarship hall community or just happened to know the same people. However, I felt like I fit right in. As the week went on, we started to warm up to each other more and more.  We joked around a lot more, and we had a lot of good laughs. From naming our car “Beyoncé” to Larry’s snowflake pajama pants to “My ankles are burning!” I had such a great time getting to know everyone on this trip. And I’m super excited that they are planning on taking my Sylas and Maddy’s virginity soon. (For those of you who don’t know, Sylas and Maddy’s is an ice cream place on Mass Street in Lawrence.)

My favorite parts during this trip were getting to know the other members of the group and working at the Bordeaux site. Although Bordeaux was in the worst condition out of the sites we had been to, the people there were the liveliest and had such fun personalities; it was great talking to and hanging out with all of the members there. Overall, working with Fifty Forward did not change my view on the non-profit world. It is kind of what I expected; if anything, this just gave me more experience working with a non-profit. Overall, the experience was a really great one, and although it did not change any career goals of mine, it will play an impact when considering what I really want to do after getting my degree.

-Julie