Personal Experience: My First Alternative Trip To Guin

I have coordinated with many community directors from organizing alternative breaks for undergraduate students with the BeyondBama program in the Center for Service and Leadership. While planning for my first alternative break trip in Guin, AL, I worked closely with the Northwest Alabama Habitat for Humanity director, Teressa Clark, who everyone soon called Mama T. Mama T welcomed everyone on the trip with open arms and provided a sense of warmth and comfort into the community of Guin. In addition to cutting, cleaning, and revitalizing a Habitat home, it was important for Teressa that the students and I know the people and community of Guin. Therefore, we had dinners hosted by community members, cheered at their local high school football game, and volunteered at their library’s annual fundraiser. …show more content…
Many of the students dreamed of going to the University of Alabama and aspired to be engineers, nurse and professors, not too different than my own ambitions. Not only did Mama T provide us the opportunity to know residents of the Guin community, but also she emphasized the importance of affordable housing, especially within her service area. Affordable housing is important for creating a mixed community with different culture, ages, and education levels as well as for maintaining stable, quality housing that promotes people’s overall well being. I always feel humble and privileged after leaving an alternative break, which propels me to create change in my own community of Tuscaloosa. Overall, I appreciate going on alternative break trips because it allows me to be outside my comfort zone, especially in terms of being in a different community setting and working with others of all ages and