River clean-up: A glimpse of our future

It's an old cliche that young people are our future. If it's true, I think we are in good hands.

Yesterday, 600 freshman from Cal Lutheran flooded the Ventura River bottom to haul out tons of trash from litter and homeless encampments. University staff, older student team leaders, community volunteers and City staff coordinated the massive clean-up effort. Mayor Christy Weir joined the students in the dirty job of picking up and bagging garbage.

The students worked in small teams, but as they streamed out of the thick undergrowth, the magnitude of the combined effort was evident.

I spoke with a number of the students about their experience -- and came away inspired by their idealism, intelligence, good humor and common sense.

Josh from Lakewood said the squalor of the homeless camps was unlike anything he'd ever encountered. "It makes quite an impression," he told me. "It makes you understand and appreciate how lucky we are."

The students encountered heat, snakes, mud and various unmentionables, but came away with an upbeat attitude. One team leader asked a student whether he thought he'd made a difference. "No, all by myself I don't think the litter I cleared changes the world," he replied. "But I hope that all of us working together -- and I hope being inspired to do more -- we've done something worthwhile."

Especially in the context of building long-term partnerships. Last year, Cal Lutheran came up with the idea of having their new students plunge into community service in a tangible and memorable way. Now it is growing into an annual tradition. No one knows how many lives will ultimately be changed by the experience. But it is clear that these young people welcome the opportunity for the learning, the bonding and the contribution that comes from community service.

At the end of the long day, as the students gathered on the Ventura beach to reflect on their experience, a team leader asked, "Which is a more valuable lesson -- talking about social issues in class or volunteering to do something about it?"

I was impressed by the answer offered by a thoughtful young man who answered, "You need both. We need to understand the larger picture that we can gain in school and to be personally involved the way we were today. Both reinforce our understanding how the world is -- and how it can be."

Indeed. I'm sure Cal Lutheran feels that they have accepted some very special students for this year's freshman class. Yesterday demonstrated how right they are.