Spring Break 2009 will be very different for some Trinity University students. Instead of spending the whole week watching the tube or lounging on the beach, some Trinity students are traveling far away from San Antonio to help make a difference in the lives of other people.  The students will be participating in Trinity University’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) – a break with a service component. 

Eight students will travel to the town of Monte Cristi in the Dominican Republic to assist in tutoring and teaching English with orphaned, abandoned, and disadvantaged children.  While the children at the orphanage will be the main focus of the ASB, most of the children of Monte Cristi are in some way disadvantaged.  The economics of the town are very poor, with minimal educational and extracurricular activities for the children.  Besides tutoring and teaching English, participants will also be able to engage in fun activities with the children such as playing sports and doing art projects. 

In addition to the international trip, six students will head to Washington D.C. to volunteer in soup kitchens, food banks, and homeless shelters with Youth Service Opportunities Project (YSOP). YSOP is committed to helping young people become part of the solution to societal problems by showing them how even their smallest actions can make a difference in the lives of others.  In a single year YSOP volunteers may serve more than 200,000 hungry and homeless men, women and children in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Leslie Melton, a sophomore majoring in education decided to participate in ASB because it “Integrates three of my primary interests:  service, children and traveling”.  Among other things, Monica Garza, a sophomore psychology major hopes to gain “relationships and learn other ways in which I can personally help my community.”

Both trips will be lead by staff members from Student Affairs, and include educational sessions before, during, and after spring break.  All work and no play?  Not on these ASB trips!  Students on both trips will have time to visit area sites, experience local cuisine and culture, and get to bond with other students that value service as an import part of their lives.  Additional opportunities will be offered in the future allowing students many chances to travel and make a difference!

ASB is a service initiative of Campus and Community Involvement.  For further information about ASB, or future service opportunities, please contact the staff at (210) 999-7547 or e-mail  edwin.blanton@trinity.edu.

Submitted by Edwin Blanton, Coordinator for Community Service and Engagement

Editor's Note: See the Student Health 101 article on the same topic in the newsletters linked below.