Reflection of Spring Break in Goldsboro, North Carolina with Habitat for Humanity

I am going to try something different today. Instead of writing out my testimony of the entire week of Spring Break, I will post my reflections that will be shared at the Celebration of Spring Break event held in the Benes Rooms on April 1.

My name is Hasani Wheat and I served on the Habitat for
Humanity team for Spring Break in Goldsboro, North Carolina
this year. As a member of the Habitat chapter at Ohio Wesleyan,
I knew that this would be a great experience. Although I have
some experience building houses around Delaware, I never
thought I would be working on top of a roof.
When my team arrived on the work site on Tuesday, the house was
barely there. A basic layout of the house was set for us and I
wondered what exactly are we doing. Throughout the course of
four days on the site, we helped turned a shell of a house into
something that actually looked like someone could be living
there in a couple of months. Sheeting was put on, the roof was
installed, and I even got to work on shingles.
I didn't have many expectations; I just wanted to let events
happen. I did not expect to push myself the way I did in
building the house. Being able to push myself to do things that
I have never done before made me reflect on the experience of
this trip. I feel thankful to be able to live and give back to
the community in this shape. I may be one person but I felt
that I accomplished a lot during this Spring Break.
I built myself up physically to prepare for heavy lifting. I
cleared my mind of any distractions to focus on the goal at
hand. To me, anything else was as important for those four days
on the job than to immerse myself in the building of this
house. I opened myself even more to my faith in God, as He
prepared to take the knowledge and the wisdom I have earned
back to the Delaware community. Building this house made me
aware that I am a servant for Him and that the experience was
made me a stronger and better man. I am beyond blessed to what
happened during my Spring Break.

Now I will let the pictures do the talking. These pictures are in no particular order.

#1- The product of our hard work in Goldsboro, North Carolina. This is the house we constructed as part of the Habitat for Humanity my team was assigned. Group photo.
#2- Me at dinner on the last night in Goldboro.
#3- Fellow team member, Mats Nordbo- from Norway.
#4- Southern eats at Wilber's Barbecue. Food was good and distinctive.
#5- The truck for Habitat for Humanity.
#6- Team leader Mark Miller (of Circle K fame) showing us how it is done on the roof. Sheeting, tar paper, shingles- all worth it.
#7- In the middle of the roof- Andrew Riley. In the tractor- Chad Claussen. Yes, this project was very hands-on with vehicles.
#8- Photo before we headed to the YMCA. I am playfully sitting on Mark.
#9- Mark on the planks like a jungle gym.
#10- Vertigo, anyone? Me hanging on for life.
#11- Me on the beach, holding a shell I found on the shore. Later, Vice-Presidential candidate for the Wesleyan Council for Student Affairs, Ben Goodrum, bested me with a colorful white cream shell. Obviously, I was not happy he bested me but whatever.
#12- The aftermath when I shed my clothes. Watch out!
#13- Hey baby!! Me after coming out of the ocean waters. The ladies on the trip were taken aback by my presence.
#14- Staying at First Baptist Church. Lots of reflections. I actually had dinner with the members of the church and I even had Bible Study with the senior pastor. I can definitely say that I was blessed.
#15- I'm the King of the World. Me taking in the pleasures of the Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington.
#16- Group pose #2. Being lifted up at the tractor was awesome.
#17- Plain view of the beach waters.
#18- Chad's shell.
#19- Me enjoying life.
#20- 4/6 of the women of the Habitat Mission Team. They painted for the first two days and then switched to pounding galvanized and hurricane nails into the structure. Way to go, ladies!!
#21- The extended ladder. I am not afraid of heights but leaning over pounding a nail while you are up twenty to twenty-five feet is no easy task.
#22- Full view of the progress on the house.
#23- The roof was full of us OWU students. A lot of WATCH OUT calls for falling objects like shingles and hammers.
#24- Ready for takeoff!
#25- Mark and Dan Freed-Pastor. DO WORK!!!
#26- A message for all of you. The mission and the purpose of this Spring Break Mission Trip.
#27- Mats taking a rest break on the roof.
#28- All I got to say to this picture is "we are MEN, MEN, MEN on a MISSION!!!!!"
#29- Ben Goodrum on the ladder, finishing out the day.

