CHICAGO -- It wasn’t long after the buses arrived in front of the building that Chicago co-site coordinator Remoshay Nelson came scurrying out of Cramton Auditorium. She was eager to get her charges on board for our departure from Howard to the Windy City. Nelson looks 18, is actually 21 and has no natural offspring of her own. But for the next nine days, she’ll be saddled with 45 “children” that she must guard and guide. We’ll call her Mama.
Helping her is Melech Thomas, the co-site coordinator and graduating senior who, like Mama, is making his second consecutive ASB trip to Chicago. And since his charge is the same as Mama, I will call him Papa. Papa spent most of the morning tending to various business and impersonating comedian Kevin Hart.
We finally boarded the bus at noon Saturday after a morning of caffeine and confections, pep talks and a round of photographs. Onboard, Mama and Papa lecture us about the importance of community service and the effect gun violence has had on the people of Chicago and nationally.
Their “children,” ranging from freshmen to graduating seniors, listen with an emotional mixture of passion, anticipation and exhaustion from getting up so early to make the trip.
Twenty minutes into the bus trip and we were all asleep. Waking up at 5 a.m. and knowing the trip is longer than a Cleveland Cavaliers losing streak can do that you.
“Seriously Funny” played on the DVD as the bus glided along the highway through Maryland. It was followed by “The Wood” and “Inception.” About five hours into the 13-hour trip, we stop in the small town of Cranberry, Pa., for food. Before stepping out, Mama reminds us that we represent Howard University and that our actions speak louder than a Samuel L. Jackson movie character. Not long afterwards, all the students returned with smiles accompanied with lips covered in grease from fast-food.
For most of the trip, Mama and Papa sat in the front of the bus sound asleep. The same was true for most of us, and quite monotony settled onto the motor coach.
But a few of us stayed up, sleepily taking in the interstate signs and shadowy hills along the route. Then someone pulled out a packet on addressing gun violence and started. The rest of us took note, and before long we were in conversation about our destination and service and whether we up to the task.
These were real children who lived around dangerous conditions that many of us didn’t know or understand that we were about to face. For some of them, just a walk to school can be life or death. How would we talk with them?
We talked about the importance of service and our mission. We talked about the sometimes “challenging” living conditions ASB sometimes brought.
Some hours later, we arrived at our new home for the week, Thea Bowman Spiritual Retreat Center, a part of Saint Sabinas Church on the south side of Chicago. It was 1 a.m. We got assigned our rooms and our roommates. Most people got one. I have two. But I was certainly too tired and sleepy to protest
I fell asleep exhausted on my twin bed. I was grateful to be off the bus, grateful to get to Chicago without incident and especially grateful that I was here with talented people so committed to helping others.
Lavernon JD Spivey is a senior from Newport News, Va. He is majoring in biology and chemistry.
