The Last Hoorah

In order to celebrate our last beautiful, sunny day on Ruskin's campus before returning to dreary Erie, we spent the day being tourists. We visited the famous Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach, where we saw several manatees. It was truly an amazing experience to be able to witness the occasional bobbing nuzzle or back of these precious creatures. Then, we traveled down to St. Pete's beach in St. Petersburg and ate dinner at a quant seafood restaurant, named the "Wharf". After dinner, we had the opportunity to venture onto the beach and watch the beautiful sunset.
 Then reality set in; we got down to business packing and cleaning up. Our final reflection focused around the highlights of the past week and we wrote down one word that describes the trip and three memorable moments.
Chelsea: "Life changing"

• The daycare at San Jose Mission
• Last night's deep reflection
• The last day spent at Ruskin

Katie A.: "Hope"

• The magic mirror reflection with ABST group
• The magic mirror reflection with the women at The Spring
• Last night's deep reflection

Shania: "Inspiring"

• Katie A. taking an accidental "shower" at the foot-cleaning station at the beach
• Holding babies at the San Jose Mission
• Running on the beach with Megan A.

Megan A: "Life changing"

• Katie A. taking an accidental "shower" at the foot-cleaning station at the beach
• The sunset on our last day
• Working with the women at The Spring

Katie W.: "Hope"

• Katie A. taking an accidental "shower" at the foot-cleaning station at the beach
• Working with the women at The Spring
• The small child at the San Jose mission saying, "Take your heart with you."

Jennifer: "Memorable"

• All of the members of the ABST
• How appreciative all of the people were at The Spring and the San Jose Mission
• Learning about the issues concerning the migrant workers and domestic violence

Sara: "Growth"

• Maria and Sister Sara explaining about the cars at the San Jose Mission
• The bad-asses reflection
• Covenant check-in and peer advocate brainstorming

Kim: "Experience"

• Working with kids and holding a baby for the first time
• The magic mirror reflection with the women at The Spring
• Meagan H. scaring Katie A. and Sara

Veronica: " Friendship/Bonding"

• The kids at the San Jose Mission and The Spring
• The car rides
• Flying for the first time

Meagan H. : "Awareness"

• Holding a baby for the first time and playing with the children at the San Jose Mission and The Spring
• The idea for the peer advocacy group
• Chelsea catching a lizard at the San Jose Mission and it biting both the little girl and Chelsea

Thanks for traveling with us and all your support and endless prayers! It has truly been an experience of a lifetime!

By: Veronica, Kim, Chelsea, Shania, and Meagan H.