I went on an alternative Spring Break in Macon, GA

“Mom! I’m going to Macon, GA to work with The Fuller Center! There I get to do manual labor from 8-5 with $1 for breakfast, $2 for lunch, $3 for dinner, I don’t get to use my phone, and I get to sleep on the floor! And it will only cost you $400 to send me there!”…was not exactly what my mom expected when I called her with my thrilling 2K16 Spring Break plans. I secured my spot on the trip back in November with JMU’s Alternative Break Program.

Leading up to the trip I frequently received the question “why are you going on a break instead of the beach with your sorority sisters?” To be quite frank, I wasn’t really sure myself.

The Friday before spring break I found myself sitting there, alone, in my sorority house while all of my sisters left for their islands, wondering what in the world possessed me to think this was the best option.

Day One: The house

Today was the day we were able to see the house, our work site for the remainder of the week! The house surprised me. It was beautiful. It was in a nice neighborhood, which was exciting because most houses the banks roll over to The Fuller Center aren’t in the nicer parts of town. It was a quaint house, with a long driveway and huge tress in the yard on either side. The whole front of the house was windows. There was the kitchen right when you walk into the house on the right side. Then to your left was the great living room, the sunshine room. Down the hallway there were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and then the master bedroom at the end of the hall. Those rooms all needed to be mudded, sanded, primed, trimmed and painted, ceilings included.

The prior family that lived in the house had a few cats – like 15, and the amount of fecal matter around the outside of the house, and the smell within the house was alarming. The garage had rafters that ran along the top, where the cat poop needed to be scrapped and disposed of. And lastly, the front brick wall leading to the houses front door needed demolition.

A bonus of the day was that we were able to meet the family that will be moving into the house when we are finished. They were so kind. They came in and introduced themselves, and wrote us name tags. The pureness they showed in wanting to know our names was refreshing. It reassured me why I was there.

Day Two: Macon Friends Macon Memories

Today we worked with Mercer University students. 20 of them joined us in service. They were hard workers, kind, and funny. With the extra hands, more work then what was expected got done.

While the focus of the ASB program is service, there is also a major focus on personal growth. Each night after our day of service, we held reflections, one of my favorite times of the day. For today’s reflection we shared our ‘personal story.’ This was meant to be a reflection of how past moments in life, lessons learned, struggles faced, have shaped who we are today, to be shared with the rest of our group. What I learned was that you never truly know someone, or what they’ve been through until you get to know that person. And until you get to know that person there is zero room for judgment. Zero. Tears spilled from my eyes as I realized in that moment of sharing, that these individuals on the trip, mere strangers to me three days prior, would be some of the greatest relationships built in my time here at JMU.

Day Three: Blast You!

I cannot complain about one thing from, or on, this trip. The progress of the trip had really started to show. The front room is done, and the master bedroom is almost done. But the best part was the surprise visit we had. In the midst of our workday an elderly man in his Ford truck pulled up to the house. He got out of his car and approached us saying this was his house.

“No sir, I think you’re mistaken” we responded confidently knowing this was not in fact his house. He corrected us. Back during World War II he built this house for him and his two boys. Shocked with utter joy he led us through the house, pointing out memorable places and memories that filled the walls. March 25, he informed us, he’d be turning 95. While talking he paused and said he saw his house on the news this morning of us fixing it up… and that he shed a tear to see what his house looked like today. But he was proud of our work.

That reassurance alone fueled my desire to work hard the remainder of the week.

Day Four: God Moment

Today, while we started off the morning working on the house, we also were given the opportunity to go and tutor a group of girls at an after school program. Driving to tutoring we saw the other side of Macon – the south side. Through the windows we saw almost every house passed boarded up, with broken windows, trash, people loitering on the streets. Businesses were either run down or closed. Before venturing out we were instructed to leave all our valuables back home. Just the day before outside of the tutoring center a Jeep had been stolen.

Rover was the man in charge, the starter of the after school program. He started the program because of the message young boys were being told growing up: they either die or go to jail. Growing up, like most of us probably have, that message took my breath away. It shocked me and broke my heart. But it made me appreciate their effort to help, and my time there so much more. One of the older girls, a freshman, had chosen me to be her tutor. She was a writer. Together we collaborated. I was able to share with her my passions for writing, and through that time she opened up and told me about herself, her passions, her goals for the future, her family, her life. It was truly an incredible moment – one I will never forget.

Day Five: Bittersweet

And just like that, in a blink of an eye, the week had come to an end, our last day of working on the house was upon us. As 5 o’clock rolled around, we all took one last walk through. Our hours of working on the house paid off, while it wasn’t completely finished, the house looked incredible. It was a home. Seeing this filled me with joy for the family who in a mere few weeks would call this their home, for the blooming of love and opportunities for this family. I can’t lie and say it wasn’t sad pulling away from that house.

During reflection that night, our final reflection, we were hit with the question, “when someone asks how you would describe the trip what would you say?” I paused for a moment and thought. And then I realized as much as I love words, I have no words, because no words could justly describe how truly incredible this trip has been to me.

I encourage everyone to go on an Alternative break trip at one point in your JMU experience. Because it is an experience, one that blew away any and every expectation I had going into the trip. I am beyond blessed for each and every relationship, friendship I gained from this trip. Everyone on my trip touched my heart in a different way that I will forever cherish. I’m not even positive they know how important they each mean to me. But that was this week in a nutshell. Every moment. Big or small. Was important. And meant the world to me. I can’t thank the Alternative Break Program, and The Fuller Center for the experience and memories I know hold as my own.