Living in the freezing cold of Purdue's weather, lying on a beach and relaxing would be a nice break from slipping on ice while attempting to walk to class. But so would be going out into the world and sharing love with those who need it, providing them with a helping hand, kindness, and joy.

This Spring Break, I among 110 other students form Purdue, will travel to Oklahoma, the panhandle of Florida, the Mississippi Delta, Tennessee, or New Orleans to participate in a week-long Spring Break mission experience through service. While staying at these different sites, we will spend our days working with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps to build or renovate houses in partnership with those in need of housing. During our time in these locations, we will be immersing ourselves in the culture of the poorest of the poor.

Even more than a service retreat, this will act as an eye-opening educational experience where we can learn about the demographics, culture, and history of the poorest places in America. Through this experience, we will be able to learn and then apply what we have learned to our lives back in Indiana. Being blessed with an incredible school like Purdue to live at and attend, it is so important turn around and bestow the blessings we have been given upon those who need it the most.

Having been on a service trip before, I can tell you, these trips are life-changing. They bring groups of people from all different backgrounds, opinions, and lives together. It expands your perspective. Mission trips challenge students’ perceptions of the world, opening them to new things. Immersed in a new area, you can share your experiences with the people you come across, and learn from them.

And while we may comeback more tired than we left, our spirits and minds will be wide awake, aware of the suffering in the world and the help that is needed to fix it. It is a gift to be able to serve those in need.