Instead of sitting in a classroom like most other classes, one Senior Perspective class decided to take it outdoors and participate in an opportunity not many receive: spending three weeks in the mountains of West Virginia to help the less fortunate.

That is what one Creighton University staff member does each year while exposing her students to the opportunity to care about others living in poverty and to lend a hand.

Alice Smith, a senior instructional designer with the Office of Medical Education, takes students each summer to West Virginia to give them the opportunity to learn about life and how different and hard it can be for others. Smith just got back from this summer’s three week trip.

Bethlehem Farm is open year round and is staffed by two married couples and two other men. Smith said it is their desire to live there and do this community-based service work.

Smith takes the students to Bethlehem Farm in Summers County. It is a place where people who can’t afford to have work done come for help from the community.

“We drove down in my van, 18 hours of driving straight through,” Smith said. This was her second summer taking Creighton students. The five students met for just two classes before going on the trip. “I was very impressed that everyone for the most part got along,” Smith said.

The students have different educational backgrounds. Smith said this senior course is great because anyone can take it for the required three credits to graduate.

A typical day on the farm included getting up for breakfast, sharing a group prayer and going out and working until about 5 p.m. Dinner was eaten in a prayerful setting. Discussions were held about the work and the experiences. The evenings were free for the students to work on their assigned journals and to play card games or Frisbee.

There was no TV during the trip as the idea was to get the students exposed to an environment that is different to what they are used to.

While working for the farm, students got experience roofing and insulating a house.

“One girl had never even held a hammer before,” Smith said. “But they all jumped in and did what was asked of them.”

Other activities for the students included visiting people in prison and working at Hinton Elementary school. The students had the opportunity to talk with inmates and family members about the prison experience. They also helped out in the local school working with the children. Students learned about organic farming and ways to give back to the earth.

Smith originally found out about the opportunity when she was looking for a family project for her own children years ago.

“Helping insinuates that something is broken, while serving is done for the holiness of the other person,” Smith said, quoting Mother Theresa. Smith wanted her children to be aware of the need to help others.

This trip is a good opportunity for students to experience what life is like in a different area of the country as well as lend a hand and help someone who needs it.

“I would like to continue to take students back every year and this class makes it a wonderful opportunity to do that,” Smith said. “The kids made it a remarkable trip, their willingness to jump in made it a great experience for them. They made it that way because they were open, whole hearted and willing to give it their all.”