Time of Our Lives

Cedric Smith

Sophomore 

Criminal Justice/ Movie Production Major

              Hello Everyone!!!!!! My name Cedric Smith and I'm one of the co-coordinators for this years ASB 2015 trip. I'm going to talk about the entire week. This week has been a very wonderful week and if I could rewind it back to Sunday, I will! 

      Starting off with today, We all got up at 7am to get ready to head to the Habitat site for the last time. To me, it was a very emotional trip there as well as back because we all bonded so well with the two crew leaders, Carlos and Steve. Both Carlos and Steve are amazing men and really touched our hearts. We learned so much from the both of them and we would just love working with them again one day. 

         So we made it to the site today at 8 to start working on a new house because we finished our house yesterday, which was the best filling of all time. Knowing that you have finished an house for someone is the best feeling in the world. Today on the new house, we did a lot of cocking and nail just like every other day. I know everyone on this trip will have one pretty strong arm after this trip. LOL!!! So, we also helped put the porch ceiling up which was amazing because today was Israel, another co-coordinator, first time using an nail gun. I got the chance to saw out the door frames for each room in the house. I think the best thing about today was when me, Jaye, Barrett, and Israel had to go outside and nail in the plywood on the roof in the rain. We were so wet after that assignment but we got through it.

        After we were done with the site, I asked Mrs. Angie could she take me to Walgreens so I could pick up some things but little do she know that I was actually picking up her early birthday gift. The whole ASB group got together to get Mrs. Angie something for her Birthday. She had no idea. So after Walgreens, we headed back to the church to have our last meeting which is always a sad one because it's the last time everyone sees Hermie until next year and the last time we all just get together to discuss the day. It was a very sad and LONG meeting.

       After our meeting team 3 left to go cook and we met them there. Dinner was great and I kind if wish I would have grabbed some to go. Once everyone was done eating, Mrs. Angie asked me about a certain situation that me and her had talked about earlier. So since the building we were in didn't have any service, I had to go outside but it was all part of her surprise. So I went outside acting like I was doing what she told me to do, which I did do it. I grabbed her gift out the van and knocked on the door three times. When she opened the door, we all said SURPRISE AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It was great and she didn't expect it at all. 

         After dinner, we took her to Baskin Robbins for ice cream which was amazing. We all talked and enjoyed our wonderful ice cream. The employee there was from Memphis and was really cute. After ice cream we all went back to the church to watch a movie and spend the rest of the night together. 

          This week was just great overall. We all learned the basics of building a house but we still need experience on how to actually finish it out to a completed home. The beach clean up was amazing and informative about a lot of things that opened my eyes as well as the group's eyes. I love how the group gave me two different nicknames. One is house because they say I'm the protector and Ceddy Bear because I'm soft and cuddly. LOL!!!!

        This week impacted me a lot. I was able to bond with 9 great and awesome people as well as people from 3 other schools. I learned a lot from other people that makes you realize how much you love doing what you're doing. Even the people on this trip impacted me a lot. They are some of the most loving and caring people ever. They're funny, enthusiastic, driven, smart and most of all CRAZY!!! I got a lot of laughs through out this week and I really enjoyed it.

        The biggest thing I got out of this trip was Happiness. I feel like Happiness should be what everyone gets out of this trip. We came into this week with nothing but walls and roof. Now we got TWO houses. I can really feel happy that we left something behind for a great family to live in it. 

         I've learned so much from this trip and learned so much about a lot of people. I can say that I learned how to build a house. That's the biggest of all. I also learned so much about beach cleaning and why they get so dirty. I've learned how amazing the people that attended the trip are. I would love to spend one or two more weeks together with you guys if we had the time.

         This entire week has been just great and amazing. I loved everyone and everything we did today. This week wasn't about having fun, it was about helping and changing someone's life and we did that. 

      I would like to thank every participant and everyone that had something to do with this trip that help make this week amazing.

Emily's loving stories.

Sara's truthfulness and honesty.

Barrett's willingness to help with anything.

Bushra's funny remarks about everything.

Meghan's loving personality and hardwork.

Jaye's wonderful walks and talks to and at the bay as well as fun times working together at the sites.

Jessica's craziness and amazing personality.

Israel's caring heart and brotherly love he shows throughout the entire week.

