Every spring break, roughly 250 students and adults make the nine hour drive from Piedmont, CA, to Tecate, Baja California, Mexico. In teams of about 15, they build a total of 16 houses for disadvantaged families.

“Mexico Magic” is a phrase that simply and accurately describes the energy that everyone exudes while on the trip, the feeling that permeates the air.

Although it is tangible before the vans reach Mexico, and it doesn’t suddenly disappear completely when the vans arrive back home, Mexico Magic is still mostly felt on the trip itself.

Why?

“Students who through the goodness of their heart put a lot of effort into the building of a house and then just give that house away to a less fortunate family experience an incredible feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment which “can’t be beat”. This feeling is enhanced by building the house not as an individual, but as a team—so that the experience is shared,” said Rod Thompson, the Yellow Team leader who coined the phrase a few years ago.

Everyone has their own definition of “Mexico Magic” and what it feels like. For me, the most prominent part of the Magic is the sense of community I feel with everyone on the Mexico trip. As my friend put it, “we’re all in this together”; “this” being the daily struggle; the sweat, grime and hard labor that we all put into building a house for a disadvantaged family we know for only four days.

Somehow, all this hard work brings us together. I haven’t had a Mexico team I didn’t love by the end of the week, or even by the end of the first Sunday meeting.

Sitting around the campfire on the last night, I notice that most teams are seated together. The last night of team summaries are replete with sentimentality about the past week of shared experiences on the teams, expressing how much a student loves their team, or a meaningful conversation they had with their Mexican family. During the last night in San Diego, students and adults both express what Mexico means to them, and later, sitting in circles, teams go around the circle praising each teammate individually. No one on the trip can deny that Mexico Magic does exist, and that it means something to them.

However, as the first week back to school drags on, we lose touch with the Mexico spirit. We go from sharing most of our waking hours giving everything we have to build a house with 12 classmates, to seeing these people maybe once a week and saying “hi” in the hallways. No wonder people tend to disconnect.

Every year you might stay friendly with one person, the whole team, or no one. What’s makes the difference?

It takes effort from each individual person to stay friends. Enthusiastically saying hi in the hallways will last for awhile, but to keep a friendship going you have to spend time together. This is true for any relationship. Try to get a team bonding going; offer to host if you’re serious about it.

Still, you’re going to become closer to some people more than others. Spend time in small groups with these people, or one-on-one time. I’ve found that I’ve stayed close with teammates who I spend time with outside of school, or who start up conversations with me at school or whenever we see each other, years after we were on a team together. (S/O to LUKE SMITH brothah keeps it REAL)

In the end, it comes down to how badly you all want to stay friends. You shared a great week together, and an experience that you can’t recreate, but in the end it might just fizzle out naturally. You have different classes, different friends, different after school activities you get caught up in. No matter what, you still have the memories.

To keep up the heartwarming feeling of Mexico, do community service once or twice a month (for example, try working at a St. Vincent de Paul Free Dining Room–maybe even with your team!). And remember how friendly you were with everyone on the trip? Try to keep up that accepting attitude. The school setting is a lot bigger, but if everyone was just a little friendlier, a little more accepting–in other words: if everyone brought some of the Mexico Magic back home–we could make school a better environment and a lot more fun.