While some students spent Spring Break partying in Panama City, some students traveled to Texas to help build a house for a deserving family.
About 40 Bradley students went to Laredo, Texas to help build a home with Habitat for Humanity.
“Our group was split in half and worked on two houses,” senior chemistry major Amanda Chadderdon said. “One began putting up the roof for a house, and the other started with a cement slab and put up walls. Amazingly all of the walls of the second house were up by the time we left.”
Several students said this was not their first trip with Habitat.
“This is my third Spring Break with Habitat,” said Habitat for Humanity President Shannon Knoblauch. “These trips are something I have looked forward to every year and they are the best way to spend Spring Break. We aim to make them enjoyable and fun with little stops and excursions, and you get to spend the week making a difference in someone’s life. There really isn’t much more you can ask for.”
Junior sociology major Brett Williams said they got to stop at a few local spots for some fun.
“On the way to Laredo, we were able to spend a few hours in San Antonio visiting the Alamo, and their famous river walk,” he said. “After a long week of building we spent the last day of our trip in Corpus Christi at the beach.”
There was a wide variety of students on the trip including members of the greek community, Williams said.
“It is especially great to see that over 50 percent of the people who attended this trip are members of our greek community,” Williams said.
Students said the trip was an enjoyable learning experience.
“My favorite part was using the power tools,” freshman English major Bridget Baker said. “By the second day I felt perfectly comfortable using a circular saw, something I never thought I would be able to say.”
Baker said volunteering for Habitat was life changing.
“I believe everyone should participate in something like this in their lifetime,” she said. “A lot of people believe that this sort of thing isn’t for them, but as long as you go into it with an open mind, you will come out with a great life experience and the ability to hammer like a boss.”