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Reflection Paper

Good Essays

Grumpy Hughes Lane. Avery County, North Carolina. July 2017. Situated in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains lies a humble homestead with a paraplegic man and his lovely amicable wife. Their home, a dilapidated nineteen thirties fixer upper, was in desperate need of repair, especially on its exterior, so myself and other youth collaborated to make the Hughes family’s dream of a reliable and dependable home a reality. As I set out along Interstate 40, I was engulfed in affluence: a group of rich white kids from the suburbs had iPhones which cost more than the average person’s monthly salary in rural Appalachia. I have always been aware of the opportunities I have been awarded, but on the long ride to my destination, I finally realized that this lifestyle had been getting to everyone. The group’s goal for the week was to befriend and assist the impoverished people in Appalachia, yet how could this be achieved if we were constantly under the influence of technology, a divisive force which our friends in Appalachia were not always fortunate enough to possess. As the cellular service died down upon entering the mountain region, we began to become immersed in the beautiful panoramic Appalachian mountains rather than the one-dimensional world of electronics. Everyone now had the mindset needed to actively participate in the work we had set out on: bettering the livelihoods of impoverished families in Avery County, NC through needed home improvements. After a successful

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