Bridging Bridges,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

OWU Circle K is so sweet!!

Picture #1- Lights, Camera, Action: Welcome to District Convention 2008!!













Picture #2- The Installation of the 2008-2009 District Board at the Ending Ceremonies of DCON














Picture #3- Service Project. Me making blankets for infants.












Picture #4- Group Photo before the Awards Banquet.













Picture #5- The Ringed Napkin Game. I get a kiss from Chioke.













Picture #6- Kristen Lear, Chair for the 2009 District Convention in Dublin, Ohio













Picture #7- Outgoing District Treasurer Mark Miller and Public Relations chair Cate Daily, pose for the camera.













I am so sorry folks. I have been so busy with mid-terms and papers that I lost track of time. I have you the pictures but not the information. Well, here it is! Enjoy!
OWU Circle K had a District Convention last week. I attended and I did not know what to expect. This was my first time; when I first heard the word caucus and delegation, I was taken aback by the seriousness of Circle K. Service is a serious job and should not be taken lightly in any form.
We left last Friday to go to Hudson, Ohio for the Conference, held at the Holiday Inn. I checked in, registered, and got my room key. I was on the 4th floor unlike the rest of the team. I had a single room... sort of. This was the case until the guys from the University of Rio Grande showed up about an hour or so later. I did not mind rooming with guys from an other school by myself. I felt this should be an interesting experience.
The program started at 7 pm on Friday with general housekeeping rules and what is going on at District Convention. A surprise performance by the University of Akron's men's acappella group, Nuance, rocked the house. After that, I went to a regional game night- OWU's region is the Capital Divison. The theme of game night was Ocean's 11- we celebrated this by playing BlackJack. I have not done any BlackJack or any card game in a while so I had to readjust. The game night was casual- something to do to mingle and take time away from the day. I remember staying up until 3am talking to my roommates about politics and other things. I had to start reading a book for class so I can be prepared for the oral introduction on Wednesday so talking relieved me of my pressures. That was interesting.
Most of the activities happened on Saturday- as they usually do during conventions and conferences. OWU as a group discussed the candidates for the District Board positions at length. We had four delegates- two chosen and two on the Board already. A lot of campaigning and caucusing without the morning. I had to go to a couple of workshops. Since I am the incoming treasurer for the 08-09 school year, I had to go to a couple extra workshops reserved for discussing business with the incoming District Treasurer- the person that will oversee my operations. Since the outgoing District Treasurer is from OWU (and ironically is also my Spring Break Mission Team Leader), I feel good about my position. The workshops were professional but laid back. For lunch, we went to Chipotle in an area of town that I am very familiar with in Macedonia. For dinner, we had steak, chicken, or a veggie dish at our awards banquet. Everyone brought their best dressed formalwear and manners to the table. The awards ceremony was good for morale and boy did our morale soar that night. OWU Circle K won ten awards so we basically swept the ceremony. I was so proud to be a part of the organization and feel that the officers of the 2008-2009 school year can make the organization even better. Congratulations to all of the winners, by the way!! After the ceremony, we partied the night away. As we speak, the videos of all of the insane stuff that occurred during those three hours are being posted on my Facebook account. I was good to fall asleep happy after singing Billy Joel's "Piano Man."
On Sunday, the day was slower but ended graciously nonetheless. I had another session with the new treasurer, just to further touch basis on responsibilities for the upcoming year. I have to balance this budget by the end of March so I need to be prepared. Everyone had brunch at the hotel and the ending ceremonies was fairly swift and to the point. The ending ceremony was mostly the retirement of the 2007-2008 District Board and the installation of the 2008-2009 District Board. Included in the new Board were the two guys I roomed with from Rio Grande along with the new District Treasurer- they were dubbed the "Rio Trio." Wow, a couple months since they were chartered and they seem to be gaining a TON of momentum from their current success. Announcements of the upcoming SpOT (Spring Officer Training) this April and events of the new District Board such as Membership Awareness Conference (MAC) and next year's District Convention (DCON), hosted by OWU's own, Kristen Lear, were revealed. Everyone seemed satisfied with the success of this District Convention. I enjoyed the day and I think that the chair of the event, Jennifer Eckhoff, did an amazing job. Well, that is all for me.