JULIANA PELAEZ, KVN REPORTER
Wartburg College Service Trips has made another achievement for the second consecutive year.
Every year Wartburg College Service Trips send out two surveys to its participants. The participants have a chance to tell their stories of what they expect for the coming trip in the presurvey and what they liked from their experience post survey.
“Wartburg College Service Trips that grabs an assessment to see how many trips have went out with the number of participants,” said third-year Mattie Barr. “We then send that out to the main headquarters, the Break Away Chapter of Service Trips. And then as a total, they take count of how many people are on Wartburg College campus, how many people went on a service trip, and then they put that into their big configuration of all the service trips organizations around the U.S.”
Break Away recently configured for the 2019 year that the Wartburg College Service Trip has reached the number two spot for service trip surveys on a national level. This has been their second consecutive year for achieving this title.
“We have continuously, year after year, had a high percentage of our student body participate in service trips and that says a lot to our mission of having that pillar, that core pillar of service and our students really embrace that,” said director of community engagement Kristin Teig-Torres. “It is something to be extremely proud of. We are a small institution but we have a high percentage of students who participate in service trips.”
Service Trips are taken during students fall, winter, and tour week breaks. The trips involve visiting various states to help communities and take part in projects.
“With service trips, these trips are specifically made very diverse,” said Barr. “The participants are randomly placed on these trips. Most of the time the participants that go on these trips don’t even know each other before they go on the trip. They make those connections and learn more about people as well as the culture.”
Going on a service trip opens up new experiences for many students, and is open to all students for each break. This gives each participant a chance to work within new communities they have never been to, as well as work with people they have never met.
“And it’s a great way to bond with your Wartburg peers,” said Teig-Torres. “And really have a great time, as well as develop some really great understanding of a social issue and cultural competency.
This winter break, Wartburg College service trips will be sending teams to Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and the Grand Canyon.
Knight Wire 
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