There are times to be selfish, and then there are times to give. That is what I chose to do over my spring break, and however cliched it sounds, it was the best decision I have ever made. I decided to go on a Mizzou Alternative Breaks (MAB) trip. After applying, I was selected for my first choice on a Children's Ship. My group and I started our trip Friday afternoon to head toward the Children's Shelter in Texas.
The weekend was spent getting to know one another. A 14-hour car ride is a true bonding experience. Monday is when we started our service. After splitting up into four groups, my group started with the youngest children. Throughout the morning I played with a little girl who was so sweet but this one little boy kept gravitating for me. Something about him stuck out to me. After their lunch and nap time, I came back to the room, and he ran up to me and sat on my lap and asked me to read to him.
At first, it confused me. He was mean on the playground. He pushed a little girl, bit another one, and threw my water bottle over the fence. But now, he loved me. We read four or five books and had amazing conversations, and he would look into my eyes and my heart would melt. I wanted him to come home with me at the second. Maybe I became so attached to him because he looked identical to my little brother when he was a child. Or maybe it was because I wanted to give this sweet little boy the childhood I had. I wanted to make sure that he would have a family who would never abandon him. It killed me that I couldn't.
The next day I was with first to fifth grade. The same thing happened again. A first-grader who was mean to everyone on the playground the night before chose me. The night before he was kicking kids, punching kids, calling people motherfu**ers. But once I was in the class he ran up to and remembered my name from the playground and asked me to learn with him. Instead of doing the assignment, he started to draw a big heart. He told me he was drawing a card for his mom. When he drew a picture of her, he said that it wasn't pretty enough, and he wanted me to draw it for him because she deserved the most beautiful card ever.
Later in the week, I found out that the two boys were brothers. They changed my life. They would randomly get mad at me or ignore me. But other times they would give me the biggest hugs and not let go. They taught me patience and how to value everything that I have. These were only two of the boys. Many of the children told me stories about their case workers or how people took them from their homes or how their parents were in jail. One little girl told me how she can't handle it because something will click in her brain to make her mad or sad, and it takes over her body which causes her to go on the ground and just cry. She claimed she does this because she is "stupid." She also told me that she has to take medicine because she is too crazy.
The things I experienced this week and had to console children with were nothing that I was expecting. I was able to watch the 10 others in my group interact with children. I saw frat boys turn into a father figure when the children needed it. I saw what seemed like a quiet and reserved girl actually be the funniest one of our group with possibly the best personality I have ever met. We met the workers at the facility. We learned why they do what they do. We played with little babies, one of whom had the shakes because he was born addicted to drugs. I learned how to burp a baby and put one to sleep.
Throughout the week, a few bad things happened. I got pooped on by a bird, got sick and completely lost my voice, burned my fingers horribly, ripped my pants, and got locked out of the bedroom for three hours, but all of this taught me to power through. Because, at the end of the day, I could still call my mom and tell her about it all. It gave us all something to laugh about and put some spice into our lives. I loved the opportunity I was given, and I believe every student should go on a MAB trip.
