From Steve Furrer:

I've also been amazed the last two days with the fast formation of our community. I've never been in a class where I feel so comfortable participating.

From Julie Posselt:

I have to figure out, though, how on Earth to communicate what I've learned and felt to others … So much of the experience was emotional and is really best understood in the context of our community … As I think about it in those terms, it makes me believe that maybe the best way to describe this journey to others will be in a narrative of the community's experiences, rather than my individual one.

From Joe Fronczak, on the professors:

Jake and I talked on the bus last night, and I said to him, "If a good teacher is one that gives you vision and helps you define your career path, we've got some really shitty professors, because their teaching has shook me all up and left me a lot less sure of where I want to go." Of course I don't believe we have shitty professors … A good teacher doesn't narrow a student's path. He or she shakes it up and twists it.

From Megan Vail:

This morning Craig spoke on the apparent growth of our community support system since the beginning of our journey … from a group of strangers, unsure of the people they were interacting with, that shared brutal honesty with one another, yet lacked trust to link the pain and conflict. Yesterday on the plantation it was apparent through body language, whether it be a hug, a touch, a look, a smile, or kind words, that we as a community have elevated our interactions together to a level of trust, love, and sharing.

From Joe Fronczak:

I am filled with hope. I didn’t believe that I’d ever be part of a community in which everyone had had a healthy dose of loneliness, in which everyone cared about their brothers and sisters, each and every one. Now, I am a member of such a community and I have hope.

Hope. I mean the kind that Tim talked about at Body of Christ Deliverance Ministry, the kind that forces you to suspend practical thoughts of turning a buck, the kind where you see an Eden in your head and you work for it even though you know damn well that you’ll never see it anywhere but in your head – except every once in a while when you see a flash of it, just for an instant, in someone’s smallest action.

We witnessed our share of those instants on this trip. We experienced it when Ms. Nash explained that people are never your enemy. I could feel the energy in the room as she spoke of extending love to even those who oppose you. Ms. Nash has a very clear vision of her utopia and was such an enchanting speaker that I felt each of us get caught in her imagery and join her in the clouds.

I felt that sense of paradise again and again during the trip – in the Valhalla decadence of Bellbottoms Club, in the Edenic happiness of Body of Christ Deliverance Ministry, even in the communal support at hellish Destrehan.

I feel hope because you simply can not go through this experience without feeling a sense of empowerment. We saw, met, listened to ordinary people who did extraordinary things, and in the process, became extraordinary people. Both Ms. Nash and Mr. Salaam emphasized the importance of transforming yourself before you try and save the world. We saw over and over on this trip folks who have been willing to leave behind the simple life of "going with the flow" and stood up for a better world. Think of the evening at Highlander when the folks there talked about why they went to Highlander. One after the other said that they wanted to leave behind their old selves and work to make a better world.

As we rode through the night, speeding toward Madison, toward our homes, I heard our community voice the same things I heard at Highlander. I heard us talk about how we want to actively participate in shaping a better world. As I heard us talk, I once again caught a glimpse of the paradise we all want to work for. Yeah, we’re all just ordinary people, but we can do extraordinary things, especially as a group.

When we got back to Madison, I was exhausted. I headed home right away. I saw the light on in the bedroom next to mine at my apartment but I didn’t feel like talking with any of my roommates so I just tip-toed past and went in my room and put Sam Cooke on my headphones. By one o’clock, I was already missing the community. I was ecstatic when I heard the door buzzer and it was Smilin’ Steve there to take me to Amy’s Café. Yoseph, Leah, Lexi, Megan, Kate, Mia and a bunch of others were there and we took over the joint. We played Otis, Sam Cooke, and Al Green until they kicked us out. When "Let’s Stay Together" was played, we all got up, danced, and sang along with Al: "Lovin’ you whether / whether times are good or bad / happy or sad / let’s stay together."

Yeah, Let’s stay together.