Looking Back

Post-Trip Blog Post

What a week! Can you guys believe all that we have accomplished? This spring break was filled with heartwarming service projects, amazing bonding time, and profound reflection. To start out with, I just want to say how blessed we all are to have been part of such an amazing group of girls. All of our distinct personalities and backgrounds truly made this trip special. Not only were we able to work really well together, but there was an overall mutual respect towards one another and for that I am truly grateful. I appreciated the fact that all of us were able to talk to each other about anything, laugh about anything, and just be there for each other for support. I hate to be corny, but each of you and this whole spring break experience holds a special place in my heart.

Something that we were able to discuss throughout our trip was the fact that all of our service projects were connected in a very meaningful way. I think that doing the “Sam is obese because…” exercise in the beginning of the trip was really crucial to our understanding of all our service projects and child health care as a whole. Everything from Florence Crittenton to CASA, all of our service projects connected into one. Whether it was organizing, cleaning, playing with kids, preparing jeopardy games, or listening to presentations on organizations, we were able to get a multifaceted look into all that encompasses child health care. We truly learned on this trip that there is no one, specific answer to solving the issues regarding child health care. Family structure, job security, food deserts, mental health, socioeconomic status, religion, culture norms, and other aspects must be addressed when discussing child health care. The leaders of the organizations that we worked with provided a bounty of knowledge that we all can use in the future. We had such an amazing opportunity to engage in service with people who truly want to change the lives of children and families in need. What an inspiration it was to work with such hardworking, creative, driven, and special people! Even the many children that we got to spend quality time with made a huge impact on our perspectives on childhood health. I know that the many different people we interacted with this past week inspired everyone. This trip really taught us to dig deeper and look closer into the social problems that we face on a daily basis.

Once again, I want to thank our amazing trip leaders, Linda and Amee for their outstanding energy and hard work to make this trip the most positive experience for us all. Surely we do not take for granted the multitude of amazing things that they have provided for us on our trip. Everything from planning our projects and lodging to creating our hilarious superlatives on the last night, Linda and Amee truly are the best trip leaders ever. Furthermore, throughout the trip, Meredith has been praised for the many things that she has done for us. “Superwoman” is clearly the best way to describe Meredith’s hard work in making this trip successful. The fact that she drove us literally everywhere, helped with dinner, provided wisdom and support, answered many life questions, and was just an enthusiastic presence in our lives on this trip, made this trip memorable for us all. Truly there is no way to ever repay Meredith, Amee, and Linda for everything that they have done to make our 2013 Spring Break the best it could be. I can speak for all of us trip members when I say that from the bottom of our hearts, we are thankful for such amazing trip leaders. Even though spring break is over, I see this time as the beginning of a beautiful, collective friendship that will continue to flourish for years to come.

Love you all,

Mariah Dillard