Students offer time, money during break to serve others

By Samantha Radecki | Originally Published: 02/01/12 12:12am |Modified: 02/01/12 12:13am | No comments

Instead of partying in tropical destinations this spring break, some students are opting to serve communities and engage in self-reflection as a participant of an alternative spring break program.

MSU has several different programs aiming to provide opportunities for students to travel, nationally and internationally, during the course of the spring break holiday.

International relations senior and Alternative Spartan Break, ASB, program coordinator Liz Starke said ASB has more than 20 trips this year, costing $450 for domestic travel and $1,250 for international. Because of fundraising efforts, Starke said many students find this affordable.

“All of our prices include everything for the entire week, food, lodging, plane (and) gas,” she said.

Starke said the most rewarding thing about alternative programs is the ability to give back to a struggling community.

“What I would emphasize is the transformation we see of students who enter the program,” Starke said. “It shows students they can make a difference in their everyday lives.”

Political theory and constitutional democracy senior and an ASB site leader Ashley Hall said this is her first time as a site leader with ASB, but has previously gone on a similar trip to Jersey City, N.J., with the Spartan Christian Fellowship. There she worked in a school with underprivileged kids.

She said her experiences there were eye-opening, and since then, she has continued to stay involved in service programs.

“It was really just an eye-opening experience,” Hall said. “Living with people who live below the poverty line.”

Hall said it’s not just acknowledging the issues and realizing that they happen, it’s understanding why they happen.

“(You) don’t wear flashy jewelry around them,” Hall said. “Young, privileged white kids don’t realize how much we show our wealth everyday (simply) with the clothes we wear.”

Hall said she prefers to go someplace and perform service work instead of going someplace to party.

“I like the idea of becoming a part of a community, rather than partying and leaving a place worse than (when) you (arrived),” said Hall.

Journalism sophomore and ASB participant Karina Coateston said she would recommend anyone to take at least one trip while in school.
“I think everyone should go at least one time,” Coateston said. “It’s life changing, I probably would have never done (the) things that I did on the trip.”