While some students spent their spring break at home or enjoying the weather on sandy beaches, 163 Creighton students traveled across the country or stayed in the Omaha community to volunteer at different service sites. The CCSJ sponsored 15 spring service trips.

Arts & Sciences sophomore Sarah Kottenstette went on a service trip and remarked on her experience.

“I spent the week in Montgomery, Alabama learning about Civil Rights. We had the opportunity to participate in the 50th Anniversary of the Selma March and meet prominent leaders of the Civil Rights Movement,” Kottenstette said.

She also said that the trip meant a lot to her because she was able to see how Civil Rights issues 50 years ago still persist today. According to Kottenstette the most rewarding part of the trips was gaining knowledge about how we can work to combat these issues.

Arts & Sciences freshman Jack Pitsor made the trip to North Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“Every morning we worked at a school where students were of a Vietnamese culture called the Hmong,” Pitsor said. “Then in the afternoons we would focus on an array of issues facing Minneapolis including homelessness and immigration reform.”

According to Pitsor, he became aware of many issues throughout the week that he otherwise would still be blind to.

“Becoming more educated on these problems has inspired me to become more educated on them and figure out how to help,” Pitsor said.

Arts & Sciences junior Zach Franco, along with 11 other students, helped put a roof over a deserving family’s head. They served at Habitat for Humanity in Stoud, Oklahoma.

“We helped build a house for a woman named Crystal and her two daughters,” Franco said.

The work didn’t stop there, as they also helped out at a local food pantry, preparing food boxes for hungry residents in the community.

“The most rewarding part of our experience in Stoud was the way that the tight-knit community opened their arms to us and included us as one of their own. Every single person in Stoud wanted to show us their gratitude for our service through their hospitality,” Franco said.

Busniness sophomore Charly Michaelis traveled to the Mexican-American border in El Paso, Texas to learn about the various injustices affecting immigrants as they try to become legal citizens of the United States. Michaelis said that prior to the trip she was unaware as to how strenuous the process is for migrants to try to obtain citizenship. She was disappointed because most of these immigrants are searching for a better life, trying to escape the dangerous drug cartels in Mexico, only to be greeted by more hardships in the United States.

“My perspective on immigration has grown entirely, and I think it is so imp ortant for us as Americans to be better informed of the realities affecting migrants,” Michaelis said. “We must look at them not simply as immigrants, but as human beings who deserve the same dignity and respect that we do.”

Arts & Sciences sophomore Lauren Vera and twelve other students visited Mosaic Bethphage Village, an organization that serves people with intellectual disabilities, located in Axtell, Nebraska.

“We worked with adults who had intellectual and sometimes physical disabilities,” Vera said. “Throughout the week we would wheel them to their daily worksites and do activities with them such as reading books, crafts or simply dancing and singing just to have fun.”

According to Vera, the week was an incredible learning and growing process as they discovered how to be advocates for  disability awareness. They also heard firsthand stories from the families of guests living there.

“I felt like they were helping me instead of me helping them. They taught me how to love unconditionally and without judgment. I will never forget the memories and moments I shared with the guests of Mosaic Bethpage,” Vera said.

Business sophomore Matt Wenz made the short drive to South Omaha to work with One World Community Health Center and explored the daily events that occured at the

medical facility.

“We did a lot of office-related tasks at One World, shadowed a medical professional and had the opportunity to talk to different people who lived in South Omaha,” Wenz said.

Wenz said visiting with local residents was his favorite part, and also the most rewarding, because he got to hear about the hardships that people go through so close to home.

“I talked to a woman in the waiting room for one of the offices for about a half an hour one day about her life and she was telling me how she singlehandedly taught her kids to read and write and about her hometown in Mexico,” Wenz said.

Creighton Service and Justice trips provide an opportunity for students to learn, grow and serve people all over the Uniter States. According to the CCSJ website, Creighton Service and Justice Trips program began in 1983 and now sends over 350 participants each year across the country to serve.