As a Student Site Coordinator, my mission was to be the "oz" of the trip, making sure that students were taken care of and were enjoying the service trip experience. I learned quickly, however, that you can't force students to do anything. You can set everything up for them, but the final decision is theirs to make.
I walked away from Nashville with a sense of respect for having been blessed to go on the last three service trips [to New Orleans, LA and Orlando, FL), because the work that the chaperones and SSCs put in was intense. Knowing that Heidi used to do it all by herself left me amazed. Not once did we ever hear her complain about being tired or bored or anything else. She was constantly smiling, and keeping us motivated when we were getting cranky. Even in Nashville, when I needed some motivation, I went to her. I love you so much, Heidi. Thank you for going above and beyond your job description to help me [and many others], feel part of NSU.
The A Team! =) Caitlin, Anam, Saky, Jamie, Nakita, Krista, Lauren, Ted, Nathalie, Alexis S., Kristina, and I put in a lot of work on Neill Street. I'm happy I got a chance to work with you all. I appreciate more the fact that we were all equally motivated to help out our homeowner, Keith. Our hard work did not go unnoticed.
Nashville, Tennessee in so many ways was a lot different from what I expected. And I'm glad. I learned so much about myself and the other people there. The life lessons I got could not happen at Nova. The friends I made would not have happened at Nova. The clash of personalities, beliefs, and cultures all made for a memorable service trip!
~Norma
