Deerfield Academy June 2024 Build – Reflections

Examples of student reflections prompted by “What would you tell a student who is coming on this trip to pack in their social/emotional suitcase?”

• “To be communicative and outgoing. As a more shy person myself, I thought at multiple times this trip pushed me outside my comfort zone.” Rhys
• “Teamwork… It leads to the efficient creation of a home, connection within the group, and a better enjoyment of the trip.” Luca
• “Teamwork is crucial, as we learned that what affects one person can affect everyone. Supporting each other and working together at the work site and beyond left us all feeling great. This trip transformed our team into more than just a group of individuals – we became like a family.” Tyler
• “Getting to know everyone’s story was such an interesting part of the trip” Audrey
• “Open minded resilience, empathy, admiration, and discomfort. If you are prepared for these things… you will have a great experience in the Dominican Republic” Jane
• “Pause and take more silence at times to observe, rather than talking all the time… There is so much for us to learn… and you can only do so if you bring the skill of stepping back.” Zoe
• “Open-mind. Something that I really didn’t expect was the relationships formed with the people at the worksite. In order to form those bonds, having an open-mind is essential. This trip consists of entering a foreign country with unknown people…so you’ll need to step out of your comfort zone. This applies to those you meet at the worksite, and also to the people from Deerfield who you may not know very well.” Maggie
• “Embrace frustrations and persevere through them…You need to really embrace this experience because what you put into this trip is what you get out of it…So come with curiosity and be comfortable being uncomfortable.” Keria
• “Come with an open mind… To get the most out of this trip it’s necessary to push yourself out of your comfort zone… If there is only one thing you bring, it should be a love for learning and a passion to help those who need it.” Lila
• Strong sense of humility and gratitude. These two attributes are integral to the one-week house building experience… I think it is especially important on this trip when you get to see and experience the scarcity of resources firsthand…(it) made me reflect on my own life and gave me a newfound appreciation for those small privileges in my own life that I take for granted. It’s extremely easy to look over our possessions and not think much of them, including the equipment that we brought to the worksite… On our first day working on the house, I noticed that none of the workers were wearing steel toed boots and gloves like we were, they carried cinder blocks and buckets of cement with their bare hands, and some even wore sandals to the worksite, and that’s all that they really needed to get the job done. Despite our equipment “advantage” over the workers, we all ended up taking the backseat to all the Dominican workers who were the driving force of the construction.
  There were even cases where the kids on the worksite were teaching us how to do some of the jobs. To be completely honest, I was partially embarrassed by having to learn from children. But once I took a step back and accepted that notion of humility I found myself far more content with my work…
  My perspective completely changed the day I visited the headquarters of Cambiado Vidas when I got to meet a family whose house had been built by Cambiado Vidas. As I saw how grateful the family was for their home, I realized that our job wasn’t to build a house; we were there to build a home.
  One of the most difficult parts of the trip was saying goodbye to the friends that we made along the way. But instead of feeling sadness for my departure, I took solace in the gratitude we all expressed for each other in our final celebration. The fact that we were able to create a home for the family that really needed it was more than enough of a thanks. Cambiado Vidas would be nothing without their unfathomably strong community filled with respect and gratitude for one another… (Bronson)