Service to others plays a key role in the development of one's worldview. To study this key role, authors examined a sample of 38 student narratives in three phases: before, during, and 45 days after they served at an alternative break site around the United States. Students kept a prompt-based journal inspired by the tenets of the social change model of leadership. Key themes identified in this project outline participants' democratic approach to team conflict, the development of an activist persona, and an enhanced focus on personal privilege. This qualitative project promotes adding the student voice to the quantitative measures that are more commonly reported through annual programmatic assessment reports. This approach should better outline the depth of student learning in similar co-curricular programs with a complimentary goal of programmatic enhancement.