Wow! Who would have thought me joining the Peace Corps? Not I! If you would
have asked me around this time last year what the next step after graduation
was for me, I would have most likely told you I either wanted to get my masters
in MFT & Art therapy or Student Affairs.
It is amazing how in one weekend everything I wanted to do in my life could
change. Late October last year in 2011 I attended a NODAC conference in New
Orleans for Professionals Student Affairs, specifically Orientations. Now I had
already been to the previous year’s conference in St. Louis, which was
wonderful, but something was different this year. First of all this year’s
conference fell on Halloween weekend, which was awesome! We stayed at a hotel
that was literally one street away from Bourbon Street. Last but not least I
was with two of my best friends and our amazing supervisor, who knows how to
have a good time and where the good food is, YUM!
We arrived Saturday evening, got our bags and we were finally out of the
airport. Literally 20 ft outside of the airport...waiting in a long line for a
taxi. But not to worry soon enough we were in our taxi and on our way. It seemed like our driver
knew we were tired and in a hurry to get to our hotel because he was speeding
in and out of traffic. About forty minutes later we were in front of our hotel
thanking the driver for our lives ;) and in search for some delicious New
Orleans food.
With our tummies stuffed and tired from our long flight we all said
goodnight and headed off to bed. That following morning Rosella, Cinthya, and I
chose which sessions we were going to attend based off of what we wanted to
gain from this conference. This conference has everything, from sessions on how
to be a better leader to training to how motivating your team throughout the
summer. Some sessions we attended with each other while others we attended on
our own, but regardless every evening we got together and discussed what we had
learned over a New Orleans style dinner.
Rich, our supervisor is a lifelong learner and loves historical places so
before we arrived he had already signed us up for a couple evening programs.
Which consisted of a evening at the Hurricane Katrina Museum and a lunch with 4
guest speakers where we would receive a copy of their not yet released books.
Although when the day arrived to have the lunch with the speakers we decided
against going and instead we signed up for a tour at a Creole Sugar Cane
Plantation.
The Creole Sugar Cane Plantation tour was amazing! I think we really got
lucky with our tour guide because he was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He had purchased the Laura Plantation with the hopes of turning it into a museum after finding the memoirs of Laura that the plantation had such rich
history. In 1936, Laura Locoul Gore compiled an account of nearly 100 years of
life on a Louisiana sugar plantation named after her:"Laura Plantation."
Her manuscript, only recently discovered in St. Louis, Missouri,
details the daily life and major events of the inhabitants, both free
and enslaved, of the plantation that she and her female fore bearers
ran.
When we returned from the sugar cane plantation tour we had some dinner then
headed out for the Hurricane Katrina Museum. This museum is incredible. It gave me a better understanding of what happened before, during, and after the hurricane passed through New Orleans. When it hit southeastern Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast on the
morning of August 29, 2005, the storm caused fearsome destruction. But
the disaster wasn't entirely the result of natural causes. Levees and flood-walls – the man-made barriers built to protect New Orleans from the
water surrounding it – failed. Their collapse in a dozen or more
locations, plus tidal surges from the the low-lying eastern edge of New
Orleans, flooded 80 percent of the city. By the time the waters receded
and the survivors regrouped, Katrina, and then Hurricane Rita, had
claimed more than 1,400 lives and caused billions of dollars worth of
property destruction. After taking in all that the Museum and Plantation had to offer I was to be hit by one more thing the day of our departure.
Attending sessions at the NODAC conference, talking with people who have been in Student Affairs for years, and absorbing all the information that hit me I was sure that Student Affair was my next step in life. But I would sure have been surprised to know that this would change within our 8 hour flight back to California.
As we were leaving to the airport Rich told us that although we did not attend the lunch with the Authors we still got copies of their books. On our whole way back to California I started reading and finished a book called "Wine to Water" by Doc Hendley. An inspirational book about Doc a bartender who raised money by hosting wine to water parties at the bar he worked to provide clean water to those who need it. His book reinforced the importance of water at the core of all life. His adventures to do this work in turn inspired me and showed me that anyone can make an impact on the world. I would highly recommend the book "Wine to Water" who is looking for their passion. Although water may no be every ones' passion anyone with a dream can make a difference in the world.
As soon as we touched down in San Francisco, California I knew I had a different dream in mind. I started researching different volunteer programs that had water sanitation programs and found the Peace Corps. After getting some background on the Peace Corps Volunteer program I decided to start applying immediately. The rest is history...well I will write another blog about the process and all that followed soon enough.
Please check out the resources I have listed below they are amazing!
Resources:
http://www.neworleansonline.com/news/2010/Nov/katrina.html
http://www.lauraplantation.com/
http://winetowater.org/
