Last Fall, I decided that sophomore year was the year for me to step out of my comfort zone. I wanted to pick a school activity that none of my other friends were involved in. As a freshman, I had heard of a alternative spring break trip that went to North Carolina and built houses for Habitat for Humanity. In high school, I had always wanted to go on one of these trips, but they stopped offering them to students. I knew that this would be a great opportunity for me to not only meet new Endicott students, but go to a different part of the state, and volunteer.

A few days before Thanksgiving break, I received a letter in my school mailbox stating that I was picked to go on the Habitat trip traveling to Pittsboro, North Carolina. I was ecstatic, and the news couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Although, the trip was a few months away, I knew this trip was just what I needed, and I was excited to have been given this opportunity.

Finally Spring Break arrived and it was time for my group to head off! With over 20 students from Endicott attending the trip, I knew a couple of the people, while there were many students I had met for the first time. I was looking forward to getting to know such a diverse group of people.

During the week, we did a mix of fun activities as a group, such as going to the North Carolina Zoo, bowling and going to an amusement park. The other four days were dedicated to working on the houses assigned to us. As a group, we helped work on over four houses throughout the week.

After each work day, we came back together as a group to reflect on our days. I loved listening to the various jobs everyone got to do on their work sites. Some people even got to work with the families they were helping to build for. Although we all couldn't work on the same houses together, I loved the fact that we were able to help out more than one family with their house, rather than just one house.

One of the most rewarding parts of my week was on Thursday when the group that I was working with finished putting down laminate flooring in one of the bedroom. It was our project that we had began on the first day of the site, and even after overcoming some struggles, it was an accomplishment when we finally finished.

This experience was honestly my favorite part of my time at Endicott so far. I grew very close with the people on the trip, and our friendships carried over after we got back to school. I also gained a new love for Habitat as an organization, and can't wait to do more work with them. After almost a year of going to North Carolina, I can't thank not only my Endicott friends on the trip, by the Pittsboro Habitat team for hosting us and all that you do as an organization.

Check out my video that I made from our trip to North Carolina!