DAYS 1 & 2 – Drive, Meg's, Groceries, Arrival in San Antonio
Today was our departure for San Antonio! We started our adventure off with a stop at Chick-Fil-A before finally arriving in Plano, Texas at Meg's house where her Mom graciously let us stay for the night. Thank you Diane!
- Caroline
The long car rides consisted of naps, movies, stories, turn-up music, and a failed attempt at the Alphabet game. When we arrived at St. George Maronite Catholic Church on Saturday, Debbie, the musical director, greeted us and gave a tour of the church. There was a huge basketball court and area for us to sleep. That night we went grocery shopping at the nearby H-E-B grocery store for the week ahead of us. The night ended with a big game of Cards Against Humanity! It was really fun and ridiculous!
- Hannah
The first two days were great. We got to eat Chick-Fil-A and Whataburger! We slowly but surely made our way from CoMo to Plano where Meg's mom graciously let us all stay and even bought us cookies and bagels in the morning. We arrived in San Antonio at the Catholic Church and played Cards Against Humanity the first night. A pretty good ice breaker for us. We also played some knockout and I won so that was neat. Got to experience my first full cold shower, yikes!.
- Isaac
DAY 3 – Austin
Today was our free day in Austin, Texas. We started off by going to South Congress, which is a street with tons of shops, food trucks, and performers. Some of us went to a food truck named "Are You Gonna Eat or What?" and others went to a gourmet grilled cheese place. I chose the food truck, which turned out to be a great decision. The food was great and it was nice to get a taste of something different then what we always eat in Missouri.
After exploring some interesting shops, such as an oversized costume shop and a boot store, we met up to go to the graffiti park. This was a breath taking experience in its self. It was set up in 4 levels leading to the top of a hill in a stair like manner. It was so much artwork their to see as well as artists leaving fresh paint. Aside from all the cool paintings we saw, the view from the top level of the park was amazing. Even on a cloudy day, it was beautiful looking out over Austin.
From the graffiti park we went to the museum of weird. I won't bore you with all the uninteresting details but the group shared a couple great laughs and definitely made some memories there.
Then last but not least, the most fun part of the day. The search for dinner! In spite of some minor disagreements in deciding where we should eat, we decided on a restaurant recommended to us by several people in the area. Some how, through various misdirection's, we ended up at the airport looking for the restaurant. We sat in front of the airport in the curbside drop off lane for roughly 20 minutes laughing and trying to figure out the next plan. This alone was a great bonding experience. Everybody was hungry and it would have been really easy to gripe and complain. Everybody just laughed it off and we found another location of the restaurant. We arrived there, ate, and then made it back to the church in San Antonio smoothly.
Overall, this day was a lot of fun and great switch up from the average class and work day we experience at school. It was good to be able to spend this time to really get to know each other before moving in to the community service portion of the week. I'm really looking forward to see what the rest of the week with this great group has to offer.
- Donovan
Today was our departure for San Antonio! We started our adventure off with a stop at Chick-Fil-A before finally arriving in Plano, Texas at Meg's house where her Mom graciously let us stay for the night. Thank you Diane!
- Caroline
The long car rides consisted of naps, movies, stories, turn-up music, and a failed attempt at the Alphabet game. When we arrived at St. George Maronite Catholic Church on Saturday, Debbie, the musical director, greeted us and gave a tour of the church. There was a huge basketball court and area for us to sleep. That night we went grocery shopping at the nearby H-E-B grocery store for the week ahead of us. The night ended with a big game of Cards Against Humanity! It was really fun and ridiculous!
- Hannah
The first two days were great. We got to eat Chick-Fil-A and Whataburger! We slowly but surely made our way from CoMo to Plano where Meg's mom graciously let us all stay and even bought us cookies and bagels in the morning. We arrived in San Antonio at the Catholic Church and played Cards Against Humanity the first night. A pretty good ice breaker for us. We also played some knockout and I won so that was neat. Got to experience my first full cold shower, yikes!.
- Isaac
DAY 3 – Austin
Today was our free day in Austin, Texas. We started off by going to South Congress, which is a street with tons of shops, food trucks, and performers. Some of us went to a food truck named "Are You Gonna Eat or What?" and others went to a gourmet grilled cheese place. I chose the food truck, which turned out to be a great decision. The food was great and it was nice to get a taste of something different then what we always eat in Missouri.
After exploring some interesting shops, such as an oversized costume shop and a boot store, we met up to go to the graffiti park. This was a breath taking experience in its self. It was set up in 4 levels leading to the top of a hill in a stair like manner. It was so much artwork their to see as well as artists leaving fresh paint. Aside from all the cool paintings we saw, the view from the top level of the park was amazing. Even on a cloudy day, it was beautiful looking out over Austin.
From the graffiti park we went to the museum of weird. I won't bore you with all the uninteresting details but the group shared a couple great laughs and definitely made some memories there.
Then last but not least, the most fun part of the day. The search for dinner! In spite of some minor disagreements in deciding where we should eat, we decided on a restaurant recommended to us by several people in the area. Some how, through various misdirection's, we ended up at the airport looking for the restaurant. We sat in front of the airport in the curbside drop off lane for roughly 20 minutes laughing and trying to figure out the next plan. This alone was a great bonding experience. Everybody was hungry and it would have been really easy to gripe and complain. Everybody just laughed it off and we found another location of the restaurant. We arrived there, ate, and then made it back to the church in San Antonio smoothly.
Overall, this day was a lot of fun and great switch up from the average class and work day we experience at school. It was good to be able to spend this time to really get to know each other before moving in to the community service portion of the week. I'm really looking forward to see what the rest of the week with this great group has to offer.
- Donovan
DAY 4 – Food Bank
Today was the first time I've worked with a food bank and it was such a positive experience. The employees in the kitchen were fun and friendly to work with and they were so thankful for our service. Our group was very happy to help the San Antonio Food Bank feed children, families, and many more of their clients. It was neat to see their team produce mass quantities of meals for people in such an organized and timely fashion and I'm glad that I had the chance to be a part of that. After working at SAFB we headed to Haven For Hope, a unique Recovery Oriented System of Care that provides a new beginning for locals who are experiencing homelessness and/or substance abuse. I loved every moment of Haven For Hope. The residents were so friendly and thanked us for volunteering to serve them their meals. Although in my opinion there were no thanks necessary because I received more out of that experience than I could have ever imagined. I didn't know any of their names or stories but I was content with being able to provide them a hot meal and a smile. As I was handing a woman her meal tray I overheard her say to the person next to her that the food looked good and she was excited to finally be full. That broke my heart. I continued to hand out meals and tried to fight back tears, feeling overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to experience this and touch lives. Every single person was happy to get a meal. The meal was simply a cup of soup, bread, side of pasta and a brownie; nothing too exciting but I've never seen so many individuals that excited over brownies! I realized then that I take so much for granted, even brownies and being full for that matter.
