For the past three years, I have had the pleasure of being a part of an organization that partners with Habitat for Humanity and takes part in alternative spring break service trips. Early on in my freshman year, I made a deal with myself that I would join one new club or organization each year, so I stayed involved on campus and kept pushing myself to try new things. When looking for a new club to join my sophomore year, a friend of mine pushed me to be a part of Honors Across State Borders (better known as HASB), a decision that to this day I have never regretted. Being a part of this organization with roots so deep in service and helping the community around us has truly broadened my views on the change that is possible, with even just a little help from a group of individuals. I am very grateful for the experiences and memories HASB has given me and will miss it when I graduate this year from the University of Connecticut.
The Conversation
I think the key aspect of HASB that differentiates it from other service organizations is the emphasis it has on conversation. The entire year leading up to the trip in mid-March is packed with conversation on the societal problems that we, as an organization, will be trying to address while in the community we are entering. From topics of housing inequality to food insecurity to gentrification, we not only learn about what these issues are, but we also learn about the factors that have contributed to these issues and methods that have already been implemented to alleviate some of the stress these issues have had on the community. When I first joined this organization as a sophomore, I honestly was scared of sharing my ideas and my thoughts on these topics. I definitely was not nearly as informed about these kinds of issues as it seemed like the other members were, and I was worried I would say something wrong during our small and large group discussions. But in the past three years, I have learned that contributing to the conversation is truly what makes it so much more special. Hearing from so many different people on a topic that I thought I knew a lot about made me realize that there is so much more to learn and so many new perspectives to take in.
While on the trip, these conversations become even more impactful since we are able to make connections between the topics we have talked in depth about, and the stories and tales we hear from the Habitat volunteers who have worked for years in the local area. Making these connections has really enriched my college experience and spring break in the past, and I would not change it for the world.
The Community
Community is a huge part of what made my spring breaks so special. When I say community, I not only mean the community of 52 UConn students also going on the trip but also the community of people we work with on each site we go to. Every volunteer or contractor we meet has a story to tell, whether it be about how their local area has changed since they were growing up, or even about how and why they started working with an organization like Habitat. On the trip this year, we talked with Jason, the president of Union Mission Missionaries, an organization focused on helping community members by offering a men’s shelter, an addiction recovery program, and a thrift store (to name a few). Jason told us how he has seen his community change drastically due to drug use issues that plague Charleston. Tiny, the six-foot construction worker at the Habitat site told us about how every house in the neighborhood we were working in was made by Habitat and has housed a large part of the homeless population in the area. Each of these workers, from this year to years past, has had their own story to tell and wants us to learn and be aware of their own community and the changes it has been through.
Alongside the community of people we meet each year on the trip, we form our own community among the 52 students who come on the trip. Between long nights of playing Mafia, card games, writing notes to one another, and making our paper plate awards, there is never a dull moment nor a moment that fails to build the HASB community that is ever so present. In my sophomore year, the friend who first introduced me to the club said that after the trip, it feels like you have gained 52 new friends. When she said this, I remember looking around the room during one of the meetings and thinking to myself that there were so many people I did not know; there was no way I would know everyone by the end of the week. But honestly, I was wrong. The community that is created by just being immersed in the weeklong experience really helped me find a home away from home, and I will forever be grateful for the conversations and experiences I have had with my fellow HASB members.
As I reflect on my four years at UConn, I feel grateful for every experience and opportunity I have had the pleasure to be a part of. But HASB, and this alternative spring break experience, really stick out amongst the others. I not only learned so much about communities in the United States (Charleston, WV; Roanoke, VA; and Hagerstown, MD; to name a few), but I also learned so much about myself. I learned about the privilege I have grown up with and how others may have not had similar experiences and opportunities that I have been lucky enough to have. I reflected on how things such as green space and having food on the table are simple commodities that I should appreciate more often and not take for granted as much as I usually do. These trips really made me reflect and think about my own life from a new perspective, and I am glad that I had the opportunity to be a part of the HASB family that I know will be there with me for all my future adventures.
