2008 Woodie Awards
Sweet home, Alabama: Spring Break trip opens eyes in many ways
Sarah Keller/Staff Writer
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Perspectives
If someone had asked me two weeks ago what I was expecting to get out of my spring break trip to Alabama with RLC, I would thought maybe having a fun time, and helping the community out.
Little did I know that the trip that I was about to encounter was going to be a life-changing event that I would never forget, and that I was going to make nine incredible friends and experience God like I never had before.
I do not even know how to begin to explain the amazing experience I had, or where to find the words to portray my unbelievable week in Alabama.
On Sunday, we set out for an experience that I will never forget, it was my favorite day. We headed for Selma at 6 a.m. in hopes of getting a spot in Brown Chapel to listen to Reverend Jessie Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton speak.
We ended up being the first ones to arrive. While we were waiting, we decided to walk through the streets of Selma where we met a man who marched as an original foot soldier with Martin Luther King Jr. in the five-day march. He showed us pictures, and gave us a newspaper clipping.
We listened to Jackson and Sharpton preach, which was the most moving church service I have ever been to. There was a reenactment of the Bloody Sunday March. It was the 43rd anniversary of the tragic day, and we had the chance to walk in the march. I cannot even begin to describe the feelings I felt while walking in this march with thousands of other people.
On the trip, we went to several museums to learn about civil rights acts. We were able to see Martin Luther King Jr.'s home and the church he preached at, along with the 16th chapel, an all black church that was bombed. We also saw the Rosa Parks Museum.
I learned about so many things black people had to suffer through, things they don't teach you in the textbooks or at school. It was very difficult to listen to all of the horrible things that people from our past had to go through just to get the right to vote, or to sit at the front of a bus.
Little did I know that the trip that I was about to encounter was going to be a life-changing event that I would never forget, and that I was going to make nine incredible friends and experience God like I never had before.
I do not even know how to begin to explain the amazing experience I had, or where to find the words to portray my unbelievable week in Alabama.
On Sunday, we set out for an experience that I will never forget, it was my favorite day. We headed for Selma at 6 a.m. in hopes of getting a spot in Brown Chapel to listen to Reverend Jessie Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton speak.
We ended up being the first ones to arrive. While we were waiting, we decided to walk through the streets of Selma where we met a man who marched as an original foot soldier with Martin Luther King Jr. in the five-day march. He showed us pictures, and gave us a newspaper clipping.
We listened to Jackson and Sharpton preach, which was the most moving church service I have ever been to. There was a reenactment of the Bloody Sunday March. It was the 43rd anniversary of the tragic day, and we had the chance to walk in the march. I cannot even begin to describe the feelings I felt while walking in this march with thousands of other people.
On the trip, we went to several museums to learn about civil rights acts. We were able to see Martin Luther King Jr.'s home and the church he preached at, along with the 16th chapel, an all black church that was bombed. We also saw the Rosa Parks Museum.
I learned about so many things black people had to suffer through, things they don't teach you in the textbooks or at school. It was very difficult to listen to all of the horrible things that people from our past had to go through just to get the right to vote, or to sit at the front of a bus.
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