I spent spring break last week in coastal Texas, on Padre Island National Seashore as a part of an Alternative Spring Break group. We (eight students) spent the week working with park rangers in the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery, primarily constructing nesting chambers in preparation for the nesting season that starts in April. In addition to serving in such a beautiful environment, all eight of us bonded in such a way that I feel that this is the best trip I’ve taken in my life.
The distance from Vanderbilt’s campus to our campsite on Padre Island spanned a little more than a thousand miles, which meant we spent approximately 15 hours on the road, coming to and going from our destination. While this may sound unbearably long to some, the time flew by because I was in a van with three of the most friendly and interesting people I have met at Vanderbilt. By the time we arrived on Malaquite Beach on the northern part of the seashore, I was sure that I would be close with them for the remainder of the trip.
We stayed on the Malaquite campground on Padre Island from Sunday afternoon until Friday morning. Because the island is a nationally protected, primitive seashore, there was no cell signal once we passed from Corpus Christi to the island. I’m not sure why I expected us to be staying on a deserted stretch of island, but our group had plenty of neighbors on vacation on the campsite that were friendly. Every night, we in pairs would take turns to make a meal for our group on a propane stove, with varying levels of success. I must say that I am sure that my and my partner’s meal – chicken parmesan and fettuccine, was unanimously lauded as the best of the week. After dinner, we each presented our Life Map – a presentation lasting about an hour detailing our whole lives and the events, people, and relationships that form who we are today. I at first found it to be overly long and irrelevant to the service we were doing, but I quickly saw how it was an integral part of our bonding as a group. I actually quite enjoyed the tent aspect of the trip – it also helped in bonding with my tent mates.
Our service with the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery focused on helping the park rangers prepare for the nesting season for the six different species of sea turtle that nest on the coast of Texas, specifically concerning the Kemp’s ridley, of which only a few thousand are extant. For two and a half days out of our four days of service, I and two others spent time preparing the incubation lab as well as sanitizing and constructing boxes and bins to hold the turtle eggs – good work, but a bit tedious. The other one and a half day was spent riding in a ranger’s trunk down the beach to assist in preparing a cabin for rangers to stay when they need to continuously monitor the coming and going of turtles – we perceived this to be preferable to working in the lab, though of course we saw the importance of both stations.
I will remember the ASB trip to Padre Island as one of the most consequential voyages I have been on. I am so grateful for the close friendships I have made during this week, as well as the important service that I had the opportunity to do on the island. Coming back from break excites me because I know I am returning with seven new friends. Given the choice, I would definitely choose to do ASB again.