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"To me, what characterizes Mepkin most is that there are no safety nets. What could possibly be adequate compensation if you invest your entire life in the search for God and fall short? It's easy for me to get up at 3:00 in the morning for 3:20 vigils for one week, just to know I did it. A lifetime of 3:20 vigils, though? That must be the work of someone risking it all, willing to give everything just for one word."

--Anna Skorupa, Editor-in-Chief of The Symposium, writing of her Spring Break at Mepkin Abbey

Educational and sociological experts around the country bemoan the fact that the youth of today, raised on MTV, have short attention spans and short-term goals. They live for momentary pleasures and cannot be convinced to think about next year, let alone about higher spiritual goals.

Why, then, did a group of SKS students decide to spend their cherished Spring Break at a monestary in South Carolina? Why did they choose to live the rigorous life of the monks—the 3:00 wake-up call, the days of hard work in the fields and the egg packing plant, the meditation and chanting? Was the experience worthwhile, or even entirely positive?

Here are some answers in their own words. Each quote comes from a different student who attended the SKS House Course in Spring of 2000, and the Spring Break trip at the end of the course. All the photos on this page come from that same trip.

"Mepkin Abbey and the monks who live there is a warm community set off from the world not only by fences, but also by dedication, devotion, and beautiful simplicity. By retreating from the density of life within the walls of the monastery, I actually was able to learn and understand more about the immense world around them that delights and confuses me. Standing apart form the world I knew, my life gained clarity."

"The monks of Mepkin Abbey were the warmest, kindest, and most hospitable people I have ever met in my life. They own absolutely nothing, but think constantly of what they can give or do for others. On the surface, they've given up everything, yet in their utter selflessness they somehow have found an inner contentment I rarely have seen outside the cloister walls. Though I still can't imagine being at Mepkin to stay, I must admit those monks have found something special, something I can only describe as divine."

"Even at Mepkin, I couldn't stop my natural competitive drive. The whole day spent tearing apart that chicken house was full of the grim satisfaction that no one but those of us out there could be getting this disgusting, this cut up by wire and nails, or this sore or frustrated from the sheer physical challenge of the work. I spend my life trying to earn credit for everything. I seek recognition always. Then, out of nowhere, comes this thank-you. Impossible to earn. When I hear the monks there praying for us, thanking us, asking that our help be returned as if we were the ones blessing them, it's humbling and such a shock. It's so far from my way of thinking. It makes me regret every effort to earn or be rewarded with anything—what do I want earnings and rewards for, in the face of this huge blessing? The things I've been striving for, the bits of praise and attention that I can lay claim to, are nothing. They're not worth anything. I can't work and manipulate my way toward something as sacred as being accepted and thanked at Mepkin."

"These men are the very definition of hospitality, full of smiles for guests and constantly doing little things to make your stay more pleasant. Their actions are deliberate, behind the scenes, and not meant to garner praise or thanks. Service is their business and joy is their reward. Who knows how many of the things that just seemed to work out for our group were really the work of a monk's hands, silently serving our needs and leaving unnoticed with a smile on his face."

"I was never raised religous and the idea of God is confusing and lots of times scary to me. He is always there, lurking in the background but he is rarely in the forethought of my mind. At Mepkin, it seemed as if I couldn't get away from God. He was everywhere and I didn't really know what to do with Him. I can't grasp Him. I feel like he is always at my front door asking to be let in and I just can't find the strength within me to open it. This is the feeling I had when I left Mepkin and it is the same feeling that is eating at me right now. Sometimes, I wish I had never gone to Mepkin."