Usually college spring breaks are full of meaningless vacations to tropical places or spent in the comfort of your bed for endless hours, but my spring break was better than any sandy beach or Netflix binge. I traveled with the amazing Habitat for Humanity chapter at Lycoming College to North Carolina.

During our time in Winston-Salem, I slept on a floor, woke up at 6:20 a.m., and showered at a YMCA every day, but I would not have wanted to spend my spring break any other way. Instead of spending my week doing nothing productive, I took the initiative to help people through community service. There’s no better way to serve the community than through volunteer work with an organization like Habitat for Humanity. Going on a mission trip like the Collegiate Challenge helped me create memories that will last a lifetime. I believe everyone needs to do a mission trip like this at least once in their life. So why not over spring break?

The Collegiate Challenge connects a group of like-minded students for the betterment of their community. By working together, we not only learned new skills, but grew closer as friends through teamwork on the site. Creating friendships in this environment showed me how much we have in common when it comes to helping others. For an entire week, we were all the same, no matter what major, year, or Greek affiliation, for the common goal of making someone’s life better. I could not have asked for a more welcoming group of people to work with during this week.

Along with new friends, the Collegiate Challenge opens up a whole new level of life skills during these trips. For instance, I learned the different elements of siding for a house and their importance while installing them. In order to install them, I climbed on scaffolding and sat on a roof, which I never had the opportunity to do before. I used a hammer the whole week, mostly above my head, which also taught me patience when the nail was being stubborn and perseverance when I was using the power drill. The whole week taught me a lesson in life skills, and that’s why it never felt like work. My work was voluntary, because I knew it was helping someone and teaching myself in the long run.

I came back to school a week later, more relaxed than any beach day could have made me. My time with Habitat made me reflect on my thankfulness and gave me a newfound sense of humility. If you want a fulfilling and fun spring break, I would recommend traveling with a group of students on a Collegiate Challenge. I would do a trip like this again in a heartbeat.

Habitat for Humanity has been helping families who need a home for 40 years. If you are interested in more information about trips like this or others worldwide, visit their website and learn all about the organization that helps families build better lives because you built their home.