Shannon- Tupac- Day Four

The next two days we spent doing grounds keeping work. We cleaned, gardened, and laid cement. The group was not overly keen on performing these activities, but I believe that this work taught us a lot about ourselves and each other.  We learned that volunteer work is not guaranteed to be fun and that keeping a good attitude can make the experience much more rewarding. We were pushed out of our comfort zones when we were asked to make and lay cement, a task that none of us had ever completed before. We had to learn on the job and we all found that it is much more difficult than it looks. In this moment, we all gained respect for the skilled workers that complete activities like this every day. I learned that I take these things for granted every day and when they took someone a great deal of time to perfect. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to lay cement as it requires great skill and precision.  While we were gardening, we met the main landscaper for the peace garden at Tupac. He gave us the honor of sharing in his life story. He said that he had gotten a higher education, but decided later on that his true passion was horticulture, so he got trained and is now a landscaper. Although it does not pay nearly as well as his last job, he is much happier working with the earth. He provided another example of someone who had followed a somewhat crooked path and eventually found his way by following his passion.  It emphasized to the group that it is still possible for a person to change his mind after following a certain path. Nothing in this life is set in stone, and a person has the ability to make himself happy by doing what he loves most.