Mrs. Angie's loving, caring, and amazing heart. If it wasn't because of you, this trip wouldn't be possible and I want to thank you so much for this opportunity and great chance to work with you. You are one of the most influential people I ever met. Your hard work shows how much you love your Community. Love you Mrs. Angie.

I love all of you guys and hope to work with you guys again. 

The Final Day

Emily Foreman

Junior

Hospitality and Resort Management Major

I can't believe today was the last day of our Alternative Spring Break trip. Over these past few days, our ASB family along with the other college groups completed not 1 or 2 but 5 houses. It was amazing to see how that when everyone completed nailing in this wood and caulking that window frame that a house had been formed. As I took the last few swings of my hammer, I couldn't help but feel honored to have helps  build not just a house but a home for a family. I'm going to miss working on the Habitat for Humanity worksite with our amazing crew leaders, Mr. Carlos and Mr. Steve. This definitely has been a spring break to remember. Thank you, Pensacola for the wonderful memories. Memphis, see you soon :-) 

Almost There

Hello all! I am Bushra Noor, a junior at the University of Memphis.

Today concluded our fifth day on this Alternative Spring Break trip here at Pensacola, Florida. 

It started with the usual early morning struggle to push past our drowsiness to prepare for the day. Even though most us were tired already with the Pensacola fog and mist fighting against us, I'd like to believe that we were able to function and work on our Habitat house because we knew were almost there. With the swift teamwork between each other and another college, UVA, were able to place finishing fixtures around our house, apply caulk, security the back wall of the house, set braces and so much more in a few hours before taking a break for our usual lunch. 

It was clear that misunderstandings of where to place nails and how to apply braces and many other mistakes were problems along the way but everyone felt the satisfaction of making a stable safe home for someone so far and could tell that the job was almost done. We were almost there. Final touches and fixtures were added, along with all of our written signatures on the walls, and before we knew it, the University of Memphis Alternative Spring Break family had officially serviced the Pensacola community by building the base of a, one day, beautiful home. 

We were able to help out with a neighboring Habitat home for a little bit of time before having to head back to our the church where we went over our daily discussion of our "high and low" moments of the day. Almost everyone seemed a degree more alive and positive after completing our work on today's house. I reflected back a little to myself on the concept of "almost there". As a Child Development major, I often wonder how people find the motive to do what they do and whether an act or decision is repeated in relevance to it being successful or unsuccessful the first time. Did we really think we were capable of impacting someone's life by building a house successfully five days ago or were we just so motivated today by the thought of the house almost being done that it pushed us to do so?

After a few hours of rest, cleanup, and quick workouts, we all headed out to a local restaurant neighboring the Pensacola beach called Peg Leg Pete's. We sat at our tables over the next few hours learning more about each other over Peg Leg's trademark oysters and seafood and then headed out to what will hopefully not be our last beach outing together. A few of us stopped by at a local gift shop and gathered things for loved ones and clothes to brace the cold beach water with; and then moved across the beach sand to the water's edge. The next half hour was nothing but laughter from the cold water sensation, the embrace of the thunderstorm winds, and long looks out onto the misty, mysterious waves. I could tell that this trip impacted us all in one way or another. And for a brief second, I didn't care about how I got the motivation to do what we did so far on this trip but was just grateful that we did it. Especially with positivity, open mindedness, strong will, and each other. 

Now we just have one more day. We're almost there.

Driving the Last Nail

Hello everyone, my name is Meghan Swartz and I am a Junior, Art History major at the University of Memphis. This is my second year doing Alternative Spring Break, and I have loved every minute of it. Community service is so important to me, and I'm glad I get to spend this week serving with others who love it just as much as I do.

Well today was our fourth day serving, and our second with Habitat. Today we accomplished the feat or "finishing" our house. And by this I mean that we have all the frame work on the inside finished, with all the studs in place, and all the "dead wood" nailed in, as well as the doors and windows caulked & insulated, and the outside of the house wrapped!!!!!! I cannot express the joy, relief, frustration, and even a little pain that I felt as I drove my last nail into this house. Seeing the inside take shape and figuring what each room was over these last few days was exciting. When we started it was just four walls and a few wall frames, but now it actually looked like a home.

