学生 Spend Spring Break Creating Change

一群St。. 竞技宝app下载安装的学生们从春假归来，对他们可以在世界上创造的变化以及世界必须改变的方式有了更多的认识, 太.

“我们挑选了40多个,000磅垃圾 from the Mississippi River 和 sometimes, it felt like what I was doing wasn't enough,SAU大四学生凯特琳·麦克说.

她, 小佩拉·埃尔南德斯, 大二学生艾米丽·肯尼, 大四学生洛根·诺克罗斯, 和 junior Amelia Seutter spent spring break in Memphis, cleaning up the waters 和 banks of the Mississippi. 他们 joined 70 college students from across the U.S. in a week of service, working side-by-side with the crew of 生活的土地 & 水域.

他们, along with Director of Music 和 Liturgy, 克里斯托弗·克洛, spent March 11-14 dressed in life jackets, 厚厚的运动衫和牛仔裤, 及膝长靴和手套. 他们 worked from fishing boats 和 tromped through soggy, muddy shores to dig out 和 pick up trash people carelessly threw aside.

“我的眼睛真的睁开了，看到了我们自愿或无知地向大自然排放的大量污染,艾米丽说. "I've changed my habits since the very first day on the Mississippi."

校园部 和 竞技宝app下载安装和平与正义 今年提供了三次春假服务之旅，每次都是身临其境的体验. 学生, 和 faculty 和 staff who served as group leaders, serve 和 impact the world side-by-side with those living it.

In addition to the Memphis trip, five students 和 Rev. 汤姆·亨南(Thom Hennen)在北卡罗来纳州的威尔明顿市与竞技宝app下载合作公司(Community collaboration Inc .)合作了一周. 他们 helped residents impacted by Hurricane Florence by replace flooring, 清理被水淹的房屋, 和 sorting donations for Habitat Restore.

两名学生和信仰形成主任Tammy Norcross-Reitzler在芝加哥的仁慈之井度过了一周, which houses 和 helps expecting 和 new mothers, 还有他们的孩子. 当母亲们工作或上学时，住在井里的家庭得到现场托儿服务. The SAU group helped with childcare, 组织捐款, 已完成的清洁工程, 最重要的是, built relationships with the mothers 和 children.

“今年所有的旅行都很顺利,凯特琳·鲍曼说, 校园部's director of service 和 justice. "It's a privilege to get to provide these experiences for our students."

Logan signed up to serve because he missed doing so. He used to take mission trips in high school. "I wanted to make a difference again. I wanted to meet new people 和 make new friends,他说.

Katelyn said for her, service is an important part of the Catholic faith. "It allows me to give back to God 和 the community,她说.

“获得技能和知识，除非用于改善所有人的生活，否则毫无用处,佩拉说. "Going to college 和 attaining a degree is an amazing accomplishment, but if the sole focus is to just work for the collection of money, 在帮助别人的过程中缺乏成就感和自我激励. Service serves you as much as you serve others,她说.

Emily said the experience went far beyond service. “我们在工作和晚上休息的时候有很多有趣的冒险经历. 我们试着把彼此的奇怪发现放在一起，建立了友谊，真的，就是建立在垃圾的基础上，”她说.

生活的土地 & 沃特斯是一家非营利组织，于1998年由Quad cittian Chad Pregracke '03 (HON)创立。. He 和 the crew spend up to nine months a year living 和 traveling on a barge. 他们举办河流清理、流域保护倡议、讲习班、植树等活动.

在过去的20年里，生活之地 & 水域 has removed more than 10 million pounds of trash from waterways, 包括密西西比河, 伊利诺伊河和俄亥俄河, 在110的帮助下,106名志愿者.

2002年6月，Pregracke获得了杰斐逊公共服务奖. He was named CNN's "Hero of the Year" in 2013, 就在十年前，我获得了圣·霍普金斯大学的荣誉公共服务博士学位. 竞技宝app下载安装.

Amelia said the crew of 生活的土地 & 沃特斯让工作变得有趣，并让学生们知道他们多么珍惜自己的时间, 努力与服务.

“整个星期, 查德和他的团队会给我们演讲，告诉我们为什么我们的努力会带来不同. He was truly thankful that we were there helping the organization. 在四天的时间里，大学生们收集了数万磅的垃圾. 对我来说, this shows that teamwork makes the dream work, we can help save our earth by picking up one piece of trash at a time,她说.

