Not just about the beach anymore
Clark students use spring break to make a difference in the lives of others
By Judith Jaeger
The traditional college spring break of partying on the beach isn't quite what it used to be. Yes, there are still plenty of students who head for warm weather and a good time. But a growing number of college and university students are using their spring break to make meaningful contributions to society.
According to Micki Davis, director of Clark's Community Engagement and Volunteering Center, community-service activities are an increasingly popular way to spend spring break. Davis notes that some colleges and universities sent upwards of 600 students to different parts of the country and the world to participate in community-service activities this spring.
The alternative spring break, now commonly called ASB, is especially attractive to students because it often combines service with travel. Davis notes that there are students who want to volunteer or participate in a cultural exchange, but perhaps can't dedicate time to a weekly volunteer commitment, or can't afford the expense of a semester abroad. For these students, she says, ASB is a great option.
"You get to go to another part of the world you might not be able to afford to travel to otherwise, and contribute to a community while learning about their way of life," says Davis, who participated in an ASB trip to Jamaica when she was a college student. "It can be an eye-opening experience. The rural south, for example‹especially after the hurricanes‹is a very different place than New England."
Genuine cultural exchange Evan Wilson '06 had just that kind of eye-opening experience when he participated in an ASB trip two years ago to Nicaragua. For the past five years, the Clark student organization Direct Action Learning Experience or DA-LE‹Spanish for "do it" has worked with the organization Bridges to Community on a cultural exchange and service trip to Nicaragua. Bridges to Community, Wilson explains, works on housing and community-development projects with Nicaraguan communities across the nation. Volunteers go to Nicaragua to contribute to this work through financial contributions and labor. Wilson, who has a longstanding interest in community service and activism, made his first trip to Nicaragua with DA-LE just after declaring his major in international development and social change. He and his fellow students helped a community plant some medicinal gardens and build latrines.
"The experience contributed to me becoming more aware as a global citizen and understanding how I could have an impact locally and globally," he says. "When I came back, I was re-energized to think critically about Worcester and about Clark. It's been a stepping stone for my service work both domestically and internationally." Wilson graduated in May and is pursuing a master's degree in community development and planning at Clark.
This experience coupled with a year of study abroad in Namibia, inspired Wilson to give other students the chance to have the same kind of transformative cultural exchange. This year, Wilson led DA-LE and worked with the group's adviser, professor Duncan Earle, to arrange sessions with guest speakers, who discussed various aspects of Nicaraguan history, culture and politics, as well as the practicalities of what to pack. DA-LE also held a benefit concert at Clark called Nica Noche, which raised approximately $300 for the group to bring to Nicaragua as a financial contribution. The trip received financial support from Student Council, and students were responsible for their own travel expenses, which were approximately $1,500 per student.
Wilson and 11 other undergraduates spent this spring break helping farmers with harvesting crops and weeding. In addition to contributing to a community, this trip gave Wilson the added satisfaction of witnessing the talents and compassion of his fellow students.
"Everyone was able to bring their own interests and varying language abilities. It was a great opportunity for us to put ourselves out there and exchange with others who have such a different background, and to be genuine in our interactions."
A break that can't be beat For Abby Crowley '07, Anthony Davis '07, Angela Dube '07, Jane Kaplan '07 and Bethany Williard '07, this year's spring break provided the perfect opportunity to do something meaningful for others. Through the student organization Rotaract, which was led by Crowley and is associated with Rotary Club International, these students traveled to Miami to help build homes at the second largest Habitat for Humanity community in the country. The community currently has 140 completed homes, with a goal of 180. These students worked on 14 different houses during their spring break, building porches and helping with roofing. Advised by Kay Bassett, Rotaract received financial support for the trip from the local Rotary Club.
For several of these students, ASB was the chance to do the community-service work that they can't always do during the school year.
"I had heard about Habitat for Humanity in high school, but had never had the opportunity to work on a site," says Kaplan, who noted that her courses and academic work don't leave much time for the kind of service activities she'd like to pursue. "I thought this was a great opportunity to help people."
"The feeling of doing good, combined with a great travel experience, a warm climate and the opportunity to network with so many amazing and different people is a vacation that can't be beat," adds Williard, who also participated in a Habitat trip to Florence, S.C., during her first year at Clark.
While slinging their hammers and shovels, Crowley notes, they met college students from across the country, as well as "snow birds" who used Habitat for Humanity as a reason for escaping the cold of winter.
"It was nice to see so many people care for a cause," adds Kaplan, a business major who is interested in working in the nonprofit sector. "In working with nonprofit organizations, it's hard to get people interested in your cause. It was nice to see so many people dedicate themselves to this."
In addition to working on the houses, the group fit in a couple of afternoons at the beach and a boat trip sponsored by Habitat for Humanity. But by far the best part of the trip was working alongside the families who would be moving into the completed homes.
"You think about what you're doing‹you're building a home for a needy family. It's amazing," Davis says.
"We could see that the work we were doing actually mattered," says Crowley.
"This truly was a prime highlight of the trip, because the families were so eager to share their community and their experiences with us," says Williard. A government major who is interested in public service, she is now considering applying to the Americorps program as a result of her alternative spring break with Habitat for Humanity.
Crowley is also planning a career in public service and hopes to earn a master's degree in public administration at Clark. She will be organizing Rotaract's trip for Habitat for Humanity next year and hopes to gather an even larger group.
An experience that stays with you Wilson notes that for other students who participated in these trips, the full impact of their alternative spring break experience may take some time to develop.
"If you had asked me a month after I came back from Nicaragua the first time how the trip was going to influence me, I wouldn't have known how everything fit together," Wilson says. "It's a process and an experience that you carry with you."
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