Every night the 12 members of Alternative Spring Break group "Brick House" shared their "roses," "buds" and "thorns" with each other while sitting on church pews, their beds for the week.

The group members, who worked with a homeless community in central Florida, are among 400 ASB participants at 35 sites across North America who reflected as a group each night about their service projects. Now in its 20th year, ASB has become the largest student organization on campus.

The last night is typically the most reflective, with group members talking about their accomplishments and what they learned throughout the week.

"I have a bunch of roses today but the one that sticks out was the look on the woman's face who was in the hospital when she saw the room that we all redid," sophomore and "Brick House" member Lindsey Jones said. "She was really, just really, like surprised and excited and it felt really special and it makes me feel good that all the hard work that our group put into that one room paid off and she gave every single person there a hug and she was just really grateful and that was just really nice to see."

When ASB Co-chair Nancy Schoemann asked "Brick House" site leader Laura Kim about her trip on Monday, Kim threw her arms in the air and smiled.

"You definitely get a lot of people who just say it's awesome," Schoemann said. "They can't really put it in words yet. I think it takes a while for a lot of people to sink in the experience."

Schoemann attributes people's good opinions about ASB to the program's equally weighted emphasis on service, education and reflection.

"You're throwing everyone into this intense service experience away from campus, and they are able to create this bond that I think is hard to create on campus," Schoemann said. "We don't just do service, we put emphasis on education and reflection, and by equally emphasizing all three aspects we are able to give people a well-rounded experience and expand beyond the immediate service. It brings the issue deeper and the people together."

Schoemann explained that most sites spend the majority of the day doing service, while nighttime is spent circling up and reflecting on the day and the issue, and also doing "life maps."

"Everyone takes turns telling their life stories," Schoemann said. "It sounds cheesy, but for a lot of people, it's the most powerful part of ASB because you get to know people on a really deep level really quickly."

Schoemann said participants are so willing to open up about their life stories because ASB tries to create groups with people from "different social groups on campus."

"The fact that no one knows from the beginning evens the playing field," Schoemann said. "I think site leaders usually do a good job in creating a safe space. People all embrace the fact that they are all there to do service."

Schoemann, who has participated in ASB since she was a freshman, said she thinks ASB is something every Vanderbilt student should do at least once.

"Once you do it, you'll do it once you'll get hooked," she said. "I think that we hold a lot of pride in the fact that it was started at Vanderbilt."

"Brick House" member and freshman Lindsey Smith said she is considering participating in ASB again.

"My thorn is the fact that I want to stay, but we have to go back - I don't feel like going back, and I don't want to get all emotional, but I liked this week," Smith said. "I was telling (another group member) that it's weird that we're never going to be back here, and that's really weird to think about. And my bud is seeing all you guys around campus."

On Sunday, the some 400 ASB members will come together for a reorientation in Wilson 103.

"I have heard a lot of good stories," Schoemann said. "It's nice to get positive feedback after putting so much time in something."