"I felt really sad leaving," said Cristiana Shipma, freshman in public relations, during a July 16 conference call. "It was like moving away for college."
Shipma left Linden after spending the summer working with the Living Democracy program.
The conference call she and three other students in Living Democracy were on was part of a biweekly check-in made by Mark Wilson, director of Civic Learning Initiatives in the College of Liberal Arts, and Nan Fairley, associate professor of journalism.
Living Democracy is a summer-long program in which students move to small towns in Alabama and partner them with civic and community organizations to experience what life is like in those communities, Wilson said.
"It's a chance to get a great experience and a great adventure," Fairley said.
Jelani Moore, sophomore in media studies, spent his summer in Elba, where he helped organize and paint a community mural project featured on Auburn University's homepage. Moore also led an effort to redesign Elba's town flag.The projects he worked on this summer have been designed to capture Elba's community spirit.
Moore said he feels community spirit is important for Elba because of the challenges the small town faces. Elba's economy depends on the traffic it gets from U.S. Highway 84. However, a bypass is being built around the town, Moore said.
"If we keep that spirit alive, the bypass won't affect it," Moore said.
Lowery McNeal, junior in history, worked with Old Cahawba Archaeological Park while living in Selma over the summer. McNeal arrived at the Alabama Historical Commission and said they were selling parts of the park because of budget shortfalls.
"Getting projects finished has been tough because of funding," McNeal said.
Despite the budget challenges, she said living in Selma and working with Old Cahawba has provided great experiences.
"She entered the summer at a time when everything was crumbling with her organization," Wilson said. "None of this is engineered to be perfect."
Shaye McCauley, junior in social work, worked closely with the local library in Collinsville. McCauley organized several reading groups that brought in children from pre-school to high school.
"We did 'Fahrenheit 451' with the high schoolers and the discussion was amazing," McCauley said.
McCauley was also involved in a reading program that reached out to the diverse community in Collinsville.
"Collinsville is the most diverse town in DeKalb County with a large Hispanic community," McCauley said. "Everyone in the town is very accepting of one another."
Seventeen students have lived and worked in seven rural Alabama communities since Living Democracy started in 2012. The program will start recruiting new students in the fall.
"These communities love having a young person come in who can bring energy to the community," Wilson said.
As Shipma's part on the July 16 conference call was ending, she said she used to think living in small town, such as Linden was impossible because there were no people or big box stores. After getting to know the town, Shipma said she really learned to appreciate what small towns have to offer.
"It's taught me to view towns and businesses in a much more personal light," Shipma said.
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