My Recent Experiences Working with Habitat for Humanity.

I have volunteered with Watauga County Habitat for humanity over the past two weekends. The Watauga County organization does a fabulous job situating many houses on their hillside. These houses give a home to Watauga residents who are in need of housing to break the cycle of poverty. My experience volunteering with the organization has been an experience that I value a lot. I have met many kind and caring members of the community. I have helped build a house from the ground up with college students like me and construction professionals. From my experience I have gained valuable insight into how to build a house and the hard work it takes to help a community in need. 

When I first arrived at Watauga Habitat for Humanity build site there was only a foundation. Throughout that “crazy build” Saturday we built numerous walls, installed dozens of windows, and installed the beams and rafters. A long day of driving nails and hauling lumber took a toll on my back and arms but I was enthusiastic about other volunteer days to come. 

My most recent volunteer opportunity with Watauga Habitat for Humanity was last weekend. Since the structure had been built weeks before it was time to work on the finishing touches. There was a much smaller group of workers this time as opposed to the crazy build weekend. We split into teams and my job was to put the stucco onto the exterior walls. Stucco is a concrete like material that leaves a textured stone finish on the lower exterior of buildings. Throughout the whole day I mixed 5-gallon buckets full of concrete powder and water and mixed it with a large power drill. After mixing the stucco my team members and I would paste the moist mixture onto the walls where we would smooth it out. 

By the end of the day I was covered with red clay and concrete dust. I enjoy working for Watauga County Habitat for Humanity because it gives me gratification to build things with my own two hands.  

Adapting to life in Boone

As I look at the calendar I am amazed that October has already passed. The trees around campus are changing color and the mornings bring crisp air. Many of my classes are in full swing. Homework has become a regular part of my routine and I am learning how to manage my time more efficiently. At the beginning of the semester I had trouble keeping up with my homework. The stress of moving far from home, combined with a new fast-paced lifestyle, made it difficult for me to finnish everything that was assigned to me. After weeks of practice I have finally synced up with life at Appalachian State University. I have a set schedule complete with time to do homework. Recently I have been able to keep up with my school work, practice playing my banjo, and attend jams and square dances regularly. On top of all of the work that I do in music and school I have been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. I spent a whole Saturday last month building a house with the organization. I was amazed at how quickly the structure went up and proud of our productive day. 

I have had some bad days over the semester. The first few weeks after I moved here I was quite bored. It took me a while to make friends but now I spend a lot of time out and about. Other bad days I have had have involved rain. I come from the coast but I was unprepared for the amount of rain in Boone. After getting soaked at least three times I have finally learned to bring my raincoat with me wherever I go. 

Moving away from my hometown to bustling university town has been a challenge for me. But I have conquered the challenge by working hard and being resilient. I have learned many important life lessons like managing my time and carrying a raincoat. All and all I am glad I moved to Boone.

Going back to East Virginia

This weekend Appalachian State University held its 2019 Fall Break. This extra long weekend gave me the opportunity to drive home. During my fall break I embarked on an eight hour journey across much of North Carolina and through South Eastern Virginia. My trip to the Eastern Shore of Virginia showed me interesting cities and rural areas that are trapped in time. I drove down Appalachian mountain sides and I rolled over Piedmont hills. On my journey I drove down the J.E.B. Stuart Memorial Highway. As I drove down this road I felt as if I had been transported back in time. Along the highway were small tin shacks, old town stores, and plastic wrapped cotton bales scattered between snowy white cotton fields, ready for harvest. As I drove along the J.E.B Stuart Memorial Highway, I looked at the cotton balls scattering the road and appreciated this time capsule that I was experiencing.

When I finally arrived at my island home I was faced with an out of the ordinary obstacle. Unknown by me, a “Nor’ Eastern” storm, dozens of miles off the coast, has been stalled by a warm front to the south. When I made it to the long straight road through the marsh that connects Chincoteague Island to the Delmarva Peninsula I was greeted by sea water covering the road. Even though the strong storm couldn't be seen by people on the island, it was still pushing a storm surge out of the ocean which covered most of the island. Luckily for Islanders like me, flooding is a normal thing in the cool evenings of Fall. Coming home to a flooded beach town seemed ironic to me because when I was growing up, school would often cancel classes for similar events. 

Besides the almost comical flooding I experienced, I had a wonderful visit home. It was refreshing to spend time with my loving family!

My Visit to Trailhead Records

I consider myself an amateur musician. I have spent the last eleven years of my life studying the banjo and slowly learning how to play it. Where I grew up nobody was interested in Bluegrass music. It was hard for me to grow as a banjo player because I was on my own. Despite all of the troubles I faced, I continued to push myself to be a better musician. I knew one day, when I made friends who are passionate about Bluegrass music, my musical ability would finally blossom. Before I moved to Boone, North Carolina, I had little experience playing with other people. Since moving to Boone I have kindled friendships between many incredible musicians that are my age! I play music with my new found friends as much as I possibly can. Last night we had a wonderful time recording a song in the recording studio in my friend's basement. 

  As I walked into my friends basement, the headquarters for Trailhead Records, I was amazed at the sight of a room filled with cunning-edge recording equipment. Because I had no prior recording experience the room and its contents felt foreign to me. Most of my friends have recorded Bluegrass albums before and they showed me how to run the complex computer programs needed to record. Bluegrass music is hard to record because it relies on perfect timing in inventive solos. The first thing we recorded was a rough version of what we wanted the song to sound like. This rough version had no embellished solos and served as an outline for my friends and I to build upon. 

After hours of recording different instruments such as guitar, mandolin, and vocals, we finally had a decent outline of the song we wanted to create. I recorded the banjo part fairly quickly, even though it took me twelve tries to record a banjo solo I was proud of. The overall experience of recording at Trailhead Records was surreal. I felt like a bonafide Bluegrass Musician. I can't wait to visit TrailHead Records again over the next few months to create a final product that my friends and I can be happy with. 

Saturday Crazy Build Weekend with Watauga Habitat for Humanity.

After searching for weeks to find the perfect organization to volunteer with I finally decided on Watauga County Habitat for Humanity. When I first signed up with the organization I expected it to be fairly small. In my mind I would help the organization build a house over the course of a couple of months. I expected to work hard with a small team to build structures as quickly as we could. I couldn't have been more wrong about Watauga Habitat for Humanity and how they run their organization.

Watauga Habitat for Humanity starts early, 8 O’clock to be exact. Saturday morning myself and a dozen other Appalachian State Students loaded ourselves into a shuttle where we were greeted with doughnuts provided by the Habitat for Humanity team. As we drove up to the job site I noticed many cars and brand new houses dotting the ridgeline. When we finally arrived at the job site I was astonished to see almost one hundred and fifty people scattered around piles of lumber and the level foundation for the new house. I had arrived on a very special day, Habitat for Humanity Crazies Build Weekend. Volunteer construction workers from the entire east coast were present to build the house that Saturday. One of my misconceptions, that it Watauga Habitat for Humanity was a small organization, was proven untrue as soon as I reached the job site. 

They split the large group of volunteers up into three teams. Team one was in charge of painting the siding that would be put on the house after the walls were built. Team two encased the whole job site in scaffolding to make it easier to complete the house. Team three, my personal team, was in charge of hammering nails and erecting walls. Before working with Watauga Habitat for Humanity I expected it would take at least a few weeks to build a house. Thanks to all the help from over a hundred volunteers we were able to build almost the entire house in one weekend! I am amazed at the work that Watauga County Habitat for Humanity does for the community. I am proud that I was able to be a part of such a worthwhile organization