“What did you do over break?” “I went on Appa, it was AWESOME!”
This week, you’ve probably heard this exact conversation happen at least once (and definitely have if you’ve spoken to me). But what is it about Appa that makes it so great? Why is it that so many BC students opt out of tropical vacations with friends, or the opportunity to go home and see their families in order to go on a weeklong service trip with a group of total strangers?
Last year, I went on Appa as a freshman looking to make friends, and wound up having the best week of my freshman year. In Weirwood, VA I learned more about myself than I ever could have in any classroom at BC, and it’s truly amazing how doing service brings a group of people together.
This year, as a sophomore, I decided to sign up again—not so much with the intention of making friends, but to have just as great of an experience as I had the year before. My week in Morgantown, WV was filled with surprises (including a snow day … guess my attempt to escape the Boston weather was futile). By the end of the week, the 13 total strangers that I had gotten onto a coach bus with the prior Saturday had become some of my newest, closest friends. The craziest part of the relationships formed on Appa is that I otherwise may have never met the people I was with, but now can’t imagine not knowing them.Next year, I will be going abroad in the spring and though I am super excited, one of the things I will miss most about spring at BC is going on Appa. Appa is not just an opportunity to do something great for others during your spring break, but also an opportunity to form amazing relationships with fellow BC students. So even though I’m super jealous of my friends coming back tan, I wouldn’t trade my week in West Virginia for anything.