Hello! My name is Rebekah, and I am a senior criminal justice and applied intelligence dual major. I am one of the two student leaders for the Merida ABST this year, and this is my second ABST experience.  Today started with a walk to a local coffee shop, and breakfast…

Hi Gannon! This is Madi and Sae, two of the students on the ABST to Guatemala 2026! Today we started our morning off at construction and we helped with small but meaningful tasks, observed skilled workers in action, and asked questions about the tools and techniques being used. The experience…

4:30 a.m. comes earlier than you think in Guatemala! We began our day meeting up with the St. Mark’s seminarians bright and early, all with hopeful dispositions. We quickly realized that hiking a “hill” in Guatemala is very different from climbing a mountain in Pennsylvania. It was rough, but thankfully…

Hello! My name is Shayla. I am a junior in the education major, and this is my first Alternative Spring Break Trip (ABST). I am excited to learn and grow through this experience while helping the community. Today, was our first day of service at the Beth-El Church, where we began…

Hi gannon family! My name is Diya Joshi, I am from Nepal. I am a social work major and psychology minor. This is my first ABST, and I am excited to be serving at Beth El ministry in Ruskin, Fla. I am looking forward to learning about new culture and…

Welcome back to the blog! Namaste from Canada! My name is Srishty Shrestha. I am a junior majoring in Psychology, and I am from Nepal. This is my first ABST trip and also my very first time in Canada. I feel incredibly grateful to be here, spending this meaningful time…

Hello! My name is Meara, and I’m a first-year Occupational Therapy student. This trip to Mérida is my first ABST experience, and it has already been such a meaningful opportunity to learn and grow. We started the morning with breakfast and coffee from a local shop nearby. Some of us…

Welcome to Day 3 with Janine and Madeline! Madeline is a freshman psychology major, and Janine is a junior public health major. This is our first ABST! Today was all about getting introduced to the San Lucas Mission and familiarizing ourselves with how they walk with the community through various…

Hi, my name is Breanna. I am a second year student studying finance and accounting. I am on the Mérida ABST trip, which is my first one. We started the morning with coffee from a local shop and home cooked breakfast. We then rode over to Casa Nueva where we…

Hi Gannon University,  This is Blaise and Seanna, and we’re members of the Guatemala ABST. On our second day we woke up not in Guatemala but instead in Texas. We left from our hotel and headed to the airport in a clown car to board our flight to Guatemala. Thankfully…