It really warmed my heart knowing that Haven For Hope is providing so many people with food and shelter and I couldn't be happier to volunteer for such an outstanding organization.
- Caroline
The food bank was a fun time where I got to help make spaghetti dinners for 1500 children in the San Antonio school district. I was in charge of putting five meatballs in the tray and later putting sauce on. Sam, Katie, and I talked with a friendly volunteer about his favorite meals in Texas. He was a big fan of cow tongue and cow cheek. Later that day, we went to Haven For Hope where I had a really eye-opening experience. This was my first time serving food to the homeless. I teared up several times because the men and women were so thankful for our help. This experience was amazing and really put my life in perspective of how some others are living in this world. Haven for Hope is a great organization that is really providing an opportunity for homeless families and individuals to come together to a church, to overcome substance abuse, to have a place to stay, and to receive three meals a week.
- Hannah
Eddie gave us some good tips on sweeping loading docks and a truck driver said it was great of us to clean. It was great getting to help prepare and serve the meals at the homeless shelter, Haven for Hope. I helped disabled people and some mothers carry trays for their children. It was very eye-opening to see how many people need food and shelter in the area. We worked with a really funny cook also named Eddie who sang the wrong words to every song at the top of his lungs. Got to play 2-on-2 that night with Donovan, Sam and Ryan. Also we got to play Hannah's cool iPhone game, Heads Up! Also Caroline, Katie and Kelsey made some amazing chicken alfredo and salad
- Isaac
DAY 5 – Habitat Day 1, Moving churches
We got to meet David our Volunteer coordinator and Steve our partners in tile! We spent the day setting down tile throughout the house. There was a pretty large learning curve for most of us. We made a lot of progress for it being everyone's first time tiling. We got to move to the Park Church owned and operated by Dr. David Miracle. Yes, you read that correctly. We were very excited to get to the hot water showers we had been waiting for since Meg's house. We were so disappointed to hear that the showers were cold from Kelsey and Katie, we almost went to the Y. I got to have fun shopping for groceries for our cooking night with my group even though they wouldn't let me get dessert.
– Isaac
DAY 6 – Habitat Day 2, Alamo, Riverwalk
David is the coolest 19 year old I've possibly ever met. He is going to construction school and works for habitat 3 days a week in his spare time. I worked on putting the tile in a single closet, which is possibly the hardest construction task I have ever taken up. We got to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk for a little bit. I thought it was beautiful. My love of ice cream defeated the fact that my hand was practically frozen. We got to go to the mall near the Riverwalk. Kelsey gave me money for hot tamales. She's nice. When we got back Emily, Meg and I made dinner. What a quiet and humorless kitchen. We made appetizers for everyone and made 66 taquitos because when in San Antone… Anyways everyone loved it and I was happy to hear so. We had a ping pong tournament and naturally I won. Katie and Hannah claim they will get better and beat me but we will see. We had a great time talking about all the dumb stuff we had said over the week. In case we don't get to blog about it after this I just want to say I've had a blast on this trip. Somehow I've become the funny man in the group. Not that I'm not funny, I just usually don't talk that much. So thanks to my new friends, Kelsey, Ryan, Donovan, Meg, Caroline, Taylor, Emily, Katie, Hannah, Haley and Sam for the great experience. Major shoutout to Ryan and Sam for being awesome site leaders and people!
- Isaac
Today was the first time I've worked with a food bank and it was such a positive experience. The employees in the kitchen were fun and friendly to work with and they were so thankful for our service. Our group was very happy to help the San Antonio Food Bank feed children, families, and many more of their clients. It was neat to see their team produce mass quantities of meals for people in such an organized and timely fashion and I'm glad that I had the chance to be a part of that. After working at SAFB we headed to Haven For Hope, a unique Recovery Oriented System of Care that provides a new beginning for locals who are experiencing homelessness and/or substance abuse. I loved every moment of Haven For Hope. The residents were so friendly and thanked us for volunteering to serve them their meals. Although in my opinion there were no thanks necessary because I received more out of that experience than I could have ever imagined. I didn't know any of their names or stories but I was content with being able to provide them a hot meal and a smile. As I was handing a woman her meal tray I overheard her say to the person next to her that the food looked good and she was excited to finally be full. That broke my heart. I continued to hand out meals and tried to fight back tears, feeling overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to experience this and touch lives. Every single person was happy to get a meal. The meal was simply a cup of soup, bread, side of pasta and a brownie; nothing too exciting but I've never seen so many individuals that excited over brownies! I realized then that I take so much for granted, even brownies and being full for that matter.
It really warmed my heart knowing that Haven For Hope is providing so many people with food and shelter and I couldn't be happier to volunteer for such an outstanding organization.
- Caroline
The food bank was a fun time where I got to help make spaghetti dinners for 1500 children in the San Antonio school district. I was in charge of putting five meatballs in the tray and later putting sauce on. Sam, Katie, and I talked with a friendly volunteer about his favorite meals in Texas. He was a big fan of cow tongue and cow cheek. Later that day, we went to Haven For Hope where I had a really eye-opening experience. This was my first time serving food to the homeless. I teared up several times because the men and women were so thankful for our help. This experience was amazing and really put my life in perspective of how some others are living in this world. Haven for Hope is a great organization that is really providing an opportunity for homeless families and individuals to come together to a church, to overcome substance abuse, to have a place to stay, and to receive three meals a week.
- Hannah
Eddie gave us some good tips on sweeping loading docks and a truck driver said it was great of us to clean. It was great getting to help prepare and serve the meals at the homeless shelter, Haven for Hope. I helped disabled people and some mothers carry trays for their children. It was very eye-opening to see how many people need food and shelter in the area. We worked with a really funny cook also named Eddie who sang the wrong words to every song at the top of his lungs. Got to play 2-on-2 that night with Donovan, Sam and Ryan. Also we got to play Hannah's cool iPhone game, Heads Up! Also Caroline, Katie and Kelsey made some amazing chicken alfredo and salad
- Isaac
DAY 5 – Habitat Day 1, Moving churches
We got to meet David our Volunteer coordinator and Steve our partners in tile! We spent the day setting down tile throughout the house. There was a pretty large learning curve for most of us. We made a lot of progress for it being everyone's first time tiling. We got to move to the Park Church owned and operated by Dr. David Miracle. Yes, you read that correctly. We were very excited to get to the hot water showers we had been waiting for since Meg's house. We were so disappointed to hear that the showers were cold from Kelsey and Katie, we almost went to the Y. I got to have fun shopping for groceries for our cooking night with my group even though they wouldn't let me get dessert.
