By Madeline Riccardi, Editor-in-Chief

The La Roche University Office of Mission and Ministry is hosting a spring service trip in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

During this semester’s Spring Break, Steven Benson, Assistant Director of Mission and Ministry, will lead a group of students on a trip that promises a memorable experience.

“The whole trip is designed as an experience that will inform the conversation we have as a group, including where we stay, what we eat, the organizations we serve with and the places we visit,” Benson said. “It’s not so much the individual activities that will leave an impression, but the experience as a whole.

“Ten students will join me for a road trip that promises to be an unforgettable experience. We will serve others, step out of our comfort zones, discuss and learn,” Benson continued.

Mission and Ministry required students interested to apply for the trip by Jan. 21. Benson said that applicants must have full vaccination doses and a booster before the trip.

“All participants are required to be vaccinated and have a booster. We will wear masks anytime we are indoors, except where we will stay. We will also avoid gatherings a week before we leave and take a covid test before we depart,” Benson said.

The March 5 to March 14 trip will mostly occur in Washington D.C. but will begin in Philadelphia.

“We will start in Philadelphia and then move on to D.C.,” the Service-Learning Coordinator said. “We will also take a day trip to the Smithsonian Ecological Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland.”

The trip, with a $200 fee per person, is traveling with two La Roche minivans. Participants will also stay in an Airbnb.

“While in Philadelphia, a contact has a floor for us to spend a night on and we will stay at an Airbnb in Washington D.C.,” Benson said.

To participate in this spring trip, students must participate in fundraising. Benson said those involved can earn an LRX Service requirement, but they cannot earn college credits from the trip.

The Mission Trip is not affiliated with the La Roche University Study Abroad Program, which the University indefinitely suspended in spring 2020.

The application for the trip mentioned that activities involved will be “physically demanding” and will require “difficult conversations.”

There was an emphasis on the number of languages applicants speak.

Among the application questions included:

• Why do you want to attend this trip and what do you hope to gain from this experience?
• Tell me about one of your strengths and how it will help the team.
• Tell me about one of your weaknesses and how it may affect the team.
• What is the furthest you have ever been from home and what were you doing there?
• What is something you learned this past semester?