2008 Woodie Awards
Service trips not fashion shows; students get down and dirty
David Spain '08
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Features
It's only a few short hours before your departure and finally time to throw together the necessary toiletries in order to survive while staying clean and presentable on your trip. Soap, shampoo, deodorant, and your toothbrush and toothpaste are obviously first string.
Next you find room for the primping tools: for the females, a blow dryer, a hai r straightener, a brush, and the ever trusty makeup case; for the males, some hair gel, a comb, and perhaps even a blow dryer for those with a major mane--all essential for you to be as clean and polished on your trip as you are at home, a self-made Cosmo or GQ model, but without the excessive air-brushing.
But what if you're going on a service trip?
Every year, Saint Joseph's University students participate in spring and summer service immersion programs during which they find themselves in parts of the United States and the world that bear little resemblance to the Main Line, lodgings that are a far cry from the Four Seasons, and doing work that would never be included in anyone's Cancun vacation schedule.
For these reasons, service immersion program leaders make sure to tell their participants some simple truths before they depart: You're going work hard, you're going to get dirty, and you're not going to need, or want, to dress nicely.
Still, it can be hard to leave your daily regiment behind for a week or two and resign yourself to a reality of sweat pants, hoodies, and a facial appearance au natural, a reality that many students on service trips, especially first timers, are unprepared for.
Basic hygiene is essential, of course, and no students are ever placed in a situation where a shower and a sink are not available to them. Showering is encouraged, and brushing your teeth should be the first part of every participant's 7 a.m. wake up each day, along with whatever song the leaders play on their iPod speakers as a makeshift alarm.
But what about those students who can't stand the sight of themselves without makeup on or with untamed hair? Can they cope?
Next you find room for the primping tools: for the females, a blow dryer, a hai r straightener, a brush, and the ever trusty makeup case; for the males, some hair gel, a comb, and perhaps even a blow dryer for those with a major mane--all essential for you to be as clean and polished on your trip as you are at home, a self-made Cosmo or GQ model, but without the excessive air-brushing.
But what if you're going on a service trip?
Every year, Saint Joseph's University students participate in spring and summer service immersion programs during which they find themselves in parts of the United States and the world that bear little resemblance to the Main Line, lodgings that are a far cry from the Four Seasons, and doing work that would never be included in anyone's Cancun vacation schedule.
For these reasons, service immersion program leaders make sure to tell their participants some simple truths before they depart: You're going work hard, you're going to get dirty, and you're not going to need, or want, to dress nicely.
Still, it can be hard to leave your daily regiment behind for a week or two and resign yourself to a reality of sweat pants, hoodies, and a facial appearance au natural, a reality that many students on service trips, especially first timers, are unprepared for.
Basic hygiene is essential, of course, and no students are ever placed in a situation where a shower and a sink are not available to them. Showering is encouraged, and brushing your teeth should be the first part of every participant's 7 a.m. wake up each day, along with whatever song the leaders play on their iPod speakers as a makeshift alarm.
But what about those students who can't stand the sight of themselves without makeup on or with untamed hair? Can they cope?
Be the first to comment on this story