Spring break for college students is a time-honored American tradition, a week of escapism that has long been a bastion of body shots and poorly orchestrated stripping late into warm, tropical mornings. I was surprised to discover a large group of socially aware students at Northwestern who, instead of suffering liver damage or getting laid, actually want to improve the world with their Spring Break vacation. To the members of student groups like Alternative Student Breaks and Habitat For Humanity, Spring Break is more than just a chance to make the mistakes you will remember for the rest of your life: it is a chance to make life a little bit better for someone who can’t enjoy the luxury of seven days in paradise.
Alternative Student Break (ASB) is offering 19 trips to different relief sites both domestic and abroad, including a pair of international trips to a medical seminar in El Salvador and a land ethics seminar in Nicaragua. “We had the most students ever apply. In total 250 students will visit sites,” says ASB Program Director Maggie Cerjan, Music junior. The trips, which cost anywhere from $200 to $700, plus a $50 deposit, cover a range of activities and issues including gender discrimination, handicapped children, environmental protection and Hurricane Katrina relief. Demand was so high for this year’s ASB trips that the group attempted to add two more Katrina relief trips. Last year, more than 200 Northwestern students participated in the group’s Spring Break trips although 40 students dropped out just before their trip. “We kept interest this time,” Cerjan says. Demand increased so much this year that ASB was forced to place between 40 and 50 applicants on a wait list.
Habitat For Humanity bills its Spring Break trips as a cheaper, more intimate alternative to the overpopulated ASB trips. “It’s an alternative to ASB because we are trying to offer trips around the $100-$200 range,” says Adriana Arellano, SESP junior, one of Habitat For Humanity’s publicity chairwomen. This is the first year Habitat For Humanity has offered a Spring Break trip for NU students, although the group has historically provided service opportunities to students during the school year. “This year, we have finally done events on campus and raised enough money where we can actually incorporate a Spring Break trip into our program,” Arellano explains. Spring Break sites will offer the students an opportunity to do some more hands-on work that Habitat is known for around the country. “Since we are just starting out, we don’t know how much interest we’re going to get. We are starting with 10 people,” Arellano says.
