Here at Princeton, it’s a normal thing to attend Community Action (CA from this point on) before your freshman year starts. (Students also have the option of choosing Outdoor Action.) It’s your first long-term exposure to your future classmates, and the week is spent doing community service in some capacity with a community partner. I’m not too sure on the specifics because I did not attend because I wanted to stay home with my family, but that seems to be the basic structure.

The Civic Engagement Center on campus also offers an “extension” of CA called Breakout during the fall and spring breaks. Since I was already involved with community service through other channels on campus, I knew I really wanted to do this Breakout thing.

Of course, yours truly applied and yours truly got accepted to a trip called “Community Engagement Through The Arts,” which was to be based in Philadelphia. I never know what to expect from these sorts of things, so the first meeting was indeed very awkward. I was surrounded by 10 different people whom I didn’t know but was eager to get to know. Looking back, all I can do is laugh because I feel like I made friends for life on this week-long excursion, and I sincerely hope they all feel the same. Throughout the week, we had so many good laughs, so many deep thoughts, so many trials and tribulations, I think it would be hard to not connect to these people.

We headed off with two vehicles loaded down with sleeping bags, suitcases and food, and after that, the week was filled with discovery. We visited museums, saw plays and tried new foods, but none of this was the point of the trip. The point was to learn as much as we could within the constraints of a week about this issue that we admittedly didn’t know anything about like how the arts can engage communities, and through hell, high water and terrible traffic, we learned.

We visited different community partners every day. These organizations had different styles, different mediums to engage the community and different attitudes. They came from a wide range of backgrounds. One of the most memorable people we met along the way was Barbara Allen, a museum registrar turned stay-at-home mom turned educator turned a little bit of everything. Through her organization, Fresh Artists, we saw how much the arts lead to empowerment among community members in a very unique way. This organization blew up artwork done by under-served students in the area to gigantic proportions and then sold these pieces to businesses to hang in their offices. The copyright for the artwork goes back to the child, the corporate offices get beautiful artwork, and then the money made from that piece goes to buying more supplies for other schools where the supplies are needed. It’s an all-around beautiful circle.

We also met Dora and Manolo, two people who helped run TallerPuertorriqueño, an organization that seeks to preserve the rich culture present in the Latin American barrio in Philadelphia through art, as well. Within 10 minutes, Dora was calling us all “sweetheart” and “darling,” and they both were practically radiating with kindness. It showed me that at the center of these nonprofits are everyday people with passion that can’t be explained to help others. We also met with organizations that engage children through music and Spiral Q, an organization that is deeply rooted in Philadelphia’s art world. Spiral Q makes puppets to take to parades to bring attention to social justice issues. It was also very fun to work with them.

Here’s a photo of me, posing for a beauty shot while doing some hard work for Spiral Q.

All in all, I think it was a fantastic week. I know I walked away feeling much more energized and ready to go out in the world and make change, but I also learned that these communities are not “dead.” They are not “destitute” or “hopeless.” They are beautiful, infused with their own cultures and years of history. I think this hit home the hardest for me when we went to an elementary school, arguably one of the poorest schools in the district, and we hung out for a day with the kids. We were amazed by how much the teachers loved their jobs and their students, but we were even more amazed when we followed the kids out for lunch. They have an excellent chess team that has won many awards for their hard work, and they beat all of us when we played. I think we expected this school to be falling apart, and although it might have been physically, the spirit of the school was well intact and thriving. Even in the most abundant of adversities can beauty be found.

Go into these communities, my fellow volunteers. I implore and urge every young person to take the time to meet community partners. Go into these communities softly and leave with no fanfare. You are a transient stranger, a part of the community for a short amount of time, but you can share the beauty with those around you.