This Spring Break, 38 NIU students went on three trips offered by the Newman Catholic Student Center and made a difference in people’s lives.

Students went to Alabama, Arkansas and West Virginia. The students in Alabama and Arkansas helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity.

Pat Mulheran, a Newman Center campus minister, said the energy and excitement students had when they came back from the trips was unbelievable.

“It was a great opportunity that allowed me to help others,” said Jennifer Wright, a sophomore elementary education major who went on the West Virginia trip.

Students who went to West Virginia built a ramp, worked at a food pantry and helped with the Head Start Preschool Program.

Wright said the trip consisted of a lot of listening and giving moral support to people in the community.

“One thing that the trip does for young adults that I see is that they really see that they can make a difference,” Mulheran said. “And it really does make life better for somebody else.”

Students can start filling out applications for next year’s Spring Break trips Nov. 1.