– Isaac
DAY 6 – Habitat Day 2, Alamo, Riverwalk
David is the coolest 19 year old I've possibly ever met. He is going to construction school and works for habitat 3 days a week in his spare time. I worked on putting the tile in a single closet, which is possibly the hardest construction task I have ever taken up. We got to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk for a little bit. I thought it was beautiful. My love of ice cream defeated the fact that my hand was practically frozen. We got to go to the mall near the Riverwalk. Kelsey gave me money for hot tamales. She's nice. When we got back Emily, Meg and I made dinner. What a quiet and humorless kitchen. We made appetizers for everyone and made 66 taquitos because when in San Antone… Anyways everyone loved it and I was happy to hear so. We had a ping pong tournament and naturally I won. Katie and Hannah claim they will get better and beat me but we will see. We had a great time talking about all the dumb stuff we had said over the week. In case we don't get to blog about it after this I just want to say I've had a blast on this trip. Somehow I've become the funny man in the group. Not that I'm not funny, I just usually don't talk that much. So thanks to my new friends, Kelsey, Ryan, Donovan, Meg, Caroline, Taylor, Emily, Katie, Hannah, Haley and Sam for the great experience. Major shoutout to Ryan and Sam for being awesome site leaders and people!
- Isaac
DAY 7 – Habitat 3, David
Today we traveled to a new house to finish the tedious job of cutting specific tiles for the floor. I am so proud of my team and the work we accomplished. The house was fully tiled, with the floors scrubbed spotless! It was such an accomplishment and a rewarding feeling. I also want to thank David, our Habitat site leader who agreed to take the awkward prom photo we were all begging for. It takes special people to give up a week of their Christmas Break to go on a service trip with 11 other strangers. I am so glad I met you guys. Thanks for the laughs.
- Emily
Day 3 at Habitat brought us another day of tiling, but at a different location. More importantly, we got another day with David in charge, and we were reunited with OG Steve. We got the satisfaction of finishing the tiling and caulking, and seeing a completed house. The highlight of the day by far was convincing Dave to join us back at the church where we had breakfast for dinner. It was great seeing the transition from him clearly being overwhelmed by our group and all of the big personalities we had, to actually canceling other plans to hang out with us after work. It really says a lot about our group that we were able to make him feel so included.
DAY 8 – Habitat: Main Site, Leaving San Antonio
On Friday, our last day of service, we moved from tiling to working on more beginning framework of some houses. The houses were all almost ready for framework and mechanical inspections needed to move forward with construction. Since most of us aren't crafted construction workers, a lot of the stuff we were doing seemed minor but the houses would have failed otherwise. Since it was our last day, everybody dug in and made sure to get as much work done as possible. As ready as everyone was to get back to Columbia, we didn't want to leave saying we slacked off and we definitely didn't...
- Donovan
The last day at Habitat was the kind of work I had been hoping/waiting to do all week. We got to help with early stage construction, and more importantly use power tools. The work we had to do was by far the most physically challenging of the week, but the most rewarding.
DAY 9 – FINAL THOUGHTS
I'd like to start off by just saying wow what an awesome experience! I am so glad I decided to go on an MAB trip. At the beginning of the trip I was very skeptical as to how the week would go with 11 strangers that I barely had met at a few awkward meetings. Next thing I know everyone is group hugging me in my living room as they say goodbye to me and making jokes about me to my parents. I've never seen anything quite like it. Not only did I get to bond with 11 really cool and unique people I'd never met before, but I got to help people in need along the way. Getting to serve at the food bank, homeless shelter and habitat for humanity were eye opening experiences. You get to see how much services like those are truly needed throughout the world. It was a pleasure to serve along side my 11 new friends, but also some of the people from the various organizations. A habitat staff member named David, who was our age, had so much fun with us on the job that he accepted our invitation to come have breakfast for dinner after our last day of working with him. How awesome is it that someone found our group enjoyable and accepting enough to come have dinner and hangout and play a charades game for a few hours. I reiterate I am so grateful for being able to go on this trip and can't wait to go again someday. To my friends: Donovan, Meg, Haley, Sam, Hannah, Katie, Emily, Kelsey, Taylor, Ryan, Caroline, thanks for making this trip one of the best weeks of my life and laughing at all of my jokes. You guys rock. Love y'all,
- Isaac Gillen
Applying for Mizzou Alternative Breaks was one of the best decisions I've made during college so far. When I was offered to go on the trip to work with Habitat for Humanity I was ecstatic. Although I didn't know anyone else in the group beforehand I was determined to step out of my comfort zone and get to know my fellow participants. As I worked along side these people each day, I got to know them better and see a different side of them that most people don't get the chance to. I am so happy to have met such a wonderful group of selfless, kind, hard working people.
Together our team helped provide homes for families in San Antonio and meals to men, women, and children in need. It was such a rewarding, heart warming experience that will never be forgotten.
-Caroline Dobbs
At the beginning of this trip I was really nervous to travel countless hours away from home with 11 strangers. I wondered to myself if it was going to be a trip filled with awkward silences and small talk. To my surprise, my trip was anything but that. No one ever stopped talking, especially me. I grew so close to everyone through shared personal stories and the countless hours of laughs. I could tell you that all Isaac's siblings are named after saints or that Katie's feet don't touch the floorboards of the cars she drives. Not only did I grow amazing and lasting friendships with these people, I also grew myself, through service. I remember feeling so humbled this entire trip, and so proud of our group who worked so hard for the cause. We worked long days with Habitat for Humanity but there really is no greater feeling than seeing all your work and the accomplishments you made in those homes. That tiling we laid will be the flooring for the next 20 plus years (although they may want to add rugs in a few spots.)
Mizzou Alternative Breaks is more than just an organization out of the hundreds on our campus. It represents growth, friendships, and most importantly service. I cannot stress enough how great of an experience I had. I strongly encourage every Mizzou Tiger to give MAB a shot because you won't regret it.
On a side note, I would like to personally thank every single person in this here group, San Antonio #1. I will never forget all the times I laughed until I cried, and all the inside jokes that seemed to accumulate throughout the course of the trip. I can't wait to hang out in Columbia with all of you, and maybe attend Ryan's wedding someday, or meet one of Sam's 30,000 friends. Love y'all so much.
