Daniel - Orientation

A little after midnight on August 16, I boarded a red–eye flight to Baltimore with my best friend. We both had chosen to dedicate the next year of our lives to living in service with the Jesuit Volunteers, fighting for social justice, and growing spiritually.

Our flight brought us to Texas and then to Baltimore, where we caught a taxi that would take us to the Hagerstown Greyhound bus station. We anticipated meeting other JVs at the bus stop. My thought was that we would arrive, chat with other JVs, maybe meet my first housemate, and then board the bus that would take us to Blue Ridge Summit for our four-day indoctrination into the JV community.

That was the plan. But—as I and nearly thirty other JVs learned, plans have a mind of their own.

The wait at Hagerstown, which was supposed to have been about a half hour, turned into a 5 hour ice breaker. Greyhound decided that it best to over book their buses for that particular day. Looking back, I don’t think that I would have had it any other way. The long wait forced many of us into those early awkward conversations of asking each other where we were from, where we went to school, where our placement was located. As ordeals often do, it bonded us in our hatred of a common villain—the Greyhound bus depot. I should really send them a thank you card.

We were finally rescued by members of our support staff—Beth, Katie, and Stephen. So instead of riding in a cramped bus, filled with strangers, we were able to travel in style, crammed in three 12 seater vans in the company of those who, just hours before, were nothing but strangers.

Once settled in our rooms, the thought on most minds was lets have some food—or was that just me?

Over the next few days, I met amazingly gifted, goofy, and interesting people from all parts of the United States. Many from schools I’d heard plenty about, but never visited. It was a chance to put faces to names, and shake off the anxious feeling of wonderment as to what your housemates were going to be like.

I remember thinking to myself, both on the way to the retreat center and during, that I wanted to be active and step outside of my shell. This was an opportunity to share my gifts of spirit and laughter with others who had chosen a lifestyle similar to my own. I told myself that I wanted to be present in every conversation, mindful during every prayer, and open to new ideas and outlooks on life.

I don’t want to ruin the surprise for future JVs, so I’ve decided, will all the restraint I can muster, not to go into any real detail about the activities we did, prayers we offered, masses that were held, people that spoke, games that were played, or food we ate. When Sunday rolled around, I found myself driving with two of my housemates on our way to Newark, New Jersey, a place I had often heard about in the news, but had never stepped foot in. As we drove I noticed something really amazing. After only three days, I already felt so close, not only to my housemates, but to the mission of JVC.

For all those that were concerned, Greyhound did refund most of our tickets. You can rest easy now.

Learn more about Daniel here.