Spring break, the most iconic part of college, going to Myrtle Beach in a packed van with your besties, staying in a motel for a week, and laying on a beach chair every day on the beach not thinking at all about wait awaits for you at school. It's your time to let go and personally, I look forward to it more and more. It is a epic time, however, I challenge you to change it up big time for next year. Go on a service trip. That's right! Sacrifice your break to let yourself go in a completely new level. I spent the last week working for an organization called L'Arche in Mexico City. This incredible organization houses adults with Intellectual Disabilities and helps them to integrate into their community, giving them houses, work, a friendships that last forever. During this "break", I used my talents in social justice, while also receiving my own little version of Eat Pray Love. May it be in building homes in Detroit, helping teach English in Thailand, helping a village affected by an earthquake in Haiti, or working just across your street building a garden for the Old Folks home, here are just a few reasons why working on a service trip will outshine that trip to Myrtle any day.

You can find your passions:

Finding a service trip is similar-ish to finding a wedding dress, you'll know it's the one you want when you find it. Search for something that tugs your heart string, something that you find interest in. Once you travel to this place, you'll learn more than you'd ever could from learning about it in a lecture for a hour and a half. I knew I always had an interest for working with people with mental differences, through this trip, I gained knowledge I'll never lose. You learn first hand what the issues are in the field, and what you can do to help, both there and back at home. After this trip I expect to keep volunteering for this organization, because now I know it is a passion of mine.

You learn to live in the moment:

Stay with me here, it's about to get philosophical really fast. We as people always worry about the future, wondering what is about to come and how we are going to plan it. On a service trip, it is impossible to do that, and you'll learn that that is how you should never think. During this experience, I had to always to live in the now, focusing on what the problem is right now, and how it can be solved at this moment and not the future. I learned there is no point in worrying about the future, it hasn't happened yet and I cannot control it. However, you can change your present, which then will change your future. Yeah I know, brain overload but when you actually experience it it is a valuable lifestyle chance that will change you for the better. You can use this for anything. Instead of panicking about that exam next week, think instead "What can I do right now to fix this problem and to not be afraid? Oh! I should study?" It sounds stupid while reading, but we never realize how badly we worry about the future. When you practice this in a service trip, you'll soon become an expert at living in the moment.

You leave your comfort zone:

There were a lot of foods, accommodations, and activities that I never expected to be apart of before this trip, and they all made me a braver and smarter person in some capacity. Let's dissect a couple of examples so we can have a clearer sense of what I am saying. One of the communities moved into a new house for a better neighborhood, while we were there, we visited the old house to renovate it for selling material. Since leaving the house, it became extremely dirty, and we spent A LOT of time cleaning it. I was the lucky one who received the fantastic duty to clean all of the cobwebs. Despite my giant fear of spiders, I did it because it needed to be done. If I ever had to do it again, now I know my fear won't be as bad. One day, we had to visit a small university to explain about L'Arche, in Spanish, por supuesto. I spoke in Spanish to a whole group of students, after this, and speaking Spanish non stop for a whole week, a lost my fear of making mistakes. Leaving your comfort zone can be something as simple as eating an organge with hotsauce on it because you didn't want to offend the adorable short, old lady who gave it to you. I hated oranges before, now I love them! Especially with hot sauce! In my opinion, you can't get experiences like that while sitting at a pool for a whole week. No offense.

Relationships that will teach you so much:

"It's a very ancient saying, but a true and honest thought. That if you become a teacher, by your pupils, you'll be taught"- The King and I

This affected me more than anything. Usually during these experiences, you'll have a group who will come with you. After coming home, I gained knowledge from them that I will cherish forever. But, who I learned the most from, was from the people who I "served". Because in reality, they served me with their knowledge. I'll give you an example. For privacy, let's call him Martin.

Martin was a man who I worked with in Mexico. He was mute and physically disabled, having trouble moving certain parts of his body. People often think it's cliché to say "It's what matters on the inside" But through him I learned what that truly means.

Martin and I clicked automatically, first because we were both wearing Ray Bans, then I later learned he too is obsessed with his hair, and three, I was EXTREMELY jealous of his sense of style! So basically, I became his hype man for the day. We hung out all day, drawing, eating together and getting to know each other more and more. Keep in mind, he couldn't speak, and that never once mattered to me. I didn't see him as a disabled person, I saw him as a friend, a charming, hilarious guy who just loved life. I learned through him that nothing can break a friendship, not your disabilities, differences, age, nada. We're all humans. Leaving him behind was a hard thing for me. Thanks Martin, you're amazing. This is just one about of the hundreds of things that I learned from others within that week, I sunk those lessons in from them, and they turned me into a better person.

After returning from a service trip, I guarantee it will be difficult to not do another in the future, because you give and receive so much. This were just a few things I learned after this trip, I could seriously write a book with the lessons I received. So before booking that ticket to Boca Raton, try to take up this challenge, the possibilities you'll receive are completely endless!

If you're interested about L'Arche, please go to their website http://www.larche.org/ to learn more!