- Emily Smallwood
I have to admit when leading up to this week I was nervous and really dreading it. If it was going to be anything like the meetings it was going to be the longest most boring week of my life. But wow was I wrong. This last week was one of the best weeks of my life, and I know people always say that but they really don't know what they are talking about until they have been on a MAB trip. I'm going to be honest with you I did this because I felt like I wasn't involved enough and it looks good on a resume, I mean who doesn't like someone that volunteers for a whole week. I now realize how blessed I was to be accepted out of hundreds of people to go on one of the trips. The week started off a little awkward, we sat quietly in car either pretending to sleep of uncomfortably singing to the radio. It only took us a couple hours to show our true colors, by the end of the first night we had found out that Katie was a 10 year old girl at heart, that Haley could out rap lil Wayne and that Meg was basically next door neighbors with a celebrity. The week only got better, on Sunday we got to explore Austin we went to a Weird museum (partly my idea) It was terrifying but yet I couldn't look away, I feel responsible for making dads (Ryan and Sam) pay for the extra $3 a piece to see the ice man, which I still think is a load of crap. We took too many cheesy pictures at the graffiti park and coined the phrase "Do you even spray?" The next day was my favorite day; we got to "help" (more like do his job) Eddie sweep out 35 semi docks. This is where I found my soul mate Isaac. The next half of the day we fed over 500 homeless people, I can't even describe how this felt. It was the most touching experience of my life. I can't help but think that those people's lives were changed for the better that night by the best brownies that had ever eaten courtesy of Emily and myself. The next 3 days we went to two different houses and tiled. This is where I found my calling; I am now a professional tile cutter. You haven't lived until you cut a tile and it fits just right. During these three days we made a great friend, David, the first day he ignored us and pretended not to think we were funny but by the third day he was coming over for dinner. I hope to see him again, I may be the maid of honor at his wedding (wink wink Emily). The last day was the hardest for me. I was completely out of my element and we had to go up against Cadet Kelly and her gang. We tried to keep up but they were nailing circles around us, but its fine because Charlie and Joe liked us more per usual. I don't want to get all mushy and stuff but I just want to say thank you to our leaders, they were great role models. I hope that I can one day have 30,000 friends like Sam and be in college and avoid marriage like Ryan until I'm 50. I want to thank the 11 other people on the trip for listening to me talk all the time and for laughing with me at my stupid jokes. I couldn't have asked for a better group to spend a week with. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, I fell in love (I'll explain later mom and dad), and I stayed at a serial killers church and by some kind of miracle stayed alive. I can now call you guys my new best friends, I cant wait to see movies with you guys and hang out, so please don't try to avoid it. I love y'all!!!!!!!!
- Taylor Relford
MAB San Antonio1. This was the name given to the group of 12 strangers brought together with the purpose of traveling to San Antonio, TX to work with Habitat for Humanity. After the first few meetings where everybody sat spread out in the room, nobody would talk, and a couple of awkward icebreakers, I would have never assumed this group was going to end up being so compatible and full of personality. There was not one dull personality on this trip. So, of course, personalities clashed at times. But we only had 8 days together, so we were quick to forgive, forget, and move on to the rest of the week ahead. We made many memories like sleeping on tile floors, to sleeping in rooms with the thermostat on hell. Like that moment whenever everyone really wondered were we going to have cold showers for the whole trip. Or that moment when our search for dinner led us to the front of the Austin airport and at least half of us were down to try and go eat at this place inside the airport. The many Miracle jokes of underground tunnels and outdated contemporary church signs that ensued promptly upon arrival on Tuesday to our new place of residence. Or the many rounds of act it out on Heads Up, where most of us got more into it than we should have. Getting so close with the Habitat worker, who was our age, that he came to the church where we stayed and ate dinner with us. It's so many funny moments and inside jokes that I could go for days. So to...
Ryan, the laid back site leader that was willing to talk to anybody about any aspect of life and genuinely be interested in every conversation.
Sam, the site leader who knew everybody on the planet, that could keep my head calm by just being there to talk when people were going crazy.
Haley who had a great personality, was always down to hoop, and provided great laughs to everybody at the expense of her crazy cousins facebook fight.
Hannah who was always smiling, never had a negative comment about anything, and the person who was constantly the first one sleep after community service each day.
Kelsey who was always so full of energy, had a smile that light up a whole room, and non stop funny comments.
Isaac, the only other guy on the trip who wasn't a site leader and possibly the funniest person on the trip, always kept us laughing smart remarks to every situation.
Taylor, who was always laughing, making jokes, or telling a embarrassing story.
Emily who was always smiling, full of energy, and kept the group "Starbin".
Meg being the almost the mom of the group, even though she was the youngest, she was always making sure everybody was good and seeing if we needed anything done during service.
Katie, the best copilot i could ask for, keeping me entertained with stories of her botched 21st birthday celebration and trip to Memphis.
Caroline who was singing every song on the way home an entertaining us with stories of her ex boyfriend problems that were more than anyone could probably imagine.
I wouldn't have rather spent this week with any other 11 people. I think it's safe to say I made 11 new friends this past week. Thank you guys for the memories, the adventures, and laughs. I love you guys...
http://mizzoualternativebreak.blogspot.com/
- Donovan Charleston
While trying to reflect on the week I just had, and share something meaningful with the people reading this blog, I realized there is nothing I can say that will allow anyone who was not on this trip to fully grasp the experience we just had. In a sense though, that's the beauty of MAB. The experience is so one of a kind, that even when talking with people from other trips, the only word I can ever come up with is amazing. And that's exactly what it was.
This past week as a site leader, I was constantly challenged, entertained, and humbled by the people I was with and the people we served. The work itself was incredibly rewarding, and although it may not have always seemed like it, we were having a positive impact. Whether it was the grateful recipients we served at the food bank, or the unknown tenants who will live the next 20 years on the floors we laid, I realize now that we were making a difference. More rewarding was watching the group grow over the course of the week. Everyone fully embraced this experience and was willing to step outside of their comfort zone and try new things. We also grew together. By the end of the week instead of being 12 strangers trying to find any common ground to talk about, we had more inside jokes than I could even count. I couldn't have asked for a better group to share this experience with.
So to Sam for leading this trip with me and being way more popular than any of us can ever hope to be, Donovan for covering the deep topics with me, Katie for being so easy to talk too, Emily for just always talking, Hannah for always staying positive, Meg for that weird excited jump thing you kept doing, Kelsey for having a sarcastic comment to anything I said, Isaac for always keeping us laughing, Hayley for sharing her crazy family with us, Caroline for pushing T Swift on all of us, and Taylor for introducing us to that gypsy lifestyle, thank you. This trip was more amazing than I could have imagined and that is solely because of all of you. Love y'all.
