“If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.” -- Jim Valvano

We have got something special, being able to spend seven FULL days in the Appalachian region is the experience of a lifetime. You laugh, you think, you cry and in between all of that you paint, you mulch, you build and you love; you love with an open heart. You not only grow to love your group members and leaders, but you grow to love the community and the people and their never ending selflessness. The Appalachian Experience, wow what an experience! Universities across the nation volunteer their services to various regions in the country who may need a helping hand, but the Appalachian Region and Saint Joseph’s University truly stole my heart.

On March 4^th our journey began. Over 500 SJU students, leaders and facilitators piled into the enormous white passenger vans and made our way to Appalachia. The ride was smooth sailing with the occasional pit stops for food, for those who had gotten car sick and for those who had a small bladder. We Blasted country music and sang along with some 9 other strangers who would soon become our best friends. Once arriving at our sites, each group of about 30, began to unpack their flannels and boots and lay out their sleeping bags. Let the games begin, 1 week in a small town working with and sleeping next to people you never met before, sounds terrifying right?

Between pillow talks, van jams, go-pro selfies, Mr. APEX, reflections, hikes, waking up bright and early to watch the sunrise and sharing every meal together, our groups became families with our fearless leaders as our mom and dad. The memories we made, the laughs we shared will be treasured forever. Aside from forming unbreakable bonds with our group members, we formed very special bonds with the communities in which we stayed in as well. Throughout the week various groups painted walls, houses and churches, built ramps and benches, dug ditches, planted, mulched, raked, picked up trash and loved every second of it.

The communities in which we stayed in and the people we encountered gave so much more to us then we could ever give to them. Their gratefulness and caring attitudes along with their pure love for life impacted our lives in ways words cannot explain. The people we met were elated to just share their stories with us and we were more than happy to listen. Through listening to these people’s stories we learned more about the community, individual families and more about ourselves as people. It’s the little things in life that make us take a step back and think about what we are doing with our lives, what is our purpose and how we can improve ourselves. From an outsider’s perspective it is hard to understand how 1 week in the Appalachian region can change your life, but it did. We cherished our time together because we knew that once our week was over, we would never again be all together in this amazing place. We laughed together, we cried together and shared our thoughts with each other, we had 7 Full days together. Shout out to the communities of the Appalachian region for welcoming the SJU students with open arms and open hearts and a huge thank you to my group for giving me 29 new best friends.