Experience makes the best teacher

So I have to write a speech to memorize for tomorrow, and I am none too thrilled with that, given that I was told about this on Friday, and I am splendidly swamped this weekend. But here goes.

Last semester, a group of us went on a service trip to Pittsburgh to serve with the Pittsburgh Project. We were going to help the elderly, inner city poor repair their homes so that they could afford to keep their homes. We were all expectant, hoping that we would be able to make a difference. Most of us had no carpentry or plumbing experience at all, but we were all hoping that the age old adage "Experience is the best Teacher" would hold true for us. The Staff at the project understood that we were nervous and anxious about the work we would have in the coming days, so on our first day they made every effort to make a safe environment where candor about our experiences would help us to process everything that was going through our minds.
They split us up into three groups, with whom we would be working for the duration of that week. My group consisted of two other people who I had met only a week previous. We were working with a man named Pastor Ed, and he could sense that we were uncertain if we were able to complete the tasks which we were assigned. He had Matt and Karli tearing down the roof of the porch, and he had me help him replace a window. Both Karli and I conquered our fear of heights that day and that built our confidence. In this new found confidence we made the observation that the porch stairs were looking a bit sickly. We asked if we could take this on as our project, while the other two were on the roof.
Pastor Ed told us that we could do so on only one condition. We were allowed to ask questions but he would not instruct us, he wanted us to do this ourselves. He kept teasing us with joking questions about if we were up to the challenge, but he did it in such a way that we were more certain that we were able every time he asked. We made all the measurements, and we made a few mistakes. But we were able to fix them. When we had finished them, they were by no means the most beautiful and artfully constructed stairs, but they were sturdy, and they were functional. And as sopping wet and dirty as those stairs were, and in fact as we were, we knew that we had done something good for someone else. We learned how to do these things by simply doing them.
When we returned and the whole group reconvened to eat dinner and talk about what we had done, the looks on people's faces were unforgettable. Everyone was glowing with self confidence, and lauding each other for their accomplishments and ability to overcome fears. We were alternately astonished by each other's newfound skills and talents, and proud of each other for learning what we learned.