I spent the last week at CAP orientation. It seems a little weird to “get oriented” after being here for three weeks, but they wait until they have a decent size group to go through the orientation. It was held up at camp, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was a conveniently short trip, but it would have been nice to get away from the place where I work. Still, I really enjoyed early mornings sitting on the dock, drinking tea and watching the steam on the lake. I can see why so many people have said that Camp AJ is their favorite place on earth.
Orientation week was pretty exhausting. There was so much information to take in, and so many people to meet. I’ve decided that I really don’t miss sitting in a classroom all the time, but I did like meeting all the other new volunteers. If I could say one thing about CAP, it’s that the organization attracts really fantastic, passionate people. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone at the end of orientation. I felt like it was the end of an epic, week-long party at my house. CAP is divided into two regions – Cumberland Valley (where I live) and Sandy Valley (the “other side”) – and some of the volunteers from the other side are more than two hours away. It still kind of blows my mind how far apart things can be and still be in the same general region of Kentucky. I’ve also realized that CAP time is a lot different than real time. Orientation felt like it lasted for much longer than 5 days, and it feels like I’ve been in Kentucky for ages. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just hard to wrap my mind around my new perception of time.
Yesterday was the annual Spoonbread Festival in Berea. I had never heard of spoonbread, but it turns out it’s something like mushy cornbread. The best part of the day was the hot air balloon ride we went on in the morning. Riding in a hot air balloon was something I’d wanted to do for awhile – it was on my bucket list – and it was free at the festival! It was a really short ride, and we didn’t travel very high off the ground, but it was still a very cool experience.
Knowing that I’ve only committed to spending a year in Kentucky is an interesting feeling. It means that festivals like Spoonbread will happen exactly once in the time that I’m here. It gives a new meaning to treasuring the moment and taking every opportunity that presents itself. When you know that you’re going to be in a place for awhile, it’s easy to tell yourself that you’ll do something “eventually.” There are so many things in Chicago that I told myself I would do, and I still haven’t gotten around to them. Being here for only a year makes me forget all the excuses I would normally give not to do something. It doesn’t matter that I have to wake up ridiculously early to ride in a hot air balloon or drive 40 minutes to go roller skating – these might be the only chances I have to do these things.
Another important lesson I’ve learned this week is that giving something, no matter how imperfect or incomplete, is better than not giving at all. A couple weeks ago, I volunteered to play the piano for Mass at the local church. It’s been years since I’ve played piano regularly or taken lessons, but the music situation was so bad that I figured I’d be able to help out a little. I should have started playing last weekend, but I felt like I wasn’t ready. I wanted to sound better and be able to play more complicated music first. But sitting in Mass, listening to the congregation struggle through the opening song, I realized that the little bit that I could do for the church was better than not doing anything. So this morning I sucked it up and played. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was something. I could tell that people appreciated the music, no matter how rough I thought it sounded. One man asked if I was going to be around for awhile because I had improved the church’s music by 1000%. It felt really good to push past my fear of not being good enough and just do the best I could. I’m never going to be perfect anyway, so what was I waiting for?
Other things I’ve learned this week:
- CAP is the 146th largest 501(c)(3) (nonprofit) in the country. Pretty impressive considering it only serves one region of the country.
- There are 13 Appalachian states, and West Virginia is the only state completely in the Appalachian region.
- I am much better at 4-square now than I was as a child.
“We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it well.” – Archbishop Oscar Romero
Erin Cusick is a long-term volunteer at Camp Andrew Jackson. She lives in the Jackson Volunteer Community.
