Spring Hill College students will be donating their time around the world this Mardi Gras break through the ISIP and JET programs. Five groups of students will aid the communities of El Paso, Guayna, Quito, Belize City, and Punta Gorda at the end of this February. The Spring Hill students who are taking part in these trips will be participating in activities that will help the local people. Through actions such as talking to the community and spreading the Jesuit lifestyle Spring Hill offers, these students will offer a helping hand.
The ISIP or, International Service Immersion Program and Jet, the Jesuit Experience Trip, programs offer students the opportunity to go on an immersive trip to another country while also aiding those who live there. The students have been prepared to go to these countries by being taught proper ways to travel and handle the new environments they will be in. The students have met every Tuesday during the semester leading up to the trip in order to help them learn to be immersed safely.
The students are excited to embark on these trips and help those they can. Meghan Sullivan, Spring Hill Senior said, “I heard great things about ISIP last year and knew I wanted to do an immersion trip while in college. I really am looking forward to going on the JET trip this break!” Other students hope to learn on this trip. A Junior Communication Arts major, Eleanor Grindinger, said “My group hopes to come back to Spring Hill advocating for those in the process of immigrating.”
The trips in previous years have allowed students to travel to various locations in Belize and Central America where they were able to work with a school and help the youths. The trip provides a chance for memories to be made and lives to be changed for both the students giving and the people receiving the benefits of a Jesuit lifestyle. These students will have stories of their trips about how their immersion trips went for a long time while many people forget which parades they went to. So, while many people will be spending this upcoming weekend catching beads and stuffed animals, a few groups of students will be trying to help others in different countries this Mardi Gras break.