Going Back

I love to travel, but I hate going backwards. So a few weeks ago when I road tripped down to the Mississippi Delta to return to the small town where I had spent nine weeks last summer managing a homeless shelter, it was something new for me.

I experienced a lot in the time I spent there last year, but I think I learned more in three days last week than in all of last summer.

Summers in college are filled with trips, internships, research expeditions and fellowships all over the country and world, and they can be extremely rewarding.

The problem, though, is that after a month or two, we finish, and that's the end. We learn new things, but never really see what comes of it. We get back to the Duke bubble and sort of forget about it.

When I got to Cleveland, Mississippi last summer, I was about as clueless as a new freshman at a frat party. My shelter had 18 homeless residents and suddenly I was responsible for everyone's safety, well-being, and discipline. Young, old, victims of domestic violence, premature babies-I had to figure out the best way to get everyone's life back on track.

It was definitely a bit overwhelming. A fellow student and I counseled, planned, organized and nagged our residents 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Yet, nine weeks later, I wasn't sure that anything we had done made any sort of difference.

No one could hold onto a job long enough to save up for a deposit on an apartment, let alone rent, utilities and everything else to live on one's own.

The Bob Dylan lyric kept running through my mind: "Only one thing I did wrong-stayed in Mississippi a day too long."

Certainly not everyone succeeded; there were as many downs as ups. But this was important to see too. I got to really reflect on what had worked and what didn't. I learned a lot in nine weeks, but it didn't mean much without the context and reflection of long-term results.

Many of the conclusions I had made when I had left turned out to be dead wrong. Some of the "sure shots" to succeed were still jobless and wandering.

I had to re-evaluate my thoughts and reshape my ideas of good and bad policies, and I am sure if I go back next year, I will have to re-evaluate all over again. After all, who cares about the data of an experiment if you can't tell what it means.

I hear professors talk about the economics of welfare or homeless policy a lot, but some seem to have never, ever experienced anything like what they teach about.

How do you explain immigration if you have never spent substantial amounts of time talking to immigrants? How do you criticize welfare if you have no idea what it is like to live on food stamps.

Liberal, conservative-it doesn't matter. Opinions do not mean anything if they cannot be backed up by real, practical experience. That cannot come from a few weeks of interning.

Summer is just beginning and Dukies are fanning out across the world for new opportunities. I hope, though, that these do not become "one-time shots."

May they be the beginning of a long relationship of discovering through observation, and most importantly, careful follow-through.

And as you travel-one final Mississippi lesson to share: arrive for your flight on-time. When they say you won't be allowed to board if you are late, sometimes they mean it.

From my experience stuck in the middle of nowhere-it sucks. Believe me.

David Fiocco is a Trinity Junior.