Ok So Here It Goes...

So I have been thinking and I have decided that it might be a neat idea to write a blog about my upcoming service trip to Alaska. This way friends and family can keep up with what my group and I will be doing there.

First off, I feel like I should give you all a little background as to how I got involved with this trip. My junior year at NC State I heard about a program called Alternative Service Break and decided to look into it and see what it was all about. Essentially, it gives NC State students a chance to give up their spring break (or fall or winter) and do a week of service instead. There are currently 16 different trips with varying types of projects.

My junior year I applied to the program and was put on the Gulf Coast trip to work with Habitat for Humanity. We ended up going to the town of Thibodaux, Louisiana and worked with the Bayou Area Habitat for Humanity. They were mainly focused on Hurricane Katrina relief and I enjoyed being able give back to that community.

After coming back to Raleigh from Louisiana, I felt that I needed to do more service. I felt depressed about being back in school and getting caught up in the rat race of life. So I decided to put off law school for a year and apply to Americorps NCCC. Then, another opportunity showed up. My team leader from the Gulf Coast trip, Brittany, encouraged me to apply to be a team leader for next year's Alternative Service Break. So I went through the process and was lucky enough to be assigned to the Alaska trip.

I have always wanted to go to Alaska and this gave me the perfect reason to go. I am also working with another team leader, Nadeem. I am extremely fortunate that I got paired with him, we make quite the enthusiastic team. We also have a faculty advisor going with us. Roger is laid back and really encouraging. Nadeem and I are very blessed to have him as our advisor.

Nadeem, Roger, and I will be going to Hoonah, Alaska with eleven other NC State students. While we are there we will be volunteering at a the local school, a HeadStart program, a senior center, and the Boys & Girls club. Not only will we be focused on youth education, we will also be spending time learning the native Tlingit (pronouced like 'klink-it') culture.

We've been planning the trip together since the beginning of October and have finalized all our plans within the few last weeks. Our team seems to be pretty eager about going and I feel they will be even more excited after our team retreat tomorrow. I am going to try to update this after the retreat, hopefully with some pictures of our team so you all can put some faces with names.

On that note, thanks so much for all of your support over the years. It really means a lot and is truly appreciated.

Only 21 more days until we leave!

In service & love,

Elissa