My Story
I have volunteered for an organization named Appalachia Service Project (ASP) for one week each year of my past four summers. This week has been one of the most moving and enjoyable weeks of my year, and I have always looked forward to the next trip. The experiences I have had on these trips have helped me to learn so much about myself, along with creating relationships with families and fellow workers that I treasure and I hope to keep for my entire life.
As a volunteer, our job was to work on a home selected by ASP and perform the given task for the week in order to make the home warmer, safer, and drier for the family who is living there. I have worked on a variety of tasks through my four years; I have installed new sub-floors, dry-walled entire rooms, including ceilings, installed baseboards, put up vinyl siding on the exterior of homes, along with several other projects. This work is strenuous and exhausting, but at the end of the week when you can take a step back and see what an impact you have made on the given family’s home, along with the relationships you have developed with the families and your work group, you realize why you want to keep coming back.
Since this is one of the best experiences I have ever had, I thought to myself, how could I make this one week each summer last longer? Luckily, there was an answer to my question: ASP summer staff! So, I applied to be a summer staff member for ASP, and after I applied for the position, I prayed that I would be accepted. After completing an interview via Skype, I was invited to an applicant workshop in Cincinnati. It was a great way to test the waters of what it is like to be a staff member. We talked about what it meant to be an ASP staff member as well as ran through simulations of a typical day of the summer. It was also awesome meeting other potential staffers who shared the same love for ASP as I do.
After the staff applicant weekend, it was time to wait. After a few long weeks, I received a call from one of the members of the hiring team saying that they would like to offer me a position. I was ecstatic and that call was like a dream come true. Not only was I selected to be a staff member for the summer, but Isabel had also received her call not too long before I did. This opportunity means the world to both of us and, although we will not be working together this summer, it is something that we are both very excited to experience from different centers.
So what does all of this mean? I am employed by ASP for the summer as a staff member from May 17th to early August. I will be stationed in one of four states, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, or Virginia, but will not know where until a later date. I also am not yet aware of my position, but as a summer staffer, I will be on a team with three other members. As a team, we are responsible for setting up a center for volunteers in our given county, choosing the homes of families for who we will perform repairs to make their home warmer, safer, and drier, and providing the volunteers with a safe environment. The summer consists of two weeks of training, one and a half weeks of set-up in our county, and 7 weeks of volunteers (we will get a new group each week).
I feel very fortunate for this life-changing opportunity and could not be more excited for it! I will have limited cell coverage and my only form of communication will be through the use of the Internet. I am starting this blog in order to keep family and friends informed of my adventures this summer, in case I do not have much time to contact you personally. I will do my best to update it as much as possible with pictures and text. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me through this process. I will keep everyone posted on future events! I hope all is well.
-Ben
As a volunteer, our job was to work on a home selected by ASP and perform the given task for the week in order to make the home warmer, safer, and drier for the family who is living there. I have worked on a variety of tasks through my four years; I have installed new sub-floors, dry-walled entire rooms, including ceilings, installed baseboards, put up vinyl siding on the exterior of homes, along with several other projects. This work is strenuous and exhausting, but at the end of the week when you can take a step back and see what an impact you have made on the given family’s home, along with the relationships you have developed with the families and your work group, you realize why you want to keep coming back.
Since this is one of the best experiences I have ever had, I thought to myself, how could I make this one week each summer last longer? Luckily, there was an answer to my question: ASP summer staff! So, I applied to be a summer staff member for ASP, and after I applied for the position, I prayed that I would be accepted. After completing an interview via Skype, I was invited to an applicant workshop in Cincinnati. It was a great way to test the waters of what it is like to be a staff member. We talked about what it meant to be an ASP staff member as well as ran through simulations of a typical day of the summer. It was also awesome meeting other potential staffers who shared the same love for ASP as I do.
After the staff applicant weekend, it was time to wait. After a few long weeks, I received a call from one of the members of the hiring team saying that they would like to offer me a position. I was ecstatic and that call was like a dream come true. Not only was I selected to be a staff member for the summer, but Isabel had also received her call not too long before I did. This opportunity means the world to both of us and, although we will not be working together this summer, it is something that we are both very excited to experience from different centers.
So what does all of this mean? I am employed by ASP for the summer as a staff member from May 17th to early August. I will be stationed in one of four states, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, or Virginia, but will not know where until a later date. I also am not yet aware of my position, but as a summer staffer, I will be on a team with three other members. As a team, we are responsible for setting up a center for volunteers in our given county, choosing the homes of families for who we will perform repairs to make their home warmer, safer, and drier, and providing the volunteers with a safe environment. The summer consists of two weeks of training, one and a half weeks of set-up in our county, and 7 weeks of volunteers (we will get a new group each week).
I feel very fortunate for this life-changing opportunity and could not be more excited for it! I will have limited cell coverage and my only form of communication will be through the use of the Internet. I am starting this blog in order to keep family and friends informed of my adventures this summer, in case I do not have much time to contact you personally. I will do my best to update it as much as possible with pictures and text. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me through this process. I will keep everyone posted on future events! I hope all is well.
-Ben