Sunday, February 6th, 2011...8:23 pm
asb
so i’m pretty sure that i have written about this year’s asb (alternative spring break) before, but just as a refresher i am one of the leaders of the trip to georgia this year! yay! we are going to athens, georgia to work on a housing complex. suffolk’s process (compared to the few other college programs that i know) is pretty in depth. there’s an application and an interview and then the leaders have to select people to go on each trip.
last year i was just a participant. there were four trips and i was chosen to go to meridian, mississippi. the trip was a life changing experience for me, so i decided to apply to be a trip leader. i am really glad that i decided to apply (i was on the fence for awhile) because i have already gotten a lot out of it. yes, it’s been quite a bit of work. organizing and preparing yourself to lead a bunch of students just like yourself is difficult, but we have already had two full meetings and i think it’s going to be an amazing trip.
this year there are eight trips going all over the country (yup, we doubled the number of trips in one year!), and i have heard from everyone that they are super excited as well. my roommate is also a trip leader and i got to sit in on her group meeting the other day. since my trip is working with habitat for humanity and hers is going to virginia to work on environmental issues, the focus of our group meetings is different. i was really glad i had the extra time to stand in and watch the dynamics of her group. it was so interesting because the way our groups interacted was so distinct. i can’t really give you bullet points about the differences, but i think it was just the feeling of the group that made me notice. it’s fascinating to watch who takes more of a vocal role in group activities and what personalities become more pronounced in group settings. we’ve just started to do activities and icebreakers that are going to test some students’ limits since they are all going to deal with sensitive issues. we emphasize the need for respect and acceptance before every meeting, but i am a little afraid that someone will get offended. it’s better, though, to get the issues out of the way now before we get to georgia!