Student Commutes to DC from Baltimore to Work on Trails

 “As long as I’m doing something that helps, it makes me feel good.” ~Antica Howel

Antica was on a 2006 DC Summer Commuting Crew in Rock Creek Park.  She learned about SCA through her brother and cousins.  They told her that SCA is a great way to learn about the environment in a hands-on way.  “I’m great at observing things,” Antica says.  “People throw trash on the street and I say, enough.  I pick up other people’s trash or tell my friends to pick up what they dropped.  I’m a contentious person, I know things that shouldn’t be done and not picking up trash is one of them.”   

Before SCA, Antica was not involved with the environment at all. Now she is talking to her friends about doing service projects for her school and working with her mom to bring SCA to Baltimore.  The most interesting aspect about SCA for Antica was the activities the crew did, such as cleaning the creek, making a retaining wall, and building water bars.  A typical day for Antica was leaving her house in Baltimore at 6am, taking the MARC to the Metro, hoping in the SCA van to Rock Creek, spending the day with her crew, and not getting home until 6 or 7 at night.  But it was all worth it for Antica, “As long as I’m doing something that helps, it makes me feel good.”
Antica’s favorite SCA experience was when she and her crew went camping in Virginia.  She went swimming in a big water hole, ate s’mores by the fire, took outdoor showers, and slept outside for the first time in her life.   The impact SCA had on Antica was immense.  “I now like going to parks and I notice the little things.  I now care about parks if they aren’t maintained well.  If I see something that should be fixed I’ll go and tell someone.”  When asked what she would do to get her family and community involved in the environment, Antica believes, “The only thing you can do, is show them the facts.”

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