The students from Union College didn't know one another before traveling to New Orleans during winter break to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. They slept on floors in two homes, prepared their own meals and rose with the sun each day to work in devastated neighborhoods.
Their encounters with residents who lost nearly all their possessions in the massive flooding often prompted tears at nightly meetings when they shared the day's experiences. The students bonded. Three romantic relationships blossomed.
Since returning to Union at the beginning of this month, the students have kept in touch by meeting for meals and hanging out together at night. Just bumping into one another on campus reminds them of the intense, emotional experience they shared.
“It picks up your day seeing someone who understands,” said Todd Clark, a Union staff member and trip supervisor.
Clark told the 29 students before the trip that it could be life-changing. Corinne Simisky scoffed. But at a reunion of the students Tuesday at the Schenectady college, Simisky told Clark he'd been right. A sophomore from Shrewsbury, Mass., Simisky is replotting the path of her life, changing her major so she can work as an administrator in international relief organizations.
“You helped me figure out what I want to do with my life,” Simisky said.
The school-sponsored trip, which took place Nov. 29 to Dec. 6, also inspired four of the students to return to New Orleans. Within days of flying home they boarded planes and flew back, at their own expense, to continue helping residents haul out ruined possessions and schools prepare for reopening.
Clark, director of residential life at Union, organized Tuesday's reunion to coincide with the reopening of two New Orleans schools where the students cleaned, painted and rebuilt a library. Lusher Elementary School and Benjamin Franklin High School are open again nearly five months after being flooded during Hurricane Katrina.
Of the many groups and individuals who helped at Lusher, “we will most remember the students of Union College,” wrote Lusher officials in a letter Clark read to the students. “Union students worked tirelessly at Lusher for several days preparing and painting eight classrooms. But more than that, they uplifted our spirits with their youthful joy and exuberance. … We know that there is a lot wrong with our country and its educational system, but the students of Union give us hope.”
Clark also read a letter from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton lauding the students' “commitment and compassion.” Clinton wrote: “I hope you all will continue to be involved in events both local and national. You can make a difference.”
The students plan to. They have been pushing Union officials to let them form a club that would plan trips during winter break to places in need of help. The students are already talking about trying to return to New Orleans in December.
“We need to emphasize the point that people there still need help,” Simisky said. “There's still a lot more to be done.”
Jake Lebowitz, a sophomore from Rochester, organized the return trip to New Orleans. He and three others — Jessie Lovdal, Jerome DeSheers and Josh DeBartolo — spent nearly two weeks before Christmas back at schools and neighborhoods.
Whenever Lebowitz saw people outside a destroyed home he gave them his cellphone number. If they need help, he told them, just give him a call; he and his colleagues from Union were offering help for free.
By the first night my phone was ringing off the hook,” Lebowitz said. “In fact, it's still ringing. People are still calling asking if we can help.”
Lebowitz, who plans to join the Marine Corps after graduation, said he believes the experience in New Orleans has changed him forever.
“I'm not exactly sure how,” he said. “I don't know exactly what lies ahead. But this is always going to be part of me.”