Alternative Spring Break provides work, faith, community for University Ministry students

While some university students enjoyed sand and surf during Spring Break, others participated in an “alternative Spring Break” with University Ministry, heading to Life Teen’s Camp Hidden Lake in Dahlonega, GA. Life Teen is a Catholic youth ministry organization in the United States.

The week of service took place March 14-17 and featured holy hour in the morning, followed by service projects, community meals, and formation sessions in the evening with Camp Hidden Lake’s full-time missionaries. And there were opportunities to celebrate Mass and attend small group discussions. Plus, there was time for fun!

“University Ministry has had a relationship with Life Teen Camp Hidden Lake for the past five years,” said Lucas Nocera, interim director of University Ministry and adjunct religion faculty member.” Many of our students spend their summers serving this camp as missionaries to the thousands of high schoolers who attend every summer. Some of our students have even gone on to work for the camp as missionaries for multiple years.”

“On the trip, I helped both indoors and outdoors, said Alejandra Galaviz, a medical humanities major and a member of the Class of 2024. “For the first day, I stayed inside and helped prep decorations for the men’s retreat. I also helped tear beds apart in the old dorms so they could be thrown out. This was part of the remodeling process.”

For Galaviz, it was time to rekindle her faith life. “I was hoping to not only give my service and time, but also receive the religious aspect,” she said. “I was looking forward to seeing the combination of faith and service. I really enjoyed the activities that we had, such as adoration and Mass. I really enjoyed the structure of the trip because it had leisure, work, and faith in equal amounts.”

Nocera said the alternative Spring Break trip is a “reset” for Saint Leo students. “There is a lot of time to pray, a lot of time to work, and a lot of time for community — games, time to hangout, and March Madness was that ‘community’ during the week. What I took away from this trip was our students desire to invest themselves in the right things.”

View photos from University Ministry’s alternative Spring Break: