Going home for fall break this weekend, I was confronted with a plethora of questions about school and adjusting to college life. When asked about how the first couple of weeks were, I thought back to my first real college experience, when I was forced to meet new people in a new environment. I thought back to Project Serve.
I got into my room at 3 a.m., later than I had ever been out on a Friday night, and had to wake up at 8:15, the earliest I had been up since I got to U.Va. Project Serve was scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m., much earlier than I would have liked. I wished for a sort of morning-after pill that would erase my mistakes from the night before so I could begin my day fresh.
My head partially cleared, I grabbed a granola bar for the walk to the Student Activities Building and put on a smile, even though I wanted nothing more than to stay in bed. There was food in the building for the volunteers, and we signed up for our designated projects, then sat around and waited.
Dean Groves spoke to the roughly 600 first-years who were willing to give up four hours of their Saturday to help the Charlottesville community and praised us for our selfless spirits.
After being separated into our distinct project groups, we played meet-and-greet games until the buses arrived. We arrived at the HIV/AIDS ministry shortly thereafter and met some of the group's employees.
Up to this point, we had all been pretty quiet and unsure around each other. There were about 20 first-years and one project leader, and hardly any of us were acquainted before we signed up, so no one was completely comfortable -- yet. The two employees gave us a 30-minute lesson about HIV/AIDS that was not only informative, but interesting. They didn't spit out the same facts that we had been told since the sixth grade, but presented their information with a little comedy, a little flare.
The lesson disproved common misconceptions and demonstrated how to put on a condom properly. They used a dildo -- two dildos in fact, one black and one white, just so no one felt left out.
After the lesson, we were separated into three groups. One group's task was to put together bathroom bags for homeless people in the community, including common items such as shampoo and toothpaste. The other groups were tasked with ripping condoms. You may think I'm kidding, but the 14 of us who ripped condoms for 2.5 hours have the memories to prove it.
For those who aren't familiar with buying condoms in bulk, they come packaged together in groups of two, six or 10, and before they can be distributed to the masses, the condoms must be separated into individual entities.
So we ripped and ripped and talked, and by this point, everyone was feeling surprisingly comfortable with each other. We talked about our past experiences with sex, or lack thereof, and asked each other questions that normally would be off-limits to all but the closest friends. It is amazing how tearing apart mountains of condoms can bring people so close.
We left with goodie bags full of flavored, extra-large and tuxedo condoms, and headed back to the Newcomb courtyard where a reception for Project Serve volunteers awaited us. I ate lunch with my new friends and felt completely at ease with these people I had met only hours before. Then we finished eating and went our separate ways.
Facebook has allowed some of us to keep in touch, and despite the size of the school, I have ran into a few of my compatriots around Grounds. I'm glad I woke up and went to the Student Activities Building that Saturday morning. If I preemptively stopped my activity, much like the function of certain contraceptives, I would have never met such wonderful people and had this extraordinary experience.
Ian's column runs biweekly Fridays. He can be reached at ismith@cavalierdaily.com.
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