Back to the Mountain by Ellie

Back to the Mountain by Ellie - April 2022 Scholarship Essay

I have been fortunate to participate in a week-long work mission trip in Tennessee. I have attended this work mission 4 times and will be going again this summer and I hope to continue going in the future. We work in the Appalachian Mountains with people who need help with minor house repairs, yard work, or people who need someone to talk to. I have helped with large yard work jobs, repairing roofs, painting houses, building and repairing porches, building wheelchair ramps, and many more projects. Each day of the week we work at a different house on a new project. This gives us the opportunity to meet many different people.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned is to listen. It is easy to get caught up in the repairs and work and not take time to get to know the family we are working with. In taking some time out to chat with them, you learn what they really need. When we take a water break or lunch break, we sit with the family and visit with them. They often share their life story and love to tell us about their family and how long their family has lived on the land. The homeowners often share hardships they have had to encounter. I have realized, they are usually just looking for someone to listen to them and spend some time with them. Many of them live in very remote areas and receive very few visitors. Many of them are lonely and enjoy spending time with us. They like to learn where we are from and what our families, schools, and communities are like. In these moments we enjoy finding shared experiences and learning about different ones. It is always so great to learn how many similarities we have once we sit down and get to know each other a little bit. From the outside it appears we would not have anything in common and it is easy to make assumptions about the families. Through communication, we can find similarities that can bring us closer together and help to close the gaps that society puts up between us.

Every year I look forward to returning to the mountain and the new adventures that await. I am thankful I am able to participate in this unique experience and grow in not only my construction skills, but also in my understanding of others.