n March 11, 2017 I flew to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to spend my Spring Break repairing homes damaged by the historic flood (perhaps link to an article about the flood?) from August 2016. From the time I arrived in Baton Rouge on March 11 to the time I left Camp Restore on March 18, I had spent 160 hours wondering what I would be doing next to help someone. Whether that be through the people I met, through learning a new skill, or through hearing a new story, I was wondering every moment what would come next.

I traveled to Baton Rouge with my school’s Alternative Break Program Mission: I'm Home. I have a passion for helping people, so I was told this trip would be perfect for me. This was my first trip, but it had been founded nineyears ago. Because it was my first time with Mission: I'm Home, I had no idea what to expect. I had heard amazing things about this trip and the people that go on it, but I had never experienced it myself.

If I had one word to describe this trip, I would say passion. Passion from the site supervisors of SBP. Passion from the students, alumnus, and staff of Stevenson university. Passion in the eyes and hearts of everyone I came across. I found passion when we were working on the homes and some of the group members did not want to break for lunch so they could get just a few more tiles laid down. I found passion when our site supervisor spoke about her journeys through life and how she ended up in Louisiana. I found passion sitting by the camp fire after our work day listening to my peers talk about the non-profits they would start if they could. I found passion in myself each and every day seeing the impact I made on those around me.

As I stated earlier, this trip totaled 160 hours and each hour was filled the most intense forms of passion I have ever seen.

Hour 1 was filled with passionate anticipation. I was running on three hours of sleep and had to leave around 4:30am to make it to my flight on time. As exhausted as I was, I had a smile on my face the whole time for excitement of the week that was about to occur.

Hours 9 through 20 were filled with meeting the people I would be surrounded by for the next week. I heard stories of past trips and began to understand why people came back so often.

Hours 28 through 41 were traveling the city of Baton Rouge. We saw the Mississippi River and toured the state capital. The views were amazing. We went to a small flea market outside of a local restaurant and had the opportunity to speak with people who were in Baton Rouge at the time of the flood. I bought a ring from a local jeweler. She was passionate about the jewelry she created and the impact that it had on others. Her sign on the table said "Wear the piece that brings you joy."

Hours 52 through 62 involved waking up with everyone and our first day of volunteering. Everyone was so excited to get going and begin the work. We arrived at SBP's warehouse in Baton Rouge around 7:45am where someone greeted us and made us feel welcomed. Our group, as well as a few other volunteer groups from a handful of other colleges, were instructed of the rules of working on site and were told of the flooding that happened and the reason we were there. We then split off into our groups and began our first journey to our site. My group met our site supervisor from SBP and I could immediately feel the positivity radiating from her. I could tell she was happy to be there and happy we were there with her.

Hours 63 through 70 consisted of showers, dinner, and a reflection of our first day of work.

All throughout this week I could constantly see the passion running through each and every person I came across.

The last day.

Hours 139 through 159. 7:00am-3:30am. This was my longest day. My group decided to arrive to the site early since we had an hour and a half less to work that afternoon because our site supervisor had to go to a meeting. From the moment we arrived on site to the moment we left, we gave it our all. We pushed through the long hot day to finish as much as we could by doing the best quality of work that was possible by non-professionals. We finished this work day with pride in our hearts seeing how much we accomplished in only 5 days. The owner of the house had come by every day to see us and he said "Wow this is amazing!" every time he saw the progress we were making. Not only did we help fix up his house, but we were able to see his expressions and reactions of gratefulness.

The day continued with a crawfish boil with our whole group, all of the site supervisors, and the homeowners of the homes we worked on through the week. The night went on with a bonfire and superlatives given to each member of the group. Once that concluded, one of our student leaders initiated a fireside chat. Her question for everyone was, "What is one piece of advice you have and when did you learn it?" There were so many amazing pieces of advice my peers shared with me that night. I think my favorite was, "It all comes with time." The person who gave this advice spoke before of the challenges he’s faced in his life. Knowing what he’s been through made that advice so much more powerful to me. I'm not sure of what time it was at this point, but after the fire, everyone went inside. Everyone slowly began saying goodnight and heading to bed except for a few of us. By around 1:30am there were only 2 of us left and we stayed up talking until 3:00am. We spoke of major aspects of life including our futures, our families, and our goals. Before this trip, I had only spoken with this person briefly at work or saying “Hi” through the halls on campus. It still amazes me how in just a few short days, I created everlasting bonds and relationships with so many individuals.

The final Hour

4:30am. Saturday March 18. Hour 160 I was woken up saying "We're leaving in 5 minutes you better get up!" I shot out of bed knowing this was going to be my final moments at Camp Restore in Baton Rouge. When I walked out of the bedroom, there was a member of our group giving hugs to everyone saying goodbye. He didn't have to be awake for a few more hours, but he made sure he was up to say goodbye to us. Even during this final hour, I could still see such passion in everyone. Yes, we were leaving this area, but we were all able to take a piece of this experience and bring it with us wherever we go. If there is one thing I learned in this week, it is that we will share our passion of helping others with anyone and everyone we come across. We have a passion to make a difference in this world and we will continue with that passion for the rest of our lives.

Shout outs:

Thank you to all of our sponsors that made this trip possible.

Thank you to Camp Restore for feeding us, giving us a place to stay, and making us feel welcome in your town.

Thank you to the amazing workers at SBP. We would not have been able to learn and help without you.

Thank you to Morgan Somerville, Art Fifer, and Romas Laskauskas for making this trip possible from the beginning and every year since.

Thank you to everyone who went on this trip from Stevenson University who made a difference.