Monday, July 20, 2009

ASP Day 1 -- on the job.


This is my 7th tip to Appalachia on ASP and it has never failed to be a rewarding experience. However a typical week on ASP can also include its fair share of stress and frustration. Today, our first day on the job site was particularly frustrating for me, and I am sure my fellow volunteers felt the same.

I am part of the "College" group which includes 14 people who have all experiences ASP multiple times. Despite our collective skill level we were placed on a job that we are felt over-qualified for. As we finished all our work today around 1:30, We all came to realize that our group of 14 could easily finish our entire project (planed to be a week long project) by this same time tomorrow. We spent much of the rest of the day sitting around. Once our family Ray, Rosebudd and and Andrea, left to go into town, we retired our tools to the car and headed back to the center.

I believe our group collectively feels as though our skills were under used. We are all a little down and our high hopes for an exciting challenging job and "awesome" ASP are now bleak. However, although ASP is frustrating and we are a little down, it is imperative that we remember that our job here is not only to build a great house but to also butild relationships with each other and our families.

Personally I think that frustrations like these are what make ASP so great, because no matter what these frustrations will resolved. Ultimately thought we must remember that we make the biggest difference by just showing up every morning with smiles on our faces and kindness in our hearts.

Tomorrow will be better.

Sara Flannelly.

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