This summer began as most summers do, with me scrambling to find a last minute job. I always exaggerated “how that job hunt is coming along” to my father. In reality, I was perfectly content waking up at noon only to waste the day away. One Thursday, I came home from Oakland to help my mom around the house–as I often would because meals are free and there is an opportunity for some spending money.
However, I digress. I was helping my mother pull weeds when I received a phone call from an unknown number in Charlotte. The voice on the other end quickly introduced himself as Andrew Matznick with the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity’s National Headquarters. I was initially concerned there were complications with my dues, but thankfully that was not the case. Andrew reminded me that back in January I signed an interest sheet for Journey of Hope while at Mid Year Leadership Conference in Baltimore. He followed with, “Are you still interested in doing Journey of Hope this summer?” I was skeptical at first, as many people are when a challenging experience presents itself. Though after discussing logistics and giving them little to no choice, I was able to sell the idea to my parents who initially responded by rolling their eyes. After my bold declaration however, they saw how impassioned I was about the project and gave me their support.
The Journey of Hope is a cross-country cycling trip that consists of three routes leaving from the West Coast, Seattle, San Francisco, and Long Beach. The three paths converge on the final day at the Nation’s Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The journey was sixty-one days for the cyclists and crew (82 total for crew members). More than twenty cyclists on any of these routes would bike an average of 75 miles per day.
I was a crewmember. It may not be as impressive a feat as what the cyclists did this summer, but I wouldn’t change the individual growth, new friends, and memories for anything. Each night after we reached our lodging and clean up, we would have some quality down time. Afterwards, we embarked on what we call a ‘friendship visit.’ During these we would usually go somewhere that represents those with developmental or physical disabilities. We interacted with the people by bowling together, and making arts and crafts, along with various other activities. One of the most memorable friendship visits was in Jackson, with CLASS of Mississippi. We had the opportunity to help people with disabilities get into small planes so they could experience flying. I was amazed by the various ways to engage those that we served all summer; it very much changed my entire outlook on life.
Onward we rode from Long Beach, to Las Vegas, to Arizona State University, to Roswell New Mexico, to Texas Tech University, to Fort Worth and Texas Christian University, to Dallas, to Shreveport Louisiana, to Jackson, to The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, to Atlanta, to Clemson, to Charlotte, to Manassas VA, and finally to Washington D.C. When we arrived in front of the Capitol Building, almost everyone began to cry. Yet I was numb. I was astonished that the entire summer came to a pinnacle as we sat, stood, and kneeled on the lawn.
Needless to say, the Journey of Hope was the most important event in my life thus far. All the blessings that come to me now are all a result of this absolutely stressful, monotonous, spontaneous, magnificent routine that was my summer 2013. For all reading, thank you, I hope that you can relate in some way; but if not then I encourage you to go out and do something unpredictable and possibly risky, because it will change your life in ways that you may have never imagined possible.