At the University of Dayton, upholding the Marianist tradition of community engagement and service is encouraged throughout student and faculty life, and is evident through the numerous activities and trips Campus Ministry has to offer. After seeing information on various Winter Domestic Breakout trips and questioning what I would do with my entire month of Christmas break, I signed up for the St. Louis service trip.

A week before classes began, I climbed into a giant UD van with four strangers and a sense of uncertainty for what the following week would hold. I knew I was in for some surprises. The five of us drove five hours to the St. Louis region, specifically East St. Louis, and it was there I was hit by my first realization.

I, like many people, had heard of East St. Louis but hadn't realized it was a completely different city, isolated from St. Louis by the Mississippi River. As our group of UD ladies settled into the Hubbard House, a specific shelter for volunteers to stay in while serving, we learned the harsh reality behind why we would be volunteering in East St. Louis.

What was once an All-American city flourishing with jobs, businesses and popularity is now a poverty-stricken town infamous for its shocking statistics and crime rates. In the mid-1900s, racially driven migration or the "White-Flight" hit East St. Louis, leaving behind a town struggling to compete with the businesses and growth of surrounding cities becoming increasingly racially segregated.

Now I could rattle off statistics and unfortunate stories that encourage the negative reputation East St. Louis may now have, but those realities are not as impactful as what I experienced there.

After working with Catholic Urban Programs and other organizations, I had the privilege of meeting men, women, and children who were welcoming and loving to me, a perfect stranger. We played Candyland with kids in an after-school program, shared a meal with women and children before playing an intense game of Bingo, and helped people find the perfect coat or pair of pants in a newly renovated thrift store.

While it is hard to ignore the reality that two in three kids do not feel safe in their neighborhood, or that 75% of children are raised by single moms, or even that more than one in three individuals experience depression, it is harder to ignore the generosity of the community and volunteers we met.

Each morning we woke up and got straight to work in whatever service site needed us most that day. From stocking shelves in a food pantry to organizing donated Christmas gifts, the four girls who were once strangers to me in a UD van became my friends as we served in solidarity with the citizens of East St. Louis.

There were times I wondered if we were genuinely making an impact on the men and women who live and work here full time. However, the wonderful volunteers and residents gave us guidance and instructions to progress the existing work benefitting the East St. Louis community. Our group from UD had time to reflect each night on what we were seeing and feeling, and we agreed that these people we were meeting were more than a statistic.

These were kids that loved to draw, play games and tease us. These were men and women who worked to provide for their family, generously welcomed us into their community, and made us laugh with random stories. These were loving church ladies that helped us understand what genuine faith was while singing "Silver and Gold" over a delicious meal.

While I don't know when I will be returning to East St. Louis, I know that I will always be welcome. I highly recommend stepping out of your comfort zone and signing up for a service trip. If you do, I hope you can meet people that will inspire you the way the people of East St. Louis inspired me.