Student Activities Blogs

Meg Carley

A Unique Winter Break

On September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the city of Galveston, Texas with extreme and powerful force, leaving the island in ruins. The devastation it caused can still be seen today and was witnessed by myself and fifty-seven other UConn students during an Alternative Break.

We left for Galveston on the morning of January 8th and arrived the night of the 9th, successfully enduring a forty hour bus ride. During the bus ride I managed to finish half of my book, talk incessantly about nothing, drool on my pillow, and, of course, be one of the first people to use the bathroom. Even though when we finally arrived I couldn’t feel the lower half of my body and my hair was out of control (nothing unusual), it felt good to finally be in Texas.

During our time there, not only did we come together as a group but we were also able to learn about the community on a more personal level. We met some of the nicest people down there even though they were experiencing difficult hardships. One of the most vivid memories I have from the trip is when my group was helping to hand out food and supplies, which was a weekly event that would occur at the school we were staying at. We couldn’t start handing out food until around 1 p.m. but by 9 a.m. there were cars lined up around the block. I was assigned to traffic control which I viewed as being thrown into the lion’s den. I assumed that I’d be dealing with a lot of annoyed people considering the number of people in line; this wasn’t the case. I ended up meeting some of the friendliest and most genuine people I have ever come across. Everyone had a great attitude and they were able to make traffic duty a memorable experience.

The people we met and the places we saw are memories that all of us will be able to have and share for years to come. All of us went down there under the impression that we would be the ones who were helping but in the end, the Galveston community ended up helping us as well. They taught us the important lesson of always being humble and appreciating every day. I want to thank the Galveston community, and I think I speak for my group as well, for opening your doors and your hearts to us. The experiences we had will never be forgotten.