During this year’s spring break week, twelve students, one advisor, and myself were able to travel down to Savannah, Georgia for a week where we were lucky enough to help the National Wildlife Refuge.

After the last day of classes on Friday, we all got up at four in the morning on that Saturday to begin our long trip. We split into 3 different vehicles for a 14-hour drive from Springfield to Savannah, Georgia. The drive took majority of the day, plus we took multiple bathroom and food breaks along the way. When we arrived at the reservation where we stayed, it was really late so everyone went to sleep.

Our first official day in Savannah was more of an exploration experience rather than working. Everyone wanted to explore the place where we were living and wanted to have fun. What we ended up finding were a lot of trails and climbable trees. After that, we returned home to get ready to go into Savannah itself and get some food. After we ate, we went back to the house to relax and prepare for the real work the next day.

The first day of work, we arrived at Savannah’s National Wildlife Refuge visitor center. There, we met our rangers who then explained what we would be doing that day and for the rest of the week. Before we got down and dirty, we all gathered into one room and watched a video showing us the history of Savannah and the Wildlife Refuge where we were. Once the video was done, we learned about our task that we were going to do.

The task of the day was to fill up all the bollards on the refuge. Why? Because animals, like birds, would get into them to stay warm but when it came to get out they would get stuck. Because the refuge was long, we had to split into two groups.

While we were on the trail looking for bollards, what we saw instead saw were alligators. They were either in the water or just laying down in the sun. Freshmen Physical Therapy major Cameron Akers said, “When I filled up a bollard there was a snake in one of them.”

This was becoming an issue for the National Wildlife Refuge that they didn’t want. After we filled up of the bollards, we cleaned out the trucks. Once the trucks were cleaned we went back to the house and relaxed.

For the second day of work, we once again arrived at the wildlife refuge to receive our tasks for the day. This day had us doing different things while splitting us into three different groups. The first group went on a trail in the woods where they painted arrows on trees so people knew where to go on the trails so they wouldn’t get lost. We also saw all types of animals there too. The first group also cut down plants in the way and moved objects out of the way to create paths for people.

Becky Rousseau, a sophomore Physical Therapy major, said, “My favorite part of the trip were all the animals and working with all the locals rangers on the refuge.”

The second group went off to clean off housees where wasps created their nesting place. The third group went to put gravel on the brick trails where people would walk on as well. Around 12 p.m., we all went to lunch together. Once lunch was over we started back up again. We would continue our task and then went back to the house.

The third day was the last day we worked at the National Wildlife Refuge center. We put gravel on another smaller trail that day. Other people cleaned off the buildings to make the place look nicer when visitors arrived. Another group of people put stray around the tree’s and in the front of the welcome sign because the stray that they had was dead and needed to replaced. Another group was taken to the other side of the refuge and did some work there as well.

On the fourth day, which was our last day of work, we didn’t leave the reservation where we were currently staying at. We once again split into groups. One group went to the beach to go pick up trash. There was a lot of trash just thrown over the fence. Closer to the water, this certain group was able to see a dolphin swimming in the water.

The other group went to go either fix or clean the signs around the area. These signs were for where you could park your car, no trespassing, or what wildlife was living in the certain area. After the separation, we all got back together and went to the pond where we cut twigs and weeds down because they had gotten too long. Once we finished that job it was time to say our final goodbyes to all the wildlife rangers that we had met and bonded with during the trip.

Each night instead of going out to eat to a different restaurant, people in a group of three would cook a different dish everyday. This had created a bonding experience because not everyone has cooked with one another before so it made making dinner together interesting.

Grace Belt, a sophomore Occupational Therapy major, said “My favorite part of the trip was the bonding experience we had with each other.”

We all truly bonded with one another. If you did not know someone on this trip then you definitely do now. The bonds made on this trip will last a life time.

We all were able to go and hang out in Savannah for a couple of hours and explore the city life and absorb some of their culture. We all got up early Saturday morning and started our drive home, saying our last goodbyes to Savannah for the last time.

If you have never done alternate spring break before then I really believe that you are missing out on something great.