« Jan. 13 Reflection: Academic connections

Tamrah Tucker

Eye Opening

8 replies
Kathryn Smith TF KT AE SN Julie Parker Anna Amey
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Honestly, this internship has already given me a humbling experience. We always talk about how poverty exists and where it exists but it gets really real when names and voices are attached to the statistics. It is the same dynamic that I have read about and researched countless times. Without giving too much information, one of my clients is a Black female who is literally the same age as me (21-years-old). To think that I go everyday secure in the fact that if I fall in some area that my family is blessed enough to catch me. That is not the reality for a lot of people. She is so young and instead of being able to focus on having fun with her friends she is worried about where her next meal will come from, where she will lay her head, how she will get around to the places she needs to go, amongst a number of other things that I never think twice about. I find myself complaining sometimes about the most irrelevant woes. This moment was a reminder that at anytime it could be me. This moment has also inspired me to put in more work in the community.
8 replies
  1. Post by Anna Amey
    Re: Eye Opening
    Tamrah, your response is so beautifully written and thoughtful! I totally agree that getting to put faces with things we have learned is a very unique experience. You're completely spot on about how easy it is to fall into a complaining mindset when we forget what we have. After reading other responses as well, it is very evident that these internships are creating motivation in all of us interns to continue helping where we can, which is something I'm grateful to be apart of.
  2. Post by Julie Parker
    Re: Eye Opening
    I relate to your words significantly! I too often find myself feeling guilty for taking advantage of all my blessings when some people, like our clients at CCDN, have so little. I am trying my best to view this internship as a humbling experience and an opportunity to make a tangible difference in real people's lives. I've done plenty of charity work before, raising money in different ways, but speaking with real people who live in Birmingham and are asking for my help is nothing I've ever experienced before.
  3. Post by Sankhepo Ndhlovu
    Re: Eye Opening
    I too totally agree and relate with what you have all written. I think that many of us in our generation are ever complaining about minor challenges and faults and when we stop to think about it, we feel guilty for being a little more fortunate than others instead of being grateful and learning of more ways to help or make change. I am so happy that you guys are doing this internship. I believe that apart from humility, it will also teach you and us who are reading your responses to be more present with what's happening in our communities.
  4. Post by Aliya Epps
    Re: Eye Opening

    I relate to your point of view of sometimes complaining about irrelevant things, so I have started to remind myself of how blessed I am of not having to be put into that type of situation. Being able to work with individuals who are in the same range of age has always hit hard for me. One question that I do have is what resources do they offer young adults? 

    1 reply
  5. Parent of this post↑ Reply to AEAliya Epps from Tamrah Tucker
    Resources
    There are a number of resources that they offer to young adults. They offer GED classes, emergency food programs, utility assistance, and clothes. They also have a youth mentoring program that focuses on things such as college prep and problem solving. There is an annual teen summit as well.
  6. Post by Katherine Tucker
    Re: Eye Opening
    I really admire how well you were able to articulate your experience! Whenever I have these types of moments where it hits you how lucky you are I wish I could just bottle it up and save it to keep reminding myself. It's difficult to to take a step back from the small things that seem so big to me at times, but I'm thankful for similar experiences to yours that happen which give birth to a whole new perspective on life.
  7. Post by Taylor Fields
    Re: Eye Opening
    Tam, I completely agree with you. This internship will make you be grateful for the smallest things. I also have a few clients that are close to my age and are struggling to make ends meet. I was shocked when hearing how old she is and being informed about what she is going through. My client don't live the life that a typical 20 year old supposed to live. It makes me think about the times when I was younger and couldn't wait to be an adult, and my mother would always tell me, "enjoy being a child." Now, I don't even want to become an adult and do adult things. I wish our clients was not the in situations that they are in, but when they are our age, their situations affects me differently than someone that is older than me. 
  8. Post by Kathryn Smith
    Re: Eye Opening
    Your observation that "at any time, this could be me" is something I think about a lot. I'm basically where I am - housed, fed, in a good job, stable family, etc. -- through luck. If I had been born in a different place, not gotten a scholarship to BSC, or gotten laid off due to the pandemic, my life could look completely different. How does this recognition of the role of luck in our lives - and the fragility of our current life, which could change on a dime - shape our approach to community work? Do you have a different approached from somebody who does not  recognize the role of luck or the possibility that they may suddenly become unlucky? How is this tied to the American ideas of being self-made and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, and how do those ideas create tension when it comes to advocating for change?
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