I was extremely excited when we learned we would be building a playground. It was probably the one of the activities I was looking forward to the most as well. What really surprised me the most was becoming immersed in the community. We have heard from several of our readings and past participants of the program that the sense of togetherness and community that New Orleans has is extremely unique. It has been proposed to us that this companionship between the people of New Orleans is part of the reason many people stayed and why people are so eager to rebuild in such a dangerous area. And I never really understood. I could easily recite that the sense of community played a major role in this city but I never really got. Until we built the playground. I still don’t fully understand what it really means to be a party of the New Orleans community, seeing as I don’t actually live here. But on Saturday I finally started to get it. I met so many people from all walks of life that had some sort of connection to the school and were more than happy to give up their Saturday to participate in this amazing project. Not only was I surprised at the 200 plus volunteers that showed up, I was even more impressed by the hospitality and sincerity that the people I met had. I met this woman Shelley who not only asked me where I was from and why I was down here, but she was sincerly interested in me, my family, my school, the program. It wasn’t a simple formality of “hey how are you” or her just being nice. And she was completely open to telling me her story as well and talking about her 14 year old daughter who doesn’t like to wash the dishes. And it wasn’t just her. It was every person I talked to. It was almost overwhelming how caring these people were to a complete stranger and how appreciative they were that so many people cared about their community. After the playground was built, although I only contributed a small part to putting everything together, I really felt like we as a group helped accomplish a really great thing. And I loved being able to see what six straight hours of work could do.