- Ryan
January 9th finally rolled around. On one hand it seemed like Ryan and I met each other years ago and had been planning the trip for as long as we had been in college (that would be a little bit longer for him compared to me), but on the other hand it just kind of snuck up at the end of winter break. I was pretty nervous once it dawned on me that it was the final hours. While I was ready and had a plan, there was a large element of "go with the flow" to our itinerary because that's just how Ryan and I both operate, and with that in mind there are definitely risks that go along with that mentality. I was nervous because it was most everyone's first time on an alternative break trip, and I wanted it to be an amazing experience for everyone. I was nervous that for whatever reason, things would go terribly wrong and obviously that would be at least partially my fault. I was nervous to be viewed as leader and not just along for the ride. However, I tried to swallow all those little doubts and remain confident, I told myself that everyone in our group was there for a reason, and once we get on the road everything will just happen naturally. We planned to leave Columbia at 1:00 in the afternoon that first day, and we ended up getting on the road just before 2:00. This would prove to be a theme for us throughout the course of the week. Apparently, according to everyone else, we were pretty dang awkward around each other the first few hours in the vans. We were pretty awkward around each other that night at Meg's house in Plano. We were probably pretty awkward the entire way to San Antonio. The rest is history.
First, I'll share some of my highlights from the week as a site leader.
Our first day of service took place at the San Antonio Food Bank because Habitat was closed on Mondays. We were slated to work in the kitchen in the morning for the "kid's café" program. When we first arrived at the SAFB we were split up into two groups of six because they didn't have enough room in the kitchen for all 12 of us. My group took to the kitchen and that was the first time that I really felt pride as a site leader. Everybody in our group signed up to work with Habitat for Humanity, not to work in a kitchen. I watched Hannah, Katie, Kelsey, Caroline, and Haley all go straight to work and do whatever was asked of them for the next three hours. We got so much done, and it was awesome seeing everybody work hard, and seeing the workers at the food bank and the chefs in the kitchen appreciate what we were able to get done. On a typical day like that, we were told they normally prepare 60-70 pounds of spaghetti for 15 different afterschool programs. That day we prepared 140 pounds of spaghetti. Everybody had various foods spilled on them, from peach juice to spaghetti sauce. Everybody had on hairnets. Everybody did everything asked of them with a smile on their face. Nobody complained once.
That evening we worked at "Haven for Hope". This is a program that aids individuals and families dealing with homelessness. In some cases it is simply a hot meal and warm place to sleep, but for others it is more of a program that helps them deal with the causes of homelessness, such as addictions to drugs or alcohol. Not only did we get to help prepare the night's meal and lunches for the next day, we got to serve it. We served 500+ individuals and families, many with toddlers and young children. I knew this was going to be a big test for our group. I really struggle with seeing things like that. It is very difficult for me to see people that you know are going through things you can't really imagine when you have it so good. I was interested to see how the rest of our group would handle it. If serving a meal to 500+ people dealing with homelessness on a Habitat for Humanity MAB trip was a curveball, this group of people knocked it out of the park. I can't tell you how much it meant to me that everyone in our group was so outgoing, polite, and cordial with every single person that went through the line that night. I was at the end of the line and around me were Donovan, Meg, Kelsey, and Isaac. You can bet nobody got to the end of the line without Donovan asking them how they were, or telling them to have a great night. Meg and Kelsey were replacing the parts of the meal that would run out, whether it was food or drinks or utensils, and they didn't stop moving the entire time. Isaac was carrying people's trays all night, as many of the people would be in wheelchairs or using a walker. It was just so cool to see, especially as a site leader. Some of these people were old enough to be our parents or even grandparents, and seeing the gratefulness in their eyes for what we were doing was so humbling. I know that everyone in our group was pretty full of emotions and thoughts during those couple hours, and I couldn't have been more proud of the way everyone handled it.
Tuesday through Friday we worked at Habitat for Humanity in San Antonio. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at one rehab house, Thursday was spent at another, and Friday was spent at new site where multiple new homes were being built at the same time. For the most part, Tuesday-Thursday was spent doing the same thing: Tiling. There was more to it, like scraping and cleaning the original floor before laying tiles down, and after finishing tiling the floor at the second house we caulked around the floor and painted baseboard. So much tiling, so much sweeping and mopping, so much scraping, and so much frustration. It's safe to say everybody got extremely frustrated while tiling. I know I did. But everybody handled it so well. During those three days there were many things that I was proud of the group for. First of all, everyone worked very hard. Regardless of what everyone was told to do, regardless of how badly they might not want to scrape more, they did what needed to be done. Everybody had a true servant's heart and did what they were told. Everybody persevered when they were frustrated, and even if we broke as many tiles as there are tunnels under David Miracle's house, eventually we got every last piece to fit. I was also really proud of the way that everyone included David and went out of their way to get to know him. The fact that he came to the church we were staying at just to hang out and eat breakfast for dinner with us is a testament to everyone in our group, or maybe just a testament to how much David likes pancakes, but I'm going to stick with the first one. So yeah, I know I'm starting to ramble all over the place, but during those three days I was very proud of how much we got done, how everyone communicated love, was Gumby, and how we really started to come together as a group.
Friday at Habitat our duties changed completely. We were working in new houses that had just been framed up, and we were putting the finishing touches on the frames so that the houses could pass inspection and drywall and everything else could begin. At this point, we were professional tile layers, and we were out of our element. Power tools? All we knew was tiles, heat guns, and glue. So I would say I was proud of everyone for diving in and doing what they were told, even if they didn't know exactly what they were doing. It's safe to say everyone was intimidated that day, if not by scope of the work, then by the group of Cadet Kelly's working alongside us (you know who you are). I was proud of our group for not letting that hinder our progress, and in fact, I think it pushed some of us. I think everybody used the saw that day and other power tools that they previously had no experience with, and if not then they probably put more nails into wood than in their previous 20ish years of life. It was just awesome as a site leader to see everyone working so hard even if they were out of their comfort zone. Shout out to Kelsey, watching her take the angle grinder and cut a hole in the house in order to put a vent in was one of my proudest moments from the week. Even if not everyone got to cut a hole in a house that day, I think everyone had a similar moment.
Another big highlight from my week was the last night we spent together in the church. Everybody was beaten down and sleep deprived, yet we all stayed up until 2 a.m. just talking. As a site leader I thought our group got along very well all week, but that night, seeing everyone genuinely more interested in spending time with each other than catching up sleep, was so awesome. We talked about a wide variety of things, but it was a time when people were able to open up and share some more personal things about themselves. Just the fact that everyone was comfortable with each other now, compared to how awkward everyone felt just a couple short months ago, was incredible to me.
