A Final Reflection: Farewell Mississippi...Till I Come Home Again

Greetings to all of our Followers!!!

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks for reading this blog. Keeping track of our thoughts in this fashion would not have been worthwhile if nobody bothered to read them. THANK YOU to all of those who have followed our blog! Your suppport has encouraged and inspired us!

As previously done before, I would like to apologize for not posting in a while. It has been several days since I returned from Mississippi to Ohio, and I am only getting around to posting on our blog right now.

This will be my final post.

The last week at St. Gabriel Mercy Center will forever remain etched in my memory. What a week! We had volunteers helping us out the whole time. Ms. Ginger, a 3rd grade teacher, was one of our volunteers. She was AWESOME! Most of our volunteers had typically been kids roughly our own age. But having a professional on board really changed some of the dynamics. She read to the kids and worked really well both with groups and individuals. Aside from the usual math/reading activities, we had a little bit of a different rotation schedule. Josh needed more time to practice the Russian Revolution Skit he wrote for the 10-13 year olds. So they had rehearsal both Monday and Tuesday for extended periods of time (1 hr and 30 minutes). Nina and I did activities keeping the middle and youngest kids together along with some divided exercises too. For example, we conducted a joint lesson on germs and hygiene with both groups together. Nina organized a creative way to show how germs go from one person to another so easily. She put some glitter on two kids’ hands. We all then walked around and shook one another’s hands. By the end of the activity, only two kids in the whole classroom had NO glitter on their hands while everyone else had at least a few specks. The kids immediately understood how germs spread because of this VERY visual demonstration. Nina also led the kids through the Star-Spangled Banner since that was the opening act of the final presentation for the parents. The week continued with more of the same – gearing up for the big performance. I worked on Karate with all the kids throughout the week too, while Nina picked two girls to read their Wayside Essays out loud for the parents. We did a full run through on Wednesday and honestly I didn’t know just how things were going to turn out! It seemed like everything needed to be tightened up a lot, and I wasn’t sure if the kids were ready. Still we proceeded on. Thursday came before we knew it – our last day with the children. We gathered everybody and went to the Cafeteria. Josh, Nina, and I had set up everything the day before, so the kids went straight into one last run through of the presentation. Before we knew it, the parents started rolling in. Mrs. Lyles brought the seniors too! We had a packed crowd! Nina, Josh, and I were so excited and happy that a lot of people showed up. When the performance started we could tell our kids were ready to show the audience one performance they’d never forget! First the 5-7 year olds + 8-9 year olds opened the presentation with the National Anthem. Afterwards I led each of the age groups through their respective Karate demos. Next Josh had the 10-13 years olds perform the Russian Revolution skit. It turned out very nicely, and I commend Josh for writing such an entertaining yet educational script. Finally Nina had the girls read their Wayside Essays for everybody. We capped off the whole program by calling up each child up individually and presenting them with nice certificates. Each kid also got a folder containing all of the worksheets they had done from the beginning of the program. Nina did a terrific job filing all the papers since the early days of the Summer Youth Program. Before concluding the whole show, we called up Sister Donald Mary and Sister Donella. We gave them a card meant for all the staff of St. Gabriel’s to thank them for everything they’ve done for us. We also gave Sister Donald Mary and Sister Donella flowers for being such great mentors for us. Sister Donald Mary then proceeded to thank all of the parents for coming and showing their support. The Summer Youth Program’s Final Presentation had been a HUGE SUCCESS!!! All the kids really showed how much they’ve learned during the two months. They hit it out of the park! I felt so proud as a teacher. The reception that followed the program was bittersweet. Being so strict with the kids for so long, I know that few kids were ready to see the compassionate side of Nina, Josh, and myself. I was very sad to say goodbye to the kids. It has been one week since the program ended, and I miss them dearly. Whatever it is I taught them, they have undoubtedly taught me so much more.

