More Fun Than I Thought Possible: Fall SPOTS (Part 1)
Fall break always comes at a lovely point in the semester when the first wave of exams hits us students and we’re looking for a moment to breathe. While it’s a tease of a 4 day weekend, we take what we can get. Students do a whole host of things during fall break. A few stay put on campus, some go home (as I did my first two years), and others go on fun short trips! I took that route solo last year when I went to visit Boston, but this year I finally joined some of my good friends on the annual Fall SPOTS trip with BCM!
Victoria and Ann have posted about SPOTS a few times in the past, so a quick trip down memory lane will show you that SPOTS trips, both in the Fall and Spring, are times to get away from school work, strengthen friendships, serve the community, and make LOADS memories along the way. Well, this year’s Fall SPOTS trip in St.Louis followed suit and totally exceeded my expectations.
There were 42 students who went on SPOTS, and we all left campus Wednesday evening after classes and arrived at a church in St. Louis late that night. Because we had an early start the next day, we all just settled in and slept. After breakfast, we split up into a few groups and served at different locations throughout the city.
I was with a group that served with The Bridge–a center that offers food and resources for the homeless of St. Louis. We initially did some landscaping to help clean up the area surrounding the center. Then we went inside and played BINGO with the guests (led by Samantha and Ann!) and then had a chance to eat and talk with some of the individuals there. It was really neat to hear some of their stories.
After that, we joined the rest of the SPOTS crew at an after-school center where we helped clean up the streets surrounding it. Then we played with the kids that come to the center!
It was a day chock full of service, but we had flawless weather and amazing company to keep each other energized.
Herein ends day 1. Look out for more SPOTS adventures from Samantha, Ann and Victoria!!! (There was too much awesome for a single post.)