Lauren Campbell
Lauren Campbell
Dominican Republic, July 2024 - April, 2025
Hola! My name is Lauren and I am traveling to the Dominican Republic to work with New Hope Girls. Their mission is to rescue girls and empower women. At New Hope, I will serve as the residential storyteller and caregiver, and as an executive assistant. Read More About Lauren →

Home for the Holidays

I overslept my alarm.

My roommate woke me, explaining that the Uber driver I scheduled the night before and New Hope Girls’s driver, JM, were both waiting for me.

The night before, I planned for an early rise: collecting my laundry off the line (it rained the day before, so I had to leave my clothes out drying all night), making my bed, cleaning my bathroom, washing and blow drying my hair, emptying the trash. None of those things happened…

JM took him to the airport, though I was surprised to see him that morning. I suppose someone informed him of my flight home, and told me so, yet I failed to understand that through conversation alone. Either way, I got to the airport.

One Miami layover and six hours later, I was home in Nashville!

My dear friends Emma and Kaylee picked me up, hugging me before I could glide my suitcases toward the trunk. My voice jumped three octaves when I saw them—just so excited to be reminded of their real existence outside the parameters of my smartphone screen.

Mom made white chicken chilli (my favorite) and we watched Charlie Brown and Frosty the Snowman, but the Charlie Brown YouTube movie playlist shuffled, making for an advanced watching experience.

Illinois Christmas

Breaking tradition, Mimi’s Christmas Eve celebration occurred on the 22nd, which happens to be my sister Caroline’s birthday—double celebration.

The usual lineup includes: three of my sisters, Mom, my brother, his in-laws, his wife, and their five kids. Mimi decorates fantastically, emphasizing the dining room table. The appetizer section is quite the display as well. Its the crown jewel of the kitchen area, aside from the tree. My family loves the cheese ball the most.

We played fishbowl and catchphrase and the once-little-kids have grown enough to fully participate. Growing up.



Country Christmas

Caroline and I drove thirty minutes to our hometown, Carmi, IL. We made the usual stops at McDonalds and Walmart before driving down—I kid you not—Possum Road toward our Dad’s house.

I was in charge of mac and cheese this year, so we were the first ones there. It was a hit, and with over thirty people eating it—eight of them little kids—I was good with that.

Country Christmas at my Dad’s is always the largest and loudest with all six of my siblings, all ten of my nieces and nephews, and not to mention aunts, uncles, and cousins. Secret Santa occurs annually, and this year I bought my older sister a necklace with her three kids birthstones set in a silver charm.



Christmas Eve and Day

The day before Christmas, Mom and I wrapped presents together and helped prep food for our Christmas Eve dinner. My three sisters, Mimi, and my new brother-in-law met at the candlelight church service before returning to Mom’s house for dinner. It was simply a very nice time—I really missed my family. We ended the night with It’s a Wonderful Life, one of my favorites. Here’s a good quote:

“Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.”

The next morning, I gave away New Hope Girls and Helina’s Heart merchandise to my family, and in return I received a polaroid camera, an engraving pen, the game We Are Not Really Strangers, and a pickleball padel (because part of Alexa’s wishlist was that I received one too so we could play together).

Mom and I prepared breakfast (I prep the oranges and pomegranates every year). After we ate, we played the WANRS and it’s a tense premise, but we all agreed it was good to play.

We watched four movies, one of them The Holiday. A few days later, Mimi, Mom, and I had a oldies movie marathon: Meet Me in St. Louis, The Shop Around the Corner, Holiday, and Holiday Inn. Random shift, but we watched Good Will Hunting.



NYC for NYE

One of my dear friends and former roommates moved to NYC this year, so we organized a girls trip for the holiday, which happens to be Kaylee’s birthday.

We ate pizza, navigated the subway, cooked a Trader Joe’s dinner, went to The Strand and Barnes and Noble, toured Greenwich and West Village (GC works at NYU, but not for NYU), walked around Central Park by night, and tried a few coffee shops by day. My dear friend Emma joined us for a NYE celebration at a restaurant on the west side. We walked home in the rain, laughing.

After graduation, we began what I call, “sisterhood of the traveling journal.” Which is to say, we have a journal we keep for a month, then ship off to the next girl. There are four of us.

Over the few nights we were all there, we read our entries and discussed how our lives had changed since we last saw one another. As I read my entires from July ‘24, I felt older than the girl who wrote them. Probably because I was, but I’m really saying that this Lumos experience has helped me grow up, and in my hands layed documented evidence of that. Retrospect made that possible. A luxury.

After a wonderful trip home, it was time to return to the DR and complete my last three months! When I arrived, my room was exactly as I left it...unfortunately, a mess.

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