Looking back at the whole Summer Youth Program, our goal was to make the experience as educational as we possibly could. We progressively got more and more rigorous with our academic agenda as the program went on, yet I feel the kids benefitted the most as we became more focused on building their essential life skills. Perhaps at times, the kids might have felt our program was far too much work and not enough fun. It definitely resembled summer school more often than a summer youth program. Still, this is what the kids NEEDED. Nina, Josh, and I are very proud that we delivered what we envisioned for the kids. Ending on such a high note too with the brilliant performance has provided us with tremendous gratification. On the last day when we compiled our GIANT binder of all of our lesson plans/worksheets. We were so proud.

The rest of our last day at St. Gabriel’s was very sad. Saying goodbye to everyone was not easy. St. Gabriel Mercy Center threw Nina, Josh, and me a pizza party to go along with our departure. Our Robertson friends from the Sunflower County Freedom Project came as well to visit St. Gabriel’s. It was all so sweet. I definitely pigged out on my share of pizza and ice cream. The whole staff signed individual cards for each of us too as we were presented with a photograph of all the kids and us. I will treasure that framed photograph as I return to Duke. It will be a precious reminder of all that took place this summer. There couldn’t be a better present!

Our final week outside of work was also incredibly memorable. To start with, the weekend before our last week was perhaps the most adventurous time of our whole summer. On Saturday July 18th, Nina and I got up and left at 4:30 AM to take Hilary to the Greenville airport. We weren’t sure quite where it was (not to mention all the back roads we had to travel), so we had to leave early for her 6:30 AM flight. The drive was about an hour, but it was wonderfully serene since I got to watch the sunrise amidst all the fields of crops with no one else on the road. When we got to the Greenville airport, we were shocked at how tiny it was! Only two flights to Memphis per day! Only 1 Gate! Ha, I definitely knew that it was the smallest airport I had ever seen. After Hilary checked in, we went upstairs to the museum they had above. The Greenville Airport used to be a military base and air force flight school back during the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Many pilots in World War II and even the Cold War trained there at that facility. It was fascinating to see all the history that place had! After all the time she spent in various museums this summer, it was fitting that Hilary had a chance to see one more museum before she left Mississippi. After saying our goodbye to Hilary, Nina and I left to find a famous bakery in Leland known as Connie’s Kitchen. It took us a while going back and forth but we found it eventually. WOW!!!!!!! Words cannot describe how delicious the bakery was!!! Connie’s Kitchen certainly lived up to all the hype. I had an apple fritter, slice of lemon pie, slice of chocolate cream pie, and finally got a big peach pie to go. Connie’s Kitchen must be what heaven is like. After a fine meal, Nina and I decided to explore Greenville a little bit. However, we saw that the Arkansas border was so close…why not go over? Nina commented that by visiting Arkansas, we would have been to four new states during the course of our Robertson Summer (Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas). The logic appealed to me! I said we should just drive over to Arkansas for a quick peek and then return back to Mississippi. When we got there we stopped by at a dock on a BEAUTIFUL lake. It was such a gorgeous day outside. The sun was shining, a cool breeze was blowing, and the lake was shimmering dazzling sparkles. It was at that time we got a fateful call from Nina’s mom. When we told Mrs. Woolley that we were Arkansas, she directed us to drive a little further to Little Rock. Huh?? That’s two hours away, we can’t do that?! But Mrs. Woolley told us we had to check out the Clinton Museum and a short drive was certainly worth it to visit Little Rock. When exactly would we be in Arkansas next? Mrs. Woolley had us sold. On an impromptu decision, Nina and I jumped in the car and hit the road. On the way, we realized that our good friend Brent Sodman had returned to Little Rock from his Robertson summer in New Orleans. So when we called him up, we were super excited to find out he was home! We plugged in his address to our trusty navigation system (Nina named him J.J.) and away we were! Sadly the only thing we realized about our trip was that our time in Arkansas had to be cut short. We wished to return in time for Freedom Day – the big performance put on by the kids at the Sunflower County Freedom Project. So with only about 2 hours in Little Rock, we had to make the most of it! Immediately after arriving there, we greeted Brent’s mom and sprinted out the door. Brent took us out to lunch and drove to a place by the Arkansas River. It was splendid. Following that excursion, we navigated to downtown Little Rock and checked out the Bill Clinton Museum for the last 45 minutes or so. The museum is really cool; I’d love to visit again and go through it more closely. Finally Brent wanted to take us by his old high school, the famous Central High School – a national historic site due to integration of the Little Rock Nine in 1957 to a previously all white school. Unfortunately we did not have enough time but promised to visit Brent again (next time when our friend Cameron Zohoori is also at home). We left Little Rock after saying goodbye to Brent and his family and drove all the way to Sunflower, MS for the end of the performance. The night ended with a big dinner of Chinese food. It was the end of a day PACKED with adventure. I wish I had my camera on me to document all that took place that day. The following day was great too since we all went to church together in Indianola and watched Harry Potter for a Sunday night trip to the Greenville theatre.

