St. Paul VISTAs Report On The National Service-Learning Conference

On March the 12th, 11 bleary-eyed twenty-somethings gathered on a dark street near the Mississippi river. They were encumbered with suitcases, garment-bags, pillows, and burritos - and one by one, they filed into two vehicles (“Mama” van, and “Horace” the subaru) and struck out West

You entrusted your money to these 11, under the impression that they would be using it to attend some kind of professional development conference - but what had become of them? Not only the 11, but the money?

As the sun was rising on the 17th of March, “Mama” and “Horace” were seen rolling back into the Twin Cities, but somehow their cargo had been altered - their 11 twenty-somethings now bore wide grins, minds full of innovative ideas, and notebooks crammed with contacts and resources.

Thanks to your incredible generosity, you helped 11 St. Paul VISTAs attend and facilitate the 24th Annual National Service Learning Conference in Denver Colorado, hosted by the National Youth Leadership Council - and that’s no small feat! We were able to accomplish a LOT:

• 5 SOLID days,
• 4,000 collective miles of travel,
• 250 gallons of gasoline used,
• 32 haikus written,
• 2 mail carts of swag bags: stuffed,
• 99 workshops monitored,
• 1,980 workshop surveys administered and collected,
• 2,000 attendees registered and badged,
• Over 2,000 plenary audience members greeted,
• 1 Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, met and greeted,
• 158 live Tweets,
• 176 square meals consumed,
• 14 inter-van letters written,
• 6 Denver service projects completed,
• 6 Fleetwood Mac songs played on the Ukulele
• COUNTLESS sources of inspiration: found,
• UNBOUNDED stories of service rendered,
• PLETHORAS of connections to other people and programs,
• UNKNOWABLE numbers of future careers: informed.

What a journey! The help you offered was an incredible boon to our efforts, and we’ve all returned to the Midwest supercharged and inspired to continue making a difference in our professional and personal communities, by teaching, and learning, through service.

Here are some personal highlights and lessons-learned from the trip, as penned by members of the 11: 

“From the conference I took away the idea that building lasting partnerships to maintain sustainability and longevity of projects and organizations is better than continually seeking out funding by oneself.”

“My favorite moment from the trip was hiking in the mountains outside of Boulder.”

“I've been struggling a lot lately about service, my motivation for doing it, where it fits in with society, etc. [...] at [...] the Friday plenary session: Peace, Justice, and Education, I felt as though Naomi Tutu was speaking to me directly when she was talking about treating others as human beings, not as labels. It's our differences that make this world an amazing place, giving each of us opportunities of new experiences to expand our world. This, I feel, applies to my personal life just as much as my work. Interacting with and treating people as human beings is what makes us truly human.”

“[I’m] falling in love with the people I'm following up with as potential career opportunities in the next few years!”

“I plan on incorporating service into the EMS Academy through a massive project to train 30,000 residents of St. Paul as CPR instructors. Ideally the EMS Academy students will become stewards of this initiative and incorporate tangible, life-saving service, into their EMT educations.”

“One of the most inspiring sessions I attended was the United World College - USA, HIV/AIDS Peer Educators session.  There were about 25 junior and senior high school students from all over the world who did (and do all over) skits and songs to educate folks about sexual and reproductive health.  They were super energetic, well-informed, and extremely poised in discussing what is oftentimes difficult subject matter.  I was blown away by their professionalism and enthusiasm, and am inspired to think outside the box for ways to engage different kinds of learning into trainings, self- and peer-education, and in general more worldly perspectives on local problems.”

“I learned that only through the trust and support of adults may youth leadership be fostered. Witnessing an English teacher allow his students to occasionally misstep and falter in the midst of a presentation, only to have their confidence build over the course of the session, exemplified how meaningful and powerful his trust in them was. This moment inspired me to rely more on the actions of youth in the new program I am helping launch at my organization.”

“Something that I learned:  I learned that youth do amazing things! They are teaching peers and adults about world issues like the global water crisis, converting used kitchen waste to fuel to heat low income homes, and building incredible things like schools around the world. From the volunteer experience on Saturday, I learned about vertical gardening, and another VISTA and I are now getting together to submit a vertical gardening proposal in St. Paul.”

“My favorite and most proud moment of the trip was meeting Wendy Spencer, the CEO for the Corporation for National & Community Service, who met with our group of 11 VISTA members after her plenary session on Wednesday night - shaking all of our hands, taking pictures, and shooting a quick video for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman about being excited for the Mayor's Day of Recognition for National Service on April 9th.  I was proud of the grace and professionalism of all our members, and how well they represented the Saint Paul VISTA Program, the office of Mayor Chris Coleman, and AmeriCorps members in general.”

From all of us, thank you! From the bottom of our hearts. We couldn’t have had this experience without your help, and it was not one we’ll soon forget!

- Angie - Natalie - Tracy - Matt - Maddie - Maggie - Brittany - Casey - Amanda - Allison - Claire -

I choose to risk my significance,

to live so that which came to me as seed

goes to the next as blossom,

and that which came to me as blossom,

goes on as fruit.

-Dawna Markova