Ventured into Panama City, FL
Planted hundreds of plants to stop erosion
Planted said hundreds of plants on a "secret" naval base
Laughed so hard with sand in my teeth
And been so proud to be a part of such an amazing group.
Friends and family of ASBFlorida:
To start this blog post out, I must apologize, it will be cheesy, (hopefully) funny and sentimental, but honestly, it's the way I have felt all week around our tight knit, 12-person group. With graduation approaching in nearly six weeks, I wish I could stop time (like Zach Morris) and simply stay here with no concept of time and endless opportunity to help the people of Northern Florida.
To begin, yesterday morning, we hit the road for Panama City Beach, Florida - commonly know as PCB. Even at age 22, I know that give my own mother a mild heart palpitation; we're on Alternative Spring Break, so why did we adventure to the epicenter of college spring break? After much driving and a Starbucks trip that perked ASBFlo up significantly, we arrived at the shoreline restoration project to plant sea grass on the oceanfront. After four days of forestry work, it was refreshing to dip our feet into the water and plant 1000+ grasses into the beach.
Zach, our friendly leader from a local environmental group, was young and understood our youth (and incessant turkey calls to each other – just wait for us to return to the Midwest . . . you'll hear it from far away!). Initially, I thought this task would be strenuous and boring. Planting grasses all day? Alas, my own worries were quickly proven wrong. You could throw the 12 of us in a room with nothing but each other and we could easily be entertained. From politics to Bryan J's "That Girl," we entertained ourselves with the company of one another.
Unfortunately, we don't have many pictures of the actually location where we planted – we were on a Naval Base, and the US Government restrictions prevented us from taking pictures that would display any buildings of the base :/
As the week has progressed, I have made it my goal to initiate conversation with each and every person on the trip. From a CVS trip for crutches for our new gimp, Cammy Cakes, to dancing and making noises while sitting on the beach, random conversation has ensued. This group is so immensely diverse and deep – Chelsea and Raha, our fearless leaders who I admire greatly; Ryan, who I have been acquainted with for years, but am finally getting to know as a respect and fun-loving man who sparks intelligent conversation; Claire, our freshman who is going to do so much at Mizzou and has made me laugh for hours; Ron, her noises and her spirit that has kept everyone engaged all week; Louie, who is likely the most adventurous out of all us; Ian, who has tricked gullible me so many times; Cammy Cakes, as he has preserved despite a slight injury and engaged in high political debate; Jes, who I should have known sooner, but has become a kindred spirit this week in our senioritis; Tim, our resident model full of endless humor; and Steven, who has surprised me and made me giggle more than I ever thought I could.
I am sentimental and hoping for 11 new visitors in my new town next year. I am excited for our 16-hour ride home – we'll be tired, but in each other's company, it'll be fun.
And maybe I'll finally get my dance party.
-Kate Chizek
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