Wow, what a week. In a way it felt like we had been with each other for a month, but at the same time like we had just met that day. I was honestly pretty nervous about the trip going in, just wanting everyone to have an amazing week, and after talking to all of our participants it sounds like they were nervous going in too. Looking back though, I should not have been nervous. Mizzou Alternative Breaks does a great job of bringing some of the best people you'll ever meet together. As a site leader, watching the group grow from 12 awkward individuals to a tight knit goon squad was seriously one of the best experiences of my life. And I didn't even have to work at it; all I had to do was work hard during the day, drive the van to the airport and beyond, and laugh it up at night. Big thanks to MAB for putting these 11 other people in my life. Not to mention David, Joe, Steve(s), Jonathan, Mr. Hamilton, the gorgeous girl at habitat on Friday who I probably should have asked for her number, good ol' Dr. Miracle, trident man, and all the other awesome people we met along the way. Passionate people make the world go around. To Ryan and my 10 participants, thanks for making my first site-leader experience so incredible. I hope everyone felt challenged during the past week, learned something about yourself, and the world around you, and had close to as much fun as I had. My last challenge to you is just to bring it home, and think about changing the world in even the smallest of ways every day.
- Sam Triplett
Today we traveled to a new house to finish the tedious job of cutting specific tiles for the floor. I am so proud of my team and the work we accomplished. The house was fully tiled, with the floors scrubbed spotless! It was such an accomplishment and a rewarding feeling. I also want to thank David, our Habitat site leader who agreed to take the awkward prom photo we were all begging for. It takes special people to give up a week of their Christmas Break to go on a service trip with 11 other strangers. I am so glad I met you guys. Thanks for the laughs.
- Emily
Day 3 at Habitat brought us another day of tiling, but at a different location. More importantly, we got another day with David in charge, and we were reunited with OG Steve. We got the satisfaction of finishing the tiling and caulking, and seeing a completed house. The highlight of the day by far was convincing Dave to join us back at the church where we had breakfast for dinner. It was great seeing the transition from him clearly being overwhelmed by our group and all of the big personalities we had, to actually canceling other plans to hang out with us after work. It really says a lot about our group that we were able to make him feel so included.
DAY 8 – Habitat: Main Site, Leaving San Antonio
On Friday, our last day of service, we moved from tiling to working on more beginning framework of some houses. The houses were all almost ready for framework and mechanical inspections needed to move forward with construction. Since most of us aren't crafted construction workers, a lot of the stuff we were doing seemed minor but the houses would have failed otherwise. Since it was our last day, everybody dug in and made sure to get as much work done as possible. As ready as everyone was to get back to Columbia, we didn't want to leave saying we slacked off and we definitely didn't...
- Donovan
The last day at Habitat was the kind of work I had been hoping/waiting to do all week. We got to help with early stage construction, and more importantly use power tools. The work we had to do was by far the most physically challenging of the week, but the most rewarding.
DAY 9 – FINAL THOUGHTS
I'd like to start off by just saying wow what an awesome experience! I am so glad I decided to go on an MAB trip. At the beginning of the trip I was very skeptical as to how the week would go with 11 strangers that I barely had met at a few awkward meetings. Next thing I know everyone is group hugging me in my living room as they say goodbye to me and making jokes about me to my parents. I've never seen anything quite like it. Not only did I get to bond with 11 really cool and unique people I'd never met before, but I got to help people in need along the way. Getting to serve at the food bank, homeless shelter and habitat for humanity were eye opening experiences. You get to see how much services like those are truly needed throughout the world. It was a pleasure to serve along side my 11 new friends, but also some of the people from the various organizations. A habitat staff member named David, who was our age, had so much fun with us on the job that he accepted our invitation to come have breakfast for dinner after our last day of working with him. How awesome is it that someone found our group enjoyable and accepting enough to come have dinner and hangout and play a charades game for a few hours. I reiterate I am so grateful for being able to go on this trip and can't wait to go again someday. To my friends: Donovan, Meg, Haley, Sam, Hannah, Katie, Emily, Kelsey, Taylor, Ryan, Caroline, thanks for making this trip one of the best weeks of my life and laughing at all of my jokes. You guys rock. Love y'all,
- Isaac Gillen
Applying for Mizzou Alternative Breaks was one of the best decisions I've made during college so far. When I was offered to go on the trip to work with Habitat for Humanity I was ecstatic. Although I didn't know anyone else in the group beforehand I was determined to step out of my comfort zone and get to know my fellow participants. As I worked along side these people each day, I got to know them better and see a different side of them that most people don't get the chance to. I am so happy to have met such a wonderful group of selfless, kind, hard working people.
Together our team helped provide homes for families in San Antonio and meals to men, women, and children in need. It was such a rewarding, heart warming experience that will never be forgotten.
-Caroline Dobbs
At the beginning of this trip I was really nervous to travel countless hours away from home with 11 strangers. I wondered to myself if it was going to be a trip filled with awkward silences and small talk. To my surprise, my trip was anything but that. No one ever stopped talking, especially me. I grew so close to everyone through shared personal stories and the countless hours of laughs. I could tell you that all Isaac's siblings are named after saints or that Katie's feet don't touch the floorboards of the cars she drives. Not only did I grow amazing and lasting friendships with these people, I also grew myself, through service. I remember feeling so humbled this entire trip, and so proud of our group who worked so hard for the cause. We worked long days with Habitat for Humanity but there really is no greater feeling than seeing all your work and the accomplishments you made in those homes. That tiling we laid will be the flooring for the next 20 plus years (although they may want to add rugs in a few spots.)
Mizzou Alternative Breaks is more than just an organization out of the hundreds on our campus. It represents growth, friendships, and most importantly service. I cannot stress enough how great of an experience I had. I strongly encourage every Mizzou Tiger to give MAB a shot because you won't regret it.
On a side note, I would like to personally thank every single person in this here group, San Antonio #1. I will never forget all the times I laughed until I cried, and all the inside jokes that seemed to accumulate throughout the course of the trip. I can't wait to hang out in Columbia with all of you, and maybe attend Ryan's wedding someday, or meet one of Sam's 30,000 friends. Love y'all so much.
