Cheyanne's First Tree!

My First Taste of Service Learning!!

It was a Friday night and I had to go to bed early in order to wake up at 6:30 in the morning, and I knew that was not going to be easy.

After I got back to my room, my roommates asked why I was going to bed so early on a Friday night, I told them I had to volunteer at some place I have never heard of before and I had no idea where this Urban Ecology Center building was, they just looked at me and laughed.

It is now Saturday morning, my alarm is going off and it is raining outside. I thought to myself, “do I really have to wake up this early and start my volunteer work with some crazy, outgoing girl I hardly know?”

I texted Callie, the crazy girl I was telling you about, and asked her if we were still going to go to the Urban Ecology Center. I was hoping she would say no, because it was rainy and cold out, but she said we had better go. So, I finally woke up and got ready to this new adventure.

We meet at the Union Grind, drank some coffee, and headed to the Urban Ecology Center. We both did not know where this place was but luckily she had the directions texted to her phone. We began walking to Riverside Park where the Urban Ecology Center is located. However, we realized we had started walking the opposite way of Riverside Park. We turned around and we were on our way, once again.

After taking a few wrong turns here and there, we arrived at the Urban Ecology Center. When we got there, we had no idea what to expect. We opened the doors and it was beautiful inside, it looked like a cozy log cabin.

Joel, are supervisor from the Urban Ecology Center, gave Callie and I our first task, planting trees. Both Callie and I have never planted anything before, so I knew this was going to be a moment I would never forget.

We each grabbed a shovel, a pair of gardening gloves, and a tree. We did not know where begin, so Callie called Joel over by us to give us a few helpful planting tips. I got down on my hands and knees and began digging a hole where I was going to plant my tree. Luckily it was wet outside so the soil would come up a lot easier. My hole was about eight inches deep, just the right size to plant my first tree. I put my tree in the hole, planted it into the wet dirt, and put a big mound of wood chips around it. I learned that the wood chips actually protect the trees from drying out. I took a step back and looked at my tree planting abilities and it actually looked pretty dang good.

I peeked over my right shoulder to see how Callie was doing with her new tree and she was having some issues. Callie planted her tree in about a two-inch hole and looked at me and said, “Does this look right to you?” I just looked up at her with my wet, snarly hair covering my face and started laughing. I gave Callie a helping hand and her tree was finally in the ground.

Planting these trees made me feel good about myself, because I knew I was helping the community of Milwaukee out. Joel was telling Callie and I that, when we are seventy years old, we can walk through Riverside Park and say, “I planted that tree right there.” After I planted my tree that was the first thing that popped into my head. I could come back to see how big my tree has gotten, but most importantly I could come back to that very spot where I knew nothing about plants whatsoever and admire my work of art.

Our first day of service learning was over with and I felt good about myself. The two hours we were there went by so fast I could not believe it was time for Callie and I to walk back to the Union. We said goodbye to the wonder people we had met on our new adventure and we were on our way home. We were both covered in mud from head to toe, our shoes were now ruined, and we had to walk back to UW-Milwaukee looking like we just rolled around in mud. I did however try washing my clothes from when we planted trees and the mud is STILL on my jeans, it just does not want to come out. Despite the rainy weather and muddy clothes, this was a totally new experience for both Callie and I, but at the end of the day we were proud that we were able to help out the city of Milwaukee.

I walked to the Urban Ecology Center with a crazy, outgoing girl who I knew nothing about and walked back with someone I could call a friend.




Written and Posted by:Cheyanne Clure