The best part of finishing the framework of the home was when we got to "tag" the beams and walls with our encouraging messages and personal touches of who helped build this. This creative liberty was much needed after multiple days of repetitive hammering. Although our job is finished with our first house, we still have one more day of service left, so tomorrow we will be heading to another house across the yard from ours to help finish establishing the framework on it.

After we wrapped for the day, we came back to the church to have our meeting and get ready for dinner. Tonight we went to the island and ate at Peg Leg Pete's for dinner, and enjoyed the great seafood they had. After that we went back to the beach, this time in darkness with the tide & a storm rolling in. The waves were larger than before, but that did not stop us from sticking our toes (and most of our lower extremities) in the water, for one last time. We had a blast and enjoyed it, even if it was a little cool.

I have enjoyed myself so much on this trip, from the work we've done to the relationships I have built with my fellow Tigers. It will be bittersweet tomorrow when we wrap for the last time on the trip, but I know I have made some amazing memories that will last forever.

Home improvement with Mima

Jessica Otis

Senior

Theatre performance 

  Open credits, camera up on Mima (Barrett) and I in the misty shadows of early morning Pensacola sky.  We are carrying a window to set on the side of the house. Black out. Okay , today was totally cool we built a lot of stuff. And supported some other stuff, after we installed the windows and doors. It was great to see our actual work rendering progress so smoothly it definitely gave me a since of "Yeahhhhh Mannnnnn" I learned the importance of doing your part in it's time. Because especially in this process it effects other people. FINAL THOUGHTS doing stuff is great, but knowing you help change for the better is amazing.

ASB, The Builders.

Hey everyone!! My name is Jaye Oakley. I am a Junior Criminal Justice major.

Today is day two of Pensacola and it is going amazing. We actually worked with Habitat for Humanity on one of their homes. Building a home is definitely a first for me. We spent majority of the day nailing into the plywood and studs of the walls. All I heard all day was hammering but it actually did not bother me at all. After finishing that, I got to "wrap" the home in a protector to keep the rain and wind from damaging the wood. And the final thing we did was help clean up all of the extra plywood and trash off of the lot. 

Today, honestly, had a big impact on me. For one, I really enjoy doing physical labor as volunteer work. Just constantly having something to do and to always be moving is a great experience. This experience alone has affected the perspective of my future. Being at that site was really enjoyable for me. I could definitely volunteer or work with Habitat on a daily basis. Just physically putting work into something bigger than myself and being able to see the progression is everything I desire in my life. This trip is a once and a lifetime experience and I've learned so much about myself in just three days. I have also learned a lot about Habitat and how it functions. It just makes me want to work more closely with them. 

Finally, today was a great day and I'm looking forward to building for the rest of the week. The ASB team has been awesome! We all enjoy volunteering so much and it shows. As a team, we are strong and we work together. Without them, this trip would not be as good. Each individual is unique and brings a special aspect to this trip. Once again, ASB has affected my life in such a positive way.

Ocean View

Good evening everyone, coming to you tonight is Barrett. I am a senior at the UofM majoring in Health Promotion and Lifestyle Management. 

Today was our first official full day here in Pensacola, Florida, and the majority of the day was spent participating in a clean-up of Santa Rosa beach. After the beach clean-up and lunch we got the opportunity to check out Fort Pickner as well as an on ground museum. We ended our day of fun by having an orientation/dinner meeting at the Habitat For Humanity office, where we met the other college volunteer groups as well as the elderly disaster relief volunteers. 

Back to the beach though, although very relaxing and peaceful it was tough to look at the amount of trash that came out of the waters and think about how dirty we actually are. Although hard at times, it's was a relief to know that we were changing that and making the community cleaner and safer. The Fort and Museum were also really cool. I gained a lot of cool and interesting historical facts that I wasn't aware of.  

Finally, our Habitat orientation and dinner went great. It's was cool getting to meet all the other volunteers from different parts of the country. Waiting in line for dinner, Israel and I started talking with some of the older adult volunteers, and found out they drove down from Canada. I thought our 7-8 hour trip was long, I couldn't imagine taking their 2 day venture. They were very nice and pleasant to talk to. 

Overall, our first full day in Pensacola was not only productive but also very enjoyable. 

Thanks for reading!