Hey everyone! My name is Cameron Jordan and I am one of the Co-leaders for the Bear Breaks Spring Break trip to Asheville, Carolina!
Why be a leader?
To say I am excited to be leading a bear breaks trip is an understatement! Last year I had the awesome opportunity to go to New Orleans on an immersion trip and it was one of the highlights of my college career. I developed a passion for experiencing other cultures serving communities alongside the people living there. When the opportunity came out to step up in to co-leadership I knew it was the next step for me! This is the chance me for me to deliver to other students the experience that I found so beneficial. I am also super excited to be going to Asheville, North Carolina.
Health and Wellness
I am really excited to see what is in store in relation to Health and Wellness based community service. In all honesty; there are so many possibilities that figuring out exactly where to start was a little bit overwhelming! We have spent a lot of time looking in to some of the social issues that take place in Asheville, North Carolina. Previous years have had focus on homelessness and the HIV/Aids community. Asheville also has a large population living under the poverty line, and has a large drug issue. These are all serious issues that I look forward to tackling with the team in order to truly serve the community. We have looked in to continuing previous partnerships as well as making the trip different by incorporating various other partners. Our goal is to create an experience very different than something you are going to find in Springfield, Missouri.
Reflections:
A large part of the immersion trips are the reflections that take place every day. This is important for a large number of reasons. I think it is really important to understand why we are doing what we’re doing. Naturally, every participant is going to have different takeaways from the experience. It is important for us to be able to discuss what we learned so we can grow together as a team, promote vulnerable membership, and authenticate the experience. Another goal of mine is to make a lasting experience that can be brought back to Springfield. I previously mentioned that our goal was to create a different experience than what can be found in Springfield. However; the truth is that the service done in relation to health and wellness can be re-created anywhere. My goal is to lead a team to not just spend a week doing community service. My goal is to lead a team that develops a passion for improving the community around them no matter which city they are in.