Its 4 o'clock in the morning....

Ok, well, not exactly. Its really about 2am, and it feels like I've been up for days now. You may be wondering why: a. I'm blogging in the middle of the night, and b. I'm doing admissions work on a Saturday night. I'm actually getting ready to embark on the exciting journey that is Alternative Spring Break, which begins at 4:30 this morning when we're whisked away to Logan Airport. Our destination? Waveland, Mississippi. Our mission? We're building a house for a family of Hurricane Katrina victims. While this experience promises to be exciting and full of unforgettable moments with some of Suffolk's finest and most compassionate students, I'm sort of questioning why I applied to go. Don't get me wrong; I'm so pumped for this amazing opportunity, and I'm grateful that I have been given the chance to do something I've always dreamed of doing, but I'm tired. I'm sleepy, and want to do nothing more but curl up in my bed and sleep til noon. But thats just it: I'm tired. I'm not thinking clearly...

The upside to all of this is that I'm going to be arriving in Mississippi around noon instead, and on my way to exploring the city of New Orleans in the afternoon. This trip certainly promises to be an interesting one: 20 Suffolk kids sleeping in a still-unknown location for a week, soaking up the sun and battling the monsterous mosquitos that we've heard so much about.

The real reason why I wanted to go on this trip was to meet new people, from both my school and from a completely different region of the country. We've heard a lot about the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina throughout the past three and a half years, but you can't understand it unless you're there to witness it firsthand. And, that's right; its already been almost four years since Katrina hit, and there is still so much work to be done. Its so incredibly sad to think about, yet so motivating.

Some people have asked me, "Why would you want to give up your last Spring Break to do community service when you can go lounge on a beach somewhere?" The truth is that I can't imagine doing anything but this. I've always wanted to participate in ASB, and I consider myself so fortunate that I was able to have this experience at relatively no cost to my personal bank account. I want to be able to think that I've made a difference in the life of a perfect stranger, and what better way to do that than this? I have some preconceived notions of what to expect while on this trip, but I'm sure it'll end up being something more unique and amazing than I ever could have expected.

I won't have internet access for the next week, but I promise to blog all about my fantastic experience when I get back to Boston. For now, peace and love.