- Emily Smallwood
I have to admit when leading up to this week I was nervous and really dreading it. If it was going to be anything like the meetings it was going to be the longest most boring week of my life. But wow was I wrong. This last week was one of the best weeks of my life, and I know people always say that but they really don't know what they are talking about until they have been on a MAB trip. I'm going to be honest with you I did this because I felt like I wasn't involved enough and it looks good on a resume, I mean who doesn't like someone that volunteers for a whole week. I now realize how blessed I was to be accepted out of hundreds of people to go on one of the trips. The week started off a little awkward, we sat quietly in car either pretending to sleep of uncomfortably singing to the radio. It only took us a couple hours to show our true colors, by the end of the first night we had found out that Katie was a 10 year old girl at heart, that Haley could out rap lil Wayne and that Meg was basically next door neighbors with a celebrity. The week only got better, on Sunday we got to explore Austin we went to a Weird museum (partly my idea) It was terrifying but yet I couldn't look away, I feel responsible for making dads (Ryan and Sam) pay for the extra $3 a piece to see the ice man, which I still think is a load of crap. We took too many cheesy pictures at the graffiti park and coined the phrase "Do you even spray?" The next day was my favorite day; we got to "help" (more like do his job) Eddie sweep out 35 semi docks. This is where I found my soul mate Isaac. The next half of the day we fed over 500 homeless people, I can't even describe how this felt. It was the most touching experience of my life. I can't help but think that those people's lives were changed for the better that night by the best brownies that had ever eaten courtesy of Emily and myself. The next 3 days we went to two different houses and tiled. This is where I found my calling; I am now a professional tile cutter. You haven't lived until you cut a tile and it fits just right. During these three days we made a great friend, David, the first day he ignored us and pretended not to think we were funny but by the third day he was coming over for dinner. I hope to see him again, I may be the maid of honor at his wedding (wink wink Emily). The last day was the hardest for me. I was completely out of my element and we had to go up against Cadet Kelly and her gang. We tried to keep up but they were nailing circles around us, but its fine because Charlie and Joe liked us more per usual. I don't want to get all mushy and stuff but I just want to say thank you to our leaders, they were great role models. I hope that I can one day have 30,000 friends like Sam and be in college and avoid marriage like Ryan until I'm 50. I want to thank the 11 other people on the trip for listening to me talk all the time and for laughing with me at my stupid jokes. I couldn't have asked for a better group to spend a week with. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, I fell in love (I'll explain later mom and dad), and I stayed at a serial killers church and by some kind of miracle stayed alive. I can now call you guys my new best friends, I cant wait to see movies with you guys and hang out, so please don't try to avoid it. I love y'all!!!!!!!!
- Taylor Relford
MAB San Antonio1. This was the name given to the group of 12 strangers brought together with the purpose of traveling to San Antonio, TX to work with Habitat for Humanity. After the first few meetings where everybody sat spread out in the room, nobody would talk, and a couple of awkward icebreakers, I would have never assumed this group was going to end up being so compatible and full of personality. There was not one dull personality on this trip. So, of course, personalities clashed at times. But we only had 8 days together, so we were quick to forgive, forget, and move on to the rest of the week ahead. We made many memories like sleeping on tile floors, to sleeping in rooms with the thermostat on hell. Like that moment whenever everyone really wondered were we going to have cold showers for the whole trip. Or that moment when our search for dinner led us to the front of the Austin airport and at least half of us were down to try and go eat at this place inside the airport. The many Miracle jokes of underground tunnels and outdated contemporary church signs that ensued promptly upon arrival on Tuesday to our new place of residence. Or the many rounds of act it out on Heads Up, where most of us got more into it than we should have. Getting so close with the Habitat worker, who was our age, that he came to the church where we stayed and ate dinner with us. It's so many funny moments and inside jokes that I could go for days. So to...
Ryan, the laid back site leader that was willing to talk to anybody about any aspect of life and genuinely be interested in every conversation.
Sam, the site leader who knew everybody on the planet, that could keep my head calm by just being there to talk when people were going crazy.
Haley who had a great personality, was always down to hoop, and provided great laughs to everybody at the expense of her crazy cousins facebook fight.
Hannah who was always smiling, never had a negative comment about anything, and the person who was constantly the first one sleep after community service each day.
Kelsey who was always so full of energy, had a smile that light up a whole room, and non stop funny comments.
Isaac, the only other guy on the trip who wasn't a site leader and possibly the funniest person on the trip, always kept us laughing smart remarks to every situation.
Taylor, who was always laughing, making jokes, or telling a embarrassing story.
Emily who was always smiling, full of energy, and kept the group "Starbin".
Meg being the almost the mom of the group, even though she was the youngest, she was always making sure everybody was good and seeing if we needed anything done during service.
Katie, the best copilot i could ask for, keeping me entertained with stories of her botched 21st birthday celebration and trip to Memphis.
Caroline who was singing every song on the way home an entertaining us with stories of her ex boyfriend problems that were more than anyone could probably imagine.
I wouldn't have rather spent this week with any other 11 people. I think it's safe to say I made 11 new friends this past week. Thank you guys for the memories, the adventures, and laughs. I love you guys...
http://mizzoualternativebreak.blogspot.com/
- Donovan Charleston
While trying to reflect on the week I just had, and share something meaningful with the people reading this blog, I realized there is nothing I can say that will allow anyone who was not on this trip to fully grasp the experience we just had. In a sense though, that's the beauty of MAB. The experience is so one of a kind, that even when talking with people from other trips, the only word I can ever come up with is amazing. And that's exactly what it was.
This past week as a site leader, I was constantly challenged, entertained, and humbled by the people I was with and the people we served. The work itself was incredibly rewarding, and although it may not have always seemed like it, we were having a positive impact. Whether it was the grateful recipients we served at the food bank, or the unknown tenants who will live the next 20 years on the floors we laid, I realize now that we were making a difference. More rewarding was watching the group grow over the course of the week. Everyone fully embraced this experience and was willing to step outside of their comfort zone and try new things. We also grew together. By the end of the week instead of being 12 strangers trying to find any common ground to talk about, we had more inside jokes than I could even count. I couldn't have asked for a better group to share this experience with.
So to Sam for leading this trip with me and being way more popular than any of us can ever hope to be, Donovan for covering the deep topics with me, Katie for being so easy to talk too, Emily for just always talking, Hannah for always staying positive, Meg for that weird excited jump thing you kept doing, Kelsey for having a sarcastic comment to anything I said, Isaac for always keeping us laughing, Hayley for sharing her crazy family with us, Caroline for pushing T Swift on all of us, and Taylor for introducing us to that gypsy lifestyle, thank you. This trip was more amazing than I could have imagined and that is solely because of all of you. Love y'all.
- Ryan
January 9th finally rolled around. On one hand it seemed like Ryan and I met each other years ago and had been planning the trip for as long as we had been in college (that would be a little bit longer for him compared to me), but on the other hand it just kind of snuck up at the end of winter break. I was pretty nervous once it dawned on me that it was the final hours. While I was ready and had a plan, there was a large element of "go with the flow" to our itinerary because that's just how Ryan and I both operate, and with that in mind there are definitely risks that go along with that mentality. I was nervous because it was most everyone's first time on an alternative break trip, and I wanted it to be an amazing experience for everyone. I was nervous that for whatever reason, things would go terribly wrong and obviously that would be at least partially my fault. I was nervous to be viewed as leader and not just along for the ride. However, I tried to swallow all those little doubts and remain confident, I told myself that everyone in our group was there for a reason, and once we get on the road everything will just happen naturally. We planned to leave Columbia at 1:00 in the afternoon that first day, and we ended up getting on the road just before 2:00. This would prove to be a theme for us throughout the course of the week. Apparently, according to everyone else, we were pretty dang awkward around each other the first few hours in the vans. We were pretty awkward around each other that night at Meg's house in Plano. We were probably pretty awkward the entire way to San Antonio. The rest is history.
