Roughly 150 students filed into three charter buses at MHS on Mar. 15, 2015. The previous days of packing and shopping had all culminated into this day – the beginning of their spring break. However, these students weren’t traveling to the sunny beaches of Florida or California. Instead, they were heading down to Conway, Arkansas on the MHS service trip.

From April 27 to April 30, 2014, a massive tornado outbreak had ravaged through central and southern United States. The Arkansas cities of Mayflower, Paron, and Vilonia had been struck by a tornado with an intensity of EF3. The results were devastating. Buildings were razed to the ground. It struck the locals hard because they had only just recovered from a damaging tornado in 2011.

The goal of the service trip was to aid any families that needed additional help recovering. Some households had already recovered for the most part. Other households were living in trailer homes, still waiting to rebuild. For instance, one family’s house had been so muddy that the mother had to be towed out at one point.

From building roads in Mayflower, to collecting and burning branches from fallen trees, to organizing the Arkansas Dream Center warehouse, the groups did it all. We put on our gloves, boots and game faces as we traveled from location to location picking up trash and making Arkansas a better place.

For the most part, people stayed optimistic and ready to work. After all, the weather was beautiful for the majority of the trip. When you’re laughing and smiling with your friends and accompanied by dogs and cows, how bad can physical labor be? We made new friends, met the thankful locals, played card games, went to the pool, and visited a “haunted” museum. At first glance, it sounded just like any other typical vacation.

In some ways, the physical work was one of the best parts of the trip. As I walked around parts of the devastated area, I was at peace. It was extremely comforting to feel like I wasn’t wasting my spring break . We were helping people who underwent total lost and destruction.

On the last day of the trip,the family that several groups had built a gravel road for ate dinner with us at the Dream Center. The father delivered a teary speech of thanks. You could see and hear his sincere appreciation for every student who chose to go on the service trip. In this man, we saw the direct influence of our work, and at that moment I knew that going on the MHS service trip had been the right decision. No other trip would have instilled the same feeling of gratitude in me like this one.