During the last week everyone was working hard to get the most out of their last days in Mississippi. For example Josh and Kenneth made it a point to go to as many blues clubs and shows as they possibly could. It was pretty impressive. On Wednesday, we said farewell to our dearest friends at the Wesley House at Delta State. They have been so nice to us during our stay in Cleveland. Every Wednesday, we always looked forward to having dinner at their place. They took us in with such warm, loving hearts. Our experience in Mississippi would not have been the same without them. I hope future Robertson Scholars will meet up with our Wesley friends as the years go on. Eddie Willis, director of the Wesley Foundation at Delta State, is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Nina, Michael, and I went over to his house late Wednesday night and spent some quality time there. He has such a precious family. Whenever I think of Southern hospitality I will definitely think of Eddie and the Wesley crew. On Thursday after we helped clean up at St. Gabriel’s, Nina, Josh, and I made one last SONIC run. It was special since we went to SONIC almost every day during the summer after work. I will miss that place. On Thursday, Nina and I went to Morgan Freeman’s restaurant Madidi for dinner. It was delicious. Later on Nina, Michael, and I baked desserts for the Homeless Shelter. For one of Michael’s last events at the homeless shelter, he was coordinating a bake sale. He asked Nina and me to make some items. Nina went ahead and made some scrumptious Molasses Cookies. They were AMAZING! I went ahead and made two chocolate pudding pies with whipped cream. The pie Michael dubbed, “The Patriot Pie,” was topped with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. The other pie dubbed, “The Mississippi Mud Pie” was topped with gummy worms and Mint-Cream Oreos. Yummy! On Friday after the bake sale, I found out that two of our Robertson scholars, Kimi and Alison, went to the Shelter Bake Sale and bought the Mississippi Mud Pie! Ha ha!! I was delighted to see that. Nina, Josh, and I made one last trip to Mound Bayou after work Friday to visit two of our students who had wished to go bowling with us. Although we regretted not being able to go bowling with them, we made an earnest effort to visit their home and say a proper goodbye. After having one last dinner of Soul Food at Senator’s Place, we all got to have a slice of my pie on Friday night before saying farewell to each other.

As I mentioned earlier, this will be my final post. On reflecting, it is very difficult to sum up my whole experience into a few words. I have been regularly sharing with all of you the excitement of everything that has taken place over these past two months through this blog. I am already so nostalgic for all that took place in Mississippi. I look back and recall the emotions of what it was like just getting there back in May – Po’Monkey’s on the first night, visiting St. Gabriel’s for the first time, cooking our first meal. I think back to the first week of the Summer Youth Program. We had no idea of what we were doing! Oh, how much we grew. Nina, Josh, and I feel so proud of what we accomplished at St. Gabriel’s this summer. I feel privileged to have worked besides two fine Robertson Scholars. Both Nina Woolley and Josh Evans brought so much to our team, and I cannot imagine my summer without them. All of my friends in Mississippi have a special place in my heart – both my Robertson friends who I have grown closer to as well as all the new friendships I’ve made in the Delta. Sister Donald Mary, Sister Donella, all the staff of St. Gabriel Mercy Center, and all of the people who I’ve come across in Mound Bayou have touched me so deeply. Few endeavors in my life have ever felt this satisfying. I can never forget Mississippi. My experience this summer has now become a part of me. All that I have learned about life has now merged with my subconscious thinking. Thus I will carry it all with me wherever I go.

I once passed a sign on a billboard that said, “Welcome to Mississippi: It’s Like Coming Home.”

Farewell Mississippi…

Till I come home again.

-Braveen