阿米莉亚是这次旅行的两名学生之一，他们在过去的春假里一直在“生活之地”服务 & 水域. Amelia helped with the clean-up in Memphis in 2017, 和 Katelyn worked on the 伊利诺斯州 River clean-up last year in Grafton, 伊利诺斯州.

“我喜欢去年的旅行，不想把大四的春假花在无所事事或工作上. 这是艰难的一周, but the time flies by so fast that you forget how hard you are actually working,凯特琳说.

四天之后, 整个小组收集了40个,000磅垃圾, 包括电视机, 生锈的丙烷罐, 废金属, 更多的是来自水和海岸. 

Katelyn found a doll that s太d as high as her waist.

Amelia found so many shoes a crew member nicknamed her "flip flop."

Emily found two full tall boys of Bud Light 和 a partial gallon of milk. “我的鼻子不喜欢. 我也对我们发现的玩具数量感到惊讶，其中一些保存得非常好。.

他们 used shovels to release tires encased in mud 和 pulled trash out of weeds, 包括毒葛.

佩拉说:“小组的一名成员发现了一只几乎完全被苔藓覆盖的鞋子。. “它提供了一个视觉指示，说明苔藓在环境中生长了多长时间."

The SAU students were appalled by the amount of Styrofoam they collected. “到处都是。. Some in huge chunks from refrigerator packing, 和 others in tiny bits that had been broken apart,艾米丽说.

“团队和我完全同意不惜一切代价避免使用泡沫塑料，”阿米莉亚说. “这不仅需要, 字面上的, 它永远不会分解, but it also serves as a hazard to the wildlife that lives along the river."

塑料瓶、玻璃瓶和吸管也名列“最易收集”榜单之首.

“这些东西需要很多年才能降解，”洛根说，“所以，它们最终会在某个地方消失. 瓶子需要回收，人们需要停止使用一次性产品."

Katelyn said she was surprised by the number of lighters they found. “有一些地方，我可以坐下来，不用移动就能拿起五个或更多. 关于垃圾，我希望人们知道的一件事是，一些城市的排水系统在排入河流之前没有得到清理. 如果你把一个瓶子扔进孟菲斯的排水沟，它会直接流入密西西比河。.

艾米丽说，每个人都需要意识到，他们消费的东西远远不只是为了方便. "And if they are going to continue to use these products, they need to make sure they do their part in disposing of them in the correct manner; recycling or trash. Not only do these wastes clutter on l和 和 water, but they also contaminate water supplies 和 animals' habitats,她补充道.

High winds 和 choppy water caused 生活的土地 & 水域 to call off cleanup efforts a few hours early Thursday. 在驳船上吃完午饭后，学生们和克劳最后一次回到码头.

"No, it was not enough,洛根说 about the work they did. "There were still miles 和 miles of garbage out there. I think we need to create a new normal. We have to teach our kids good green habits,他说, adding the trip inspired him to change his own habits.

"If I can stop or minimize the number of one-use products I use, 它可能有助于形成一种新常态，同时也有助于减少世界上的浪费,洛根说.

“有时候，我们不得不‘选择战斗’，把垃圾留在一些地方，这样我们就可以在其他地方捡到更多的垃圾,凯特琳说.

"That aspect was kind of frustrating, 但也可以理解——我们必须在用瓶子和其他中等大小的垃圾填充多个垃圾袋之间做出选择，或者坐着花几个小时捡起一英寸的泡沫塑料. 我希望查德和他的团队所做的工作能激励其他人伸出援手，减少污染,凯特琳补充道.

Every day the pile of garbage bags on the barge got larger 和 larger, which made the sore muscles worth it. “但知道河里还有垃圾，也激励了我进一步从事自己的学术工作，试图找到解决办法。. 我正在学习成为一名环境工程师，解决诸如自然废物的处理和收集等问题,佩拉说.

"This is where the spring breakers step in to promote the 生活的土地 & “沃特斯的口信，”阿米莉亚说. 经历之后, 我更愿意教育人们，如果他们不回收或扔掉垃圾会发生什么,她说.

艾米丽说，每个人都需要尽自己的一份力量来解决这个棘手的问题. “然而, 在这宏大的计划中, 我是大海里的一滴水, a stepping stone to reach the ultimate goal, 和 I am proud to say I was a part of something much bigger than myself,她说.

"I hope to impact many other people through my experience. My work was most definitely not enough, but it made a dent with the goal of making the whole front fender of a vehicle fall off; which we found one on the river!"