TESTIMONIES
TRIP VLOGS
Video by Evelyn Luu (Participant 2019, Site Leader 2020)
Video by Keerthana Muthukrishnan (Participant 2018 Wyoming)
Video by Quynh Vo (Site Leader 2020 SF, Public Relation 2021)
Video by Quynh Vo (Participant 2019 Fresno, Site Leader 2020)
MEMBER'S EXPERIENCE
“Hi I’m Seerat, an AB alum and past 2019-2020 Co-Director! My experience in AB began my freshman year as a participant on an environmental conservation trip to Channel Islands National Park. In my second year, I had the privilege to lead the first winter site with my co Val to San Francisco about sustainable development AND be a participant for the environmental conservation trip to Joshua Tree National Park. In my free time, I love to paint/draw, hang out with my friends, and eat new food in LA. My plans are to become a physician in the future, but I’m currently using my gap years to explore my other passions, paint, research, and take some much needed time to decompress! :)
AB instigated my growth from day 1 as a shy freshman going to a meeting where I knew nobody and walking out of each AB event with new service-minded friends. It allowed me to become more compassionate, environmentally conscious, and bolder. It changed how I present myself to people around me and empowered me to be an advocate for ideas I’m passionate about wherever I go.
Along with the social justice topic you delve into, be ready for a lot of internal growth, tears, long-lasting friendships, community building, learning, and traveling across the country! I recommend the AB experience to any one no matter what year, background, experience level, major, etc. Everyone has something to learn from each trip!”
“Hello! My name is Ruben and I was a part of AB 2017 and 2018. We went to Sequoia to work with park rangers and went to Coachella Valley to work with people with disabilities and animal shelters. My hobbies now, especially with all this time, are listening to new music constantly. Listening to genres I would never listen to, and listening to music from pre 2000s. It’s challenging, rewarding and requires lots of patience. I work as an electrical engineer for a Transit Agency, and I hope to continue working in improving the infrastructure for our community.
Positively, in so many ways. When I signed up for AB, it brought me feelings of fear and panic. I was such a socially anxious person and was worried to meet new people in a whole new city for a whole week. But doing it allowed me to be vulnerable to people, which allowed me to address and unfound fears that I had. It taught how to be a better ally for communities. Because of working with animal shelters, it really helped me become the vegan I am today! When I’m dating someone (haha), I love to talk about how amazing my experience was spending my spring break with strangers, that in turn become friends, and helping out a community.
We all have faced trauma, and it takes a village to heal and unlearn toxic coping mechanisms. Working with AB taught me a healthy coping mechanism: helping the community. Making someone’s day can make your day. And we don’t have to do things alone. working in a community allows us to help each other out.”
“Hi! My name is Carissa and I’m a graduating senior that served as a Site Development Coordinator for the 2019-2020 school year. During my third year, I served as a Site Leader for a trip to San Diego that looked at human trafficking. I hope to secure a job in a mission-oriented organization working for underrepresented communities. Other than talking about AB, I love to have long conversations, play music, and bake!
AB provides week-long immersive service trips for UCLA undergraduates from all majors. I would not have interacted so deeply and learned so intimately from people of various backgrounds had I not been in AB for the last three school years. I've cultivated a lot of great friendships with people I probably would not have met without AB!!
AB has affected not only the ways that I look at service, but also the ways that I view myself and the world. AB was the first volunteering organization that showed me that all aspects of service must be intentional, and how service is two-way. Through AB, I "un-learned" a lot of the biases and notions that I previously held about certain communities and completely altered my ways of thinking. I would not have pursued many career and volunteer opportunities if I hadn't been so impacted by AB's missions of learning how to work with others, and learning how to be a more active, intentional person in the community."