LEVEL Break Trip

Katie Baird: Hi everyone! My name is Katie Baird, a junior comprehensive science major! I have been involved in Level since my freshman year and have greatly enjoyed my time involved in this organization thus far. Faith, service, and Level are three significant facets of my college experience and I have been so grateful to combine the three for this weeklong journey. This morning we headed back to Rocky Creek for another wonderful day. In the morning, our group finished a previous project of planting seeds for the greenhouse. Rather than separating into different groups to complete various projects around the farm, we instead assembled as a group in the barn and worked all together on a gardening project to beautify the greenhouses near the entrance of the property. All group members were assigned the following tasks: seed planting, pot labeling, label cataloging, and transporting pots. After about an hour or so, I remember looking around the room and admiring our group’s cohesi...

Elisabeth Schiltz: Today was my favorite day thus far. We woke up, headed to breakfast at Rocky Creek Ranch and then were joined by students from the Life Skills class at Community School of Davidson (CSD), a local charter school. Many of these students struggle with intellectual disabilities, which can often inhibit their communication levels, but that did not stop our group from breaking down the boundaries and establishing genuine relationships while doing various service projects.  Yesterday, when introducing ourselves, we had to choose if we were superhero, celebrity or sports people, and talk about our favorite person. This was of great benefit as it helped both us and the students from CSD establish quick connections that could grow over the next two days. Given my love for sports, I formed a connection with Ty, one of the quieter students.  While Ty kept to himself almost all of yesterday and for the first hour or so today, I finally broke down the wall and got hi...