My life will be a way to honor their sacrifice

   

My experience during this journey was amazing -- I didn’t think I would feel this way about the south. I thought I knew it all, mainly because  had been to the south prior to this trip. So unlike most of the guys, I had a glimpse of what people and life was like in the south. On the history part, I thought that I knew pretty much everything. Some of the information I knew, but even though I knew these things, this trip went deeper into detail and to me was a great part of my experience. Another thing that made this trip even better was being in the places were these events actually happened, and it made it even more personal.

     I never thought I would become as close with the guys as I did. We all knew each other but I’m sure most guys weren’t close friends before class began. I feel as though we did a great job of not fighting and helping each other through the harder emotional times during the trip. I don’t think it could been a better group of guys and two teachers to do this trip with.

This journey made me realize that other people should be educated about our history,  especially people of color, because if they did I don’t think they would do what that do. They need to know that there were people who fought and died for us to have these rights which we didn’t have before. Once they are educated on the history, then as people they can move forward.

I learned to value education and that it is the way out of poverty, and education is something to cherish because we were not blessed with this opportunity before. Also this trip built the foundation for me of giving back. I know that even though we all go through our daily struggles, we need to look out for others by giving back to the community and fixing the injustices that you have power to change. I learned that it won’t happen overnight, but if you work toward it every day, change will begin to occur. We need to make the world a better place than we found; it that’s the only way. Doing this, you live your life working toward change. This trip opened my eyes to many things but I learned that I need to fight for change every day and be the best person I could be everyday so that I’m living a life of purpose.  My life will be a way to honor the memory and the contributions of all the men and women who contributed to the Civil Rights Movement.