By Kailey McGinness 

SLU Sophomore, Occupational Therapy 

This Spring Break we went to Nashville, TN. It was a wonderful trip full of exploration, new experiences, friendship, service, and good barbeque. The first few days in Nashville were spent exploring the city. Some of the highlights of our explorations include visiting the Nashville State Museum, exploring cute local shops & line dancing at the Wild Horse Saloon.

Once Monday came we spent the rest of our days volunteering at Nashville General Hospital. Nashville General is a safety-net hospital in the area serving primarily the underprivileged population of Nashville. Our experience at Nashville General Hospital was amazing and eye-opening. I think the biggest take away from this experience is the gap the exists between us and those in the underprivileged population.

It is very easy to take things in life for granted. Many things that we assume to be basic aspects of our lives are things that people in underprivileged populations may struggle to have. For example, we learned that many babies born at Nashville General are taken home without clothes or blankets since their parents cannot afford them. However, to help the hospital collects donations and creates a bag full of blankets, clothes, bottles, and other baby necessities to give to mothers when they leave the hospital. It was truly amazing to hear about these acts of generosity. We also heard stories of nurses and doctors paying for things that their patients needed and couldn’t afford out of their own pocket.  We definitely saw God in the staff of Nashville General. Overall, our spring break trip was a wonderful couple of days. I’m very grateful for the time spent in Nashville and the wonderful people we had the opportunity to encounter within the hospital.