Fortune or Fortunate?

I'm sitting here in bed on my laptop, tucked in for the night, snuggled in and ready to sleep. But something's been keeping me up. I had my palm read yesterday, and the woman said, among other things, that I would become less stressed in six to eight weeks. When she first told me I was excited. I thought about everything that has been stressing me out lately - school, planning the trip, prom, graduation - and how hard everything has been for me.

But reflecting on it now, how stressed can I really be? I mean yes, I'm exhausted from Share, and gardening, and getting up early for the 5K, but do I really have it so bad? On our way to the fortune teller my friends and I had an extra banana we didn't want, and we decided to give it to the next homeless person we saw. We sent over Emma to go and hand it to the man, and she never saw his smile because she was walking back towards us, but he looked as if she had just given him the world. And maybe she had. Maybe she given him a sign that there are people who still care.

Anyways, how stressed can I really be compared to that man? I know where I'm going to sleep at night, and I know I will have three square meals a day, and I know that my family and friends will always be there to love and support me. And I feel ashamed that yesterday I was so excited for her fortune to come true. Because what a selfish thing to wish - that I should be carefree when other people are struggling to survive.

And so my new resolution after this trip is to fight her prediction. Because I would rather be stressed out, and tired, and grumpy, and have given one person hope, and made them smile, than relaxed and watching the world's injustices go by without taking action. Even if I have my back turned when they do smile. And even if my back is turned now on Philadelphia, I know it is smiling for me, and I know I have brought a little hope to it. And that makes everything worth it for me.

- Tessa Reading

Our Closet

Friday a group of us went to Our Closet and sorted bags of clothing and shoes. The amount of shoes we spread out on the floor of the warehouse was unbelievable. I've never seen that many shoes in one place at one time in my life. Our job was to make sure the shoes were in pairs and sort them by season and sex. By having all the shoes spread out on the floor in pairs you could actually see how many people would be getting shoes. This floor filled with shoes reminded me of the shoe display in the Holocaust museum which is a pile of shoes that were taken from the Jews when they went into the concentration camps.

TJ Melanson Philly 2K15

Though the road here may have been filled with bumps, each bump lends a new lesson. Each experience we encounter makes us grow closer as a team and a group. We began just two days acting as individuals, but in just two days we've pulled together as a team. Yesterday, I went to the Share food program where we boxed food for families in need. The work seemed daunting at first, but like the old saying goes, many hands makes for little work. Though we had much to do, we still had time to find a way to have fun. By the end of the day you would be hard pressed to find a single person who did not dance during the day. Today we went to Our Closet, an organization who takes in clothing donations and gives them to those who need them. Again, we grew closer again and accomplished our goals. This trip never ceases to amaze me. Each person is so welcoming and fun loving. I find it interesting that we may come here knowing very little about each other, but each time you learn so much and learn to love each other. This is the reason I continue to want to be apart of this group. The things we do here and the lessons we learn are irreplaceable and the friendships are deeper than most. Service is what makes me happy, and it's the people that I do it with that makes it that much more special.