THREE WEEKS AND COUNTING!

When I told my family about the ABST trip the first thing one of my uncles asked me was: why don’t you just go on a normal spring break trip? Why would you pay to go do community service? I didn’t have an answer for him at the time, but after mulling over the question for a few weeks I realized what I wish I had told my uncle. This trip isn’t about trying to impress people with my humanitarianism. It’s not about trying to look good for graduate schools and future careers. It’s about gaining the experience. It’s about taking my first steps into helping others. Whenever I tell people I’m a psychology major they tend to look a little embarrassed for me because I chose a major that does not have a lot of job prospects. They ask if I plan on going to grad school. They ask if I know that therapists don’t make that much money. What they never ask is what I actually want to do with my degree. I don’t want to be a therapist (NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH WANTING TO BE ONE). I want to make my impact on a grander scale. I would love to work in a social justice/activist organization or in public policy. I want to influence society as a whole, but I would also love to lead workshops to benefit marginalized groups in our communities. On the ABST trip to Ruskin Florida, we will be working with victims of human trafficking and abuse. We will be completing an activity with them called The Magic Mirror to help boost their self-esteem. I think that it’s super important to love yourself no matter what and very few people genuinely love and take care of themselves or each other. I think workshops like the one we will be doing are a great foundation for building people up and improving their quality of life and I can’t wait to get started. -Cheyenne Moore