University of Oregon senior Taylor Farrell will spend spring break on Southern Oregon's Rogue River - working with 12 middle school students to help repair the riparian environment.
Other UO students will be doing service work in San Francisco, focusing on the public health of the homeless and those without adequate resources; in Los Angeles to improve urban poverty through food justice; in Negril, Jamaica, to work with local school and youth programs; and in Los Robles, Nicaragua, to survey community health in remote environments.
The university's Holden Center coordinates about 18 to 20 Alternative Break trips each year – including this year's five spring break trips – to help teach UO students the value of service, leadership and innovation through service to communities in need.
“I think I will be most excited about spending my spring break getting to know some different kinds of people and having a positive impact on the group of middle-schoolers,” said Farrell, an educational foundations major.
The UO group will backpack, hike and camp for five days with the middle school students from Kelly Middle School. They will clear trails, remove garbage and visitor impacts, and work to improve the overall habitat.
“From the experience, I hope to gain a new lens," Farrell said. "I am going into the trip with an open mind and zero expectations. When I come back, I hope to have impacted others in a positive way and have a new outlook on life.”
The Alternative Break program organizes excursions that coincide with traditional academic break periods – winter, spring and summer – and can range from one weekend to three weeks. Each trip is intended to serve both the destination community and participating students, with an overall goal of fostering cultural competency, collaboration and social change.
“The learning occurs for students as they are asked to step outside their comfort zones and be willing to engage in difficult conversations, ask questions, examine their beliefs, make mistakes and confront challenging issues,” according to the Alternative Break website.
Participating students interact closely with peers before and during service trips to plan, prepare and fundraise for their trips. In addition to their service during the trip, students participate in a variety of discussions, leadership training opportunities and reflection. The service-learning projects are geared toward specific cultural and social issues of their host locations.
Past Alternative Break locations include Coquille and the McKenzie River in Oregon; San Diego, Calif.; Washington D.C.; Copan Ruinas, Honduras; and San Jose del Sur, Nicaragua. About 200 students have participated in the Alternative Break program over the past year.
- by Sarah MacKenzie, UO Office of Public Affairs Communications intern