Five years seems like an eternity in the life of a 24 year old graduate student. Five years spans an amount of time that I am just now beginning to comprehend. Five years could get me from high school to college, from college to the “real world.” The quantification of time is a funny thing though. Five years is almost a lifetime to me, but may merely be a glimpse in time for another. Some might remember five years ago as if it was yesterday. In fact, today could physically look like five years ago (believe it or not). August 29, 2005 is a day that for many in the Gulf States might quite literally feel like yesterday. Why? This is the day that Hurricane Katrina greeted the residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama with a hellacious fury. Perhaps the depiction of destruction and devastation that followed seems like yesterday to you.
I reflect back on these images because I recently had the privilege to serve as a learning partner on a service trip organized through The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Office of Leadership and Service-Learning. I, along with another graduate student, accompanied 12 undergraduates for a week of service spent in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. Much to my dismay, the Lower Ninth Ward vastly still resembles the landscape of over 5 years ago after the flood waters had receded. Empty lots filled with debris, shambled structures, and spray-painted Xs haunting the doorways that now house residents again are all common sites found in the Lower Ninth, not 5 years ago but today. Sure, the cleanup efforts have provided the city of New Orleans with millions of dollars, thousands of volunteer hours, and a sense of hope for a brighter, safer tomorrow but one cannot visit the Lower Ninth without feeling the same loss, the feeling that somehow its residents have been forgotten.
However, the residents I encountered were the first to remind me that these feelings of loss are not to be confused with despair. After all, here it is over 5 years later and the young and old alike still flock to this hallowed ground in an effort to help the Lower Ninth continue its renewal. A sense of service permeates the individuals who still hear the calling to help those directly impacted by the life changing events of over 5 years ago. While the story of the individuals impacted could be expounded upon along with the physical situation that many parts of New Orleans still experience, a larger question arises from this experience. Can service be a solution? Rather, this question is already answered by many individuals across all walks of life. Instead the framework must become how can service be a solution?
There is little doubt that many challenges currently face our nation, let alone the world. Economic hardship continues to affect millions of Americans. The tsunami in Japan is quickly becoming one of the costliest natural disasters in history. Uncertainty is abound. However, those willing to make a difference and help another out are also ever increasing in number. The call to serve one another is resonating across generations in the US. As baby boomers head towards retirement and Millennials figure out their own place in society, it is clear that a national movement of service is taking hold in every generation in between. The goal of any successful leader, community organizer, or change agent should be how to harness this potential. This is no easy task and it is not designed to be. However, human capital is going to remain a strength found across cultures and generations to come, so to not harness it for the betterment of the social good would be to the detriment of all. So I encourage everyone (whether you view yourself as a leader or not) to think about how we, as humans, can put service at the forefront of our lives. Five years is a mere quantification of time, and a short one at that. Service has the unique ability to span eternity, so why don’t we put it to use?
Author:
John Bratton
Service-Learning Graduate Assistant
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