Alternative Breaks Experience

Passion for Compassion

In December of 2017, I participated in an Alternative Winter Break trip. I along with other students from the Pre-vet society raised funds and traveled to Louisiana, New Orleans. While there, we volunteered at Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO). The week spent consisted of bonding not only with the students on the trip but also with the animals that we were working with. It was a small animal rescue. Each dog and cat had its own story about how they got there but they all wanted the same thing, to be in a forever home. They wanted hope, someone to show them they cared, and reassurance that even in bad times, it will all get better. Our responsibilities consisted of giving them love and attention and making sure everything was taken care of from cleaning cages and giving baths to assuring they were healthy and their environment was too. We were able to assist the veterinarian and other employees. We choose to help with the backyard and give them a gift with what we had left over so they could make necessary improvements that were needed. By the end of the week, each student had made a connection with at least one of the rescues there and to me, that was one of the most breathtaking moments of the entire trip, as we were all saying bye to them. It was no longer a trip with peers to an unknown city working with unfamiliar animals; it had become a group of friends that traveled with a purpose to help those who need others to be their voice and lending hand and all it took was trust. 

One specific moment I will never forget is being asked to walk one of the "more dangerous dogs" and I was given very specific directions about how to take care of him because he was "aggressive". So as I was informed, I proceeded with caution but yet still confidence and care and it was not more then 15 minutes later when I was sitting on the ground and he was on my lap licking me and trying to play as if he were a puppy. 

We are all in this life together, and making someone's day, or even showing them that they matter, whether its, a stranger, a friend, or an animal can have a huge impact on the rest of their life and may even change the course it was on. 

Learning about the city and getting to experience this is in a whole new way gave me new perspectives to see through each day.