First, I'll share some of my highlights from the week as a site leader.
Our first day of service took place at the San Antonio Food Bank because Habitat was closed on Mondays. We were slated to work in the kitchen in the morning for the "kid's café" program. When we first arrived at the SAFB we were split up into two groups of six because they didn't have enough room in the kitchen for all 12 of us. My group took to the kitchen and that was the first time that I really felt pride as a site leader. Everybody in our group signed up to work with Habitat for Humanity, not to work in a kitchen. I watched Hannah, Katie, Kelsey, Caroline, and Haley all go straight to work and do whatever was asked of them for the next three hours. We got so much done, and it was awesome seeing everybody work hard, and seeing the workers at the food bank and the chefs in the kitchen appreciate what we were able to get done. On a typical day like that, we were told they normally prepare 60-70 pounds of spaghetti for 15 different afterschool programs. That day we prepared 140 pounds of spaghetti. Everybody had various foods spilled on them, from peach juice to spaghetti sauce. Everybody had on hairnets. Everybody did everything asked of them with a smile on their face. Nobody complained once.
That evening we worked at "Haven for Hope". This is a program that aids individuals and families dealing with homelessness. In some cases it is simply a hot meal and warm place to sleep, but for others it is more of a program that helps them deal with the causes of homelessness, such as addictions to drugs or alcohol. Not only did we get to help prepare the night's meal and lunches for the next day, we got to serve it. We served 500+ individuals and families, many with toddlers and young children. I knew this was going to be a big test for our group. I really struggle with seeing things like that. It is very difficult for me to see people that you know are going through things you can't really imagine when you have it so good. I was interested to see how the rest of our group would handle it. If serving a meal to 500+ people dealing with homelessness on a Habitat for Humanity MAB trip was a curveball, this group of people knocked it out of the park. I can't tell you how much it meant to me that everyone in our group was so outgoing, polite, and cordial with every single person that went through the line that night. I was at the end of the line and around me were Donovan, Meg, Kelsey, and Isaac. You can bet nobody got to the end of the line without Donovan asking them how they were, or telling them to have a great night. Meg and Kelsey were replacing the parts of the meal that would run out, whether it was food or drinks or utensils, and they didn't stop moving the entire time. Isaac was carrying people's trays all night, as many of the people would be in wheelchairs or using a walker. It was just so cool to see, especially as a site leader. Some of these people were old enough to be our parents or even grandparents, and seeing the gratefulness in their eyes for what we were doing was so humbling. I know that everyone in our group was pretty full of emotions and thoughts during those couple hours, and I couldn't have been more proud of the way everyone handled it.
Tuesday through Friday we worked at Habitat for Humanity in San Antonio. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at one rehab house, Thursday was spent at another, and Friday was spent at new site where multiple new homes were being built at the same time. For the most part, Tuesday-Thursday was spent doing the same thing: Tiling. There was more to it, like scraping and cleaning the original floor before laying tiles down, and after finishing tiling the floor at the second house we caulked around the floor and painted baseboard. So much tiling, so much sweeping and mopping, so much scraping, and so much frustration. It's safe to say everybody got extremely frustrated while tiling. I know I did. But everybody handled it so well. During those three days there were many things that I was proud of the group for. First of all, everyone worked very hard. Regardless of what everyone was told to do, regardless of how badly they might not want to scrape more, they did what needed to be done. Everybody had a true servant's heart and did what they were told. Everybody persevered when they were frustrated, and even if we broke as many tiles as there are tunnels under David Miracle's house, eventually we got every last piece to fit. I was also really proud of the way that everyone included David and went out of their way to get to know him. The fact that he came to the church we were staying at just to hang out and eat breakfast for dinner with us is a testament to everyone in our group, or maybe just a testament to how much David likes pancakes, but I'm going to stick with the first one. So yeah, I know I'm starting to ramble all over the place, but during those three days I was very proud of how much we got done, how everyone communicated love, was Gumby, and how we really started to come together as a group.
Friday at Habitat our duties changed completely. We were working in new houses that had just been framed up, and we were putting the finishing touches on the frames so that the houses could pass inspection and drywall and everything else could begin. At this point, we were professional tile layers, and we were out of our element. Power tools? All we knew was tiles, heat guns, and glue. So I would say I was proud of everyone for diving in and doing what they were told, even if they didn't know exactly what they were doing. It's safe to say everyone was intimidated that day, if not by scope of the work, then by the group of Cadet Kelly's working alongside us (you know who you are). I was proud of our group for not letting that hinder our progress, and in fact, I think it pushed some of us. I think everybody used the saw that day and other power tools that they previously had no experience with, and if not then they probably put more nails into wood than in their previous 20ish years of life. It was just awesome as a site leader to see everyone working so hard even if they were out of their comfort zone. Shout out to Kelsey, watching her take the angle grinder and cut a hole in the house in order to put a vent in was one of my proudest moments from the week. Even if not everyone got to cut a hole in a house that day, I think everyone had a similar moment.
Another big highlight from my week was the last night we spent together in the church. Everybody was beaten down and sleep deprived, yet we all stayed up until 2 a.m. just talking. As a site leader I thought our group got along very well all week, but that night, seeing everyone genuinely more interested in spending time with each other than catching up sleep, was so awesome. We talked about a wide variety of things, but it was a time when people were able to open up and share some more personal things about themselves. Just the fact that everyone was comfortable with each other now, compared to how awkward everyone felt just a couple short months ago, was incredible to me.
Wow, what a week. In a way it felt like we had been with each other for a month, but at the same time like we had just met that day. I was honestly pretty nervous about the trip going in, just wanting everyone to have an amazing week, and after talking to all of our participants it sounds like they were nervous going in too. Looking back though, I should not have been nervous. Mizzou Alternative Breaks does a great job of bringing some of the best people you'll ever meet together. As a site leader, watching the group grow from 12 awkward individuals to a tight knit goon squad was seriously one of the best experiences of my life. And I didn't even have to work at it; all I had to do was work hard during the day, drive the van to the airport and beyond, and laugh it up at night. Big thanks to MAB for putting these 11 other people in my life. Not to mention David, Joe, Steve(s), Jonathan, Mr. Hamilton, the gorgeous girl at habitat on Friday who I probably should have asked for her number, good ol' Dr. Miracle, trident man, and all the other awesome people we met along the way. Passionate people make the world go around. To Ryan and my 10 participants, thanks for making my first site-leader experience so incredible. I hope everyone felt challenged during the past week, learned something about yourself, and the world around you, and had close to as much fun as I had. My last challenge to you is just to bring it home, and think about changing the world in even the smallest of ways every day.
- Sam Triplett
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