As spring break approached, I was starting to feel doubts about the choice I had made. Instead of deciding to go to Gulf Shores, Alabama with the majority of our PC, I, along with 7 of my other Zeta sisters, chose to go to Destin, Florida with Young Life for their annual spring break trip.
In the days before we left for Florida, seeing everyone’s Instagram pictures, Snapchats, and posts in the GroupMe about how much fun they were having in Gulf Shores made me feel as if I should have gone with them instead. I initially chose YL spring break over the typical freshman experience in Gulf Shores because I wanted something different and a chance to meet other people with the same beliefs as me, but after seeing all of my sisters having so much fun on the beach together, I was starting definitely feeling some #ragrets.
Luckily, those doubts went away just as soon as they came, and Young Life spring break ended up being such an incredible and fulfilling experience!
A typical day consisted of devotional in the morning with all 200+ people who went on the trip, followed by breaking up into our small groups to dig deeper into the message we just heard. After that, we were free to do whatever we wanted on the beach- most of the time we spent laying out, swimming in the ocean, or playing volleyball. At night, we would reconvene for worship where we sang songs together and listened to another speaker.
One night, after worship, we had the opportunity to write our prayers down, post them on the wall, and go around the room to read what people were struggling with and to pray for them. This was one of my favorite nights of the trip- it was such a humbling and beautiful thing to be able to watch people who were once strangers at the beginning of this trip open up to one another, be vulnerable, and pray together. It was this night that my sisters and I had a heart to heart and really got to know each other on a much deeper level.
The last night of our trip really was the perfect end to a perfect week. We all waded out into the ocean with our sister Kelsey and stood by her hand-in-hand as she got baptized at sunset with dolphins swimming behind us (it sounds too good to be true, but I swear it happened). Sharing this special moment with my beautiful Zeta sisters made me feel so incredibly silly for having those doubts coming into the trip.
It sounds cheesy and cliche, but I’m sure the girls who were with me on this trip would agree that we were meant to go on Young Life spring break together to not only grow stronger in our faith, but also closer to one another as sisters.
ZLAM, Tori Smith
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