Saturday, March 3

Cassie Moriarty:

Despite an early morning departure and a long day of travel ahead of us, we set off for North Carolina full of excitement. Split up into four vehicles, our caravan headed South. We stopped a few times along the way for bathroom breaks, gas stops, and lunch, but made excellent time nonetheless. Each van seemed to have a lot of laughs as we had sing a longs, played games, and chatted the whole drive down. 

After arriving at the hotel, settling in, watching some of the Villanova victory, and grabbing some snacks for the week, we went to an Italian restaurant called Brooklyn Bros for dinner. We were joined by Greg’s in-laws and got to meet the people we have heard so much about over the past year or so. Greg talked about how special it was for him to have his family to meet our LEVEL family. As a group, we talk a lot about the relationships we form with the people around us and the influence that these relationships have on us, and look forward to furthering our relationships with the members of the break trip group throughout the week. 

After dinner we met for reflection where Sarah and Brandon lead the group through various exercises. We talked about our lows and highs of the day and then used a string to track a conversation throughout the group. When each person received the string, they told an embarrassing story about themselves, what they were most excited for this week, and any fears that they had regarding our experience.

Personally, having everyone open up to the group about their hopes and fears helped me feel closer to the group. Although I knew most of the people on this trip fairly well before we got to North Carolina, being vulnerable and sharing your personal thoughts with people only brings you closer together. 

While everyone had varying individual goals for this break trip experience, a common theme throughout everyone’s contributions was the desire to grow as individuals and as a group, furthering the mission of LEVEL and contributing to the organization that has enriched our Villanova experiences. After passing the string around the group, we were now both figuratively and literally intertwined. The string was then cut into bracelets adorned with a bead for each member of our break trip group to wear, symbolic of our shared reflection and experience. 

After thoughtful group refection, the logistics for Sunday were discussed and we headed back to our respective hotel rooms for some much needed and well deserved rest.

Carter Young

Admittedly, I was concerned before the trip because of the cyclone that left our area snowy, icy, and dangerous for travel. The snow was still all across the area, and several trees fell and blocked various roads, making transportation difficult. When I went to the Connelly Center at 5:22, I saw no one there but a man unlocked the doors to the building to allow us to meet up inside. Soon, some of my fellow LEVEL members came and told me that the leaving time got pushed back from 5:30 to 6:00 which made me relieved. We got in the vans once everyone had arrived and thankfully did not have too much trouble with snow or trees. We were able to sleep and relax in the vans as we left for North Carolina. 

We played plenty of music which made our trip enjoyable and stopped at Chick-fil-A and Panera Bread for lunch, I chose the later. We then continued our car ride, enjoying the music, and the various scenery we passed including the numerous fields of cows. We eventually reached our hotel, feeling exhausted, gross, or just weird from traveling in cramped vans for hours. We met up with Greg, discussed our plans for the day, and then set up our items in our rooms. I got a room with Brandon, a person in LEVEL I have seen plenty of times but have not spent as much time with as my other fellow LEVEL members. Our group then went to the Wal-MArt for supplies except for me since I had already stocked up on plenty of supplies. We then brought the food back to our hotel . I was surprised by the amount since I expected a small number of pocket size snacks per person, but instead there were various bags and large containers of food. I wonder how much of it will last in the next few days knowing some peoples' appetites. 

We then had a lovely dinner at Brooklyn Bros, a pizza and Italian restaurant. Before eating, we got to meet Greg Hannah's in-laws, who greeted us warmly. We had time to speak with them personally, which I enjoyed. Most of us ordered pizza for dinner, but I ordered salad and linguini with clams. Our meal ended with Greg's family giving us some of the most delicious brownies we have ever had. Then we went back to the hotel to wind down for a short time. We had a short reflection of the day, spoke about expectations of the trip and discussed some embarrassing moments in our lives. We then talked about our plans for the next day including church (for some of us), and orientation at our service sites. Right now, I have great expectations for this trip and look forward to working my body off helping out, as well as getting to know everyone better. 

Tori Faust:

Day 1 was a day full of laughter of adventure and, waking up this morning, I couldn't help the massive smile on my face as I thought about all the excitement that today is bound to bring. Through all of the car singing and crazy Walmart adventures, one thing is clear, this group already feels like family and radiates positivity and optimism. One of the most touching moments of day one occurred during dinner when a couple approached Greg to tell him how wonderful of a group we are; they based this judgement off of the positive energy we brought into the restaurant and the love we showed as we interacted with each other. I think this is extremely powerful because it shows the difference that just a little bit of happiness can make and the power we hold in our friendships. I am so proud to be a part of such a loving network inside Villanova and I can't wait to see how we will grow and the impact we will make as we engage with the community here in North Carolina.