While I adore beaches, fancy drinks, spas, and plush hotel beds as much as anyone, this past spring break I decided to do something totally different. Instead of traveling to a fabulous all-inclusive resort, I took a huge leap of faith and did the complete opposite. While others had luxury, I experienced church floors, dirty labor, and very long bus rides.
This spring break I participated in a service trip that traveled from Wisconsin to South Carolina while stopping in nine different cities along the way. Led by the student organization STLF, Student Today Leaders Forever, 44 other UW-Madison students and I packed up one coach bus and pledged to spend the week substance-free while helping out new communities. Although this doesn’t sound like an ideal spring break to most college students, it sounded like a cheap, fun way to see new cities and states. So I thought, “Why the heck not?”
The first day of the trip felt like the longest day of my life— I kept wondering what I had gotten myself into the whole time. We spent five-plus hours on a bus playing icebreakers. I could tell this trip was going to be anything but the relaxing break from school I so desperately thought I needed. But, I realized so soon that the work was going to be worth it. And the trip was more rewarding for my soul than any number of hours on the beach could’ve been.
I soon found out that it wouldn’t take long at all for the entire group of us to feel like we’d known each other forever. By the start of day three, we had shared more with each other than some of us had ever shared with anyone. Before I even knew it, I felt like family with this group of people I had only known for a few days. I’ll forever feel a special bond to the people with whom I got to share this amazing experience.
My bus went through the cities of Scottsburg, Nashville, Dandridge, Shelby, Myrtle Beach, and Charleston. We also visited Louisville, Charlotte, and Lexington. Our service projects varied greatly: we organized a local Scottsburg food pantry, landscaped and created hiking trails at YMCA’s Camp Widjiwagan, organized donations for the Gatlinburg fire relief, cleaned and fixed items at the Shelby Habitat for Humanity restore, fixed picnic benches and boardwalks at the Myrtle Beach State Park, and created new, protected habitats for oyster preservation with the Charleston DNR. We got approximately five hours of sleep each night since we spent our nights getting to know each other and our mornings doing service projects. Either way, it was without a doubt worth every drowsy, early morning.
Not only did we get to visit new cities, we also got to understand different communities in the places we visited better and deeper than average tourists could have. In each community, we were able to talk with the incredible, local, nonprofit leaders. At Camp Widjiwagan, we all got to relive our childhood by singing camp songs with Reuben, the camp leader; in Shelby, Burney shared his wisdom; in Myrtle, Ranger Bob let us experience a part of his greatest passion. The list only goes on. Each and every single one of us were in awe of the selflessness, gratitude, and love for others these locals displayed. We were all touched by these people who had given their lives to helping others and making this world better. We were all inspired by the joy that this brought them.
Even if finances or travel had not been a problem, I wouldn’t have chosen to spend my spring break any other way. This trip was unbelievable from start to finish. By experiencing a trip with so many other loving, strong, and inspirational people, I returned to school with a new optimism and joy that can only be found by letting go of your own selfish needs and ego. I’ll forever be thankful for the memories made and shared this spring break.