Last week, twenty-four students and four advisers from Penn State Behrend participated in an Alternative Spring Break service trip to Beaumont, Texas. The group helped residents recover from the catastrophic flooding that occurred as a result of Hurricane Harvey, which hit the greater Houston area in August of 2017, causing at least $125 billion in damages and claiming 108 lives. Behrend’s ASB group was joined by five other Penn State campuses, including Greater Allegheny, Harrisburg, Scranton, University Park, and York.

By Heather Cass

Publications Manager, Office of Strategic Communication, and 2018 ASB participant

On the evening of Thursday, March 8, we were finally able to have an All Penn State gathering, bringing together all of the Penn State students from all six campuses who were at the church working on homes in Texas.

It’s no easy feat to corral more than 100 students, but Kelli Dowd, program coordinator, service and leadership, from University Park, is no stranger to working with hundreds of students.

She started with a WE ARE…chant, then she and an adviser from each of the other campuses tossed Penn State ASB T-shirts to everyone. After the t-shirts were distributed, we all participated in an hour or so of icebreaker activities and group games.

Following the all Penn State meeting, the Penn State Behrend group held their final Reflections meeting and gave strict instructions for all students to be in the meeting room at 6:45 a.m. with luggage in hand, for an 11 a.m. flight.

The drive to Houston is about 90 minutes from Beaumont, though we neglected to figure in much cushion time for traffic. That nearly did us in, but the roads cleared just in time for all of us to make it to the gate with about 5 minutes to spare.

I asked some of the Penn State Behrend students on the trip to share their top takeaway from this year’s ASB experience. Here’s what they had to say:

“Everyone needs realize that everything is not fine in Houston and that even eight months after the hurricane, there are still houses that have not even been touched since the hurricane hit. I learned that even the smallest things we do for these people can still make a huge difference. Putting a smile on these homeowners’ faces is the greatest feeling you can imagine.” — Priya Patel, Nursing major

“My biggest take away from ASB is that there is no act too small when it comes to helping someone. Whether you’re ripping out a sink, taking down some drywall, or just simply taking the time to talk to someone, you are making a difference in their life. And as much as we give to the people we help, we truly get so much more from them.” — Kelly Miller, Mechanical Engineering major

“My biggest takeaway from this trip is how a group of people from various backgrounds came together to accomplish one thing—to serve others. We came together as strangers, and we are now leaving as friends by having this common goal.” — Ashlyn Kelly, Chemistry major

“The homeowners in southeastern Texas still have a long road a head of them and they know that, but it’s just remarkable how thankful they were for the help. I wouldn’t trade these lifelong memories and lessons from this trip for anything.” — Brianna Riley, Accounting and Management Information Systems major

“Alternative Spring Break is the kind of trip that you know will change your life, but you can’t even begin to understand how you will be impacted until you’re experiencing it. It’s the kind of trip that allows us to learn so much about others, but teaches us about ourselves at the same time. In summary, ASB 2018 was a trip of passion, kindness, growth, and success.” — Emily Archer, Elementary and Early Childhood Education major