Finding Compassion in Nature
By Audra
Bayou Mud, a tree named Charlotte, compassion, and what they all have in common.
Standing knee deep in the mud of Bayou Savage in Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans, I figured out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It had nothing to do with the cypress sapling I was holding, or the mud I was standing in. Rather, the people around me—a mix of college students from my uni and others, and Louisianan natives working to preserve the wetlands that they’ve called home for years—moved me in a way that nothing else ever had.
Three years ago, October 2017, I learned I was heading to the bayous of New Orleans for a service trip. I was a new transfer at Baldwin Wallace University. I was anxious, to say the least. While sitting in a sociology class, my professor, Betsy, brought up that applications to the Alternative Break program were closing soon, and we should consider applying. This piqued my interest, so I caught up to her after class.
Alternative Breaks are a non-religious, immersive service experience in which college students from across the country travel to various locations to spend a week living and serving in a community. Each trip has a focus and requires pre-trip meetings and lessons before the group ventures off into the community. The trips take place during different breaks, like spring or winter break, thus giving the name Alternative Break.
Betsy convinced me to fill out an application for the Alternative Break program, and that led me to sitting at the Alternative Break Fall 2017 reveal party, with 8 other people. Our trip leader revealed our destination with excitement: we were going to New Orleans! I wish I could say I was excited, but unfortunately, there was more fear and trepidation than excitement. The farthest I’d ever been from home was Canada. New Orleans’s distance of more than 1,000 miles made my stomach churn. Regardless, with some convincing from my sorority sisters and my professor, Betsy, I stuck around and on December 8th, my Alternative Break departed.
Nine days later, I returned home a different human—someone who was more confident, explorative, empowered and curious. The anxious girl that left for New Orleans transformed into a young woman who understood her place in the community just a little more. I find myself coming back to the memories of this trip for many, many reasons. More than I can write here. The places I explored, the lessons I learned, and the community I lived in are all a part of the culmination of a transformative experience, something that led me down the path of finding my own empowerment and poise. It transformed me into an empowered leader and a poised young professional. But of all the stories I have to share, one stands out in particular.
On a particularly beautiful December day, our group traveled to Bayou Savage to assist in planting over 2,000 trees that specific day. After a quick history lesson, we learned that Louisiana is undergoing a loss of about a football field size of land every hour. One of the few ways to combat and regain the losses was to replant the bayous and coastline, by hand. Our group was joined by another group of about 20 other people, giving us about 35 people to plant 2,000 saplings in about 5 hours. It was grueling work. My boots constantly got stuck in the mud. There were blisters on my hands from digging, mud smeared across my face, and a backache starting to take hold. Despite it all, I was having so much fun digging holes and planting baby trees in them, imagining that one day I might come back to my trees all grown up. At one point, I said out loud “I’m going to name this tree Nancy.” One of the workers from our host organization overheard me and laughed.
“Why Nancy?” he asked.
“Oh, that’s the name of my mom. I think she would’ve liked it if there was a tree here for her.” I said.
“My mom passed away not too long ago, too.” He handed me a cypress sapling. “Would you name this one Charlotte for me?”
I smiled and nodded in response. Nancy and Charlotte the Cypress trees still stand in the bayou today, but this story isn’t just about them. It’s about finding my way to non-profit work, to learning about how I can continue to dedicate my life to service, and how that empowers me to live my best life.
