While many college students are shopping for bikinis and suntan lotions in preparation for Cancun or Myrtle Beach, some Boston University students have chosen atypical Spring Break destinations like rural Florida, Mississippi and Kentucky to spend a week doing community service.
“I did the normal Spring Break last year,” said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Mike Williams. “It wasn’t worth it. This is a lot cheaper and for a much better cause.”
A total of 11 students and one staff chaperone are heading off this Saturday to Bristol, Fla., as part of Alternative Spring Break 2002 offered by BU’s Community Service Center. The students will be working with The Nature Conservancy, a private, international conservation group founded in 1951, and Torreya State Park in Bristol.
The trip costs $200 per participant and includes all food and shelter expenses. Students eligible to drive will take four-hour shifts driving two separate mini-vans for the 24-hour trip, and walkie-talkies will be used for van to van communication. The participants are asked to pack appropriately and efficiently.
“It’s going to be a pretty tough trip, very labor intensive,” said Jacque Caglia, a CAS senior and Alternative Spring Break coordinator. “We’ll be building bridges, trail blazing and trail clearing, replanting native pine with the Conservancy, and maybe even working with Florida migrant farm workers.”
The participants were enthusiastic as they discussed the drive through the South and stops along the way to visit unique shops. Many people going on the trip have never experienced rustic camping.
“We will be doing our own cooking,” Caglia said. “We will be stopping at a supermarket on the way down to shop. It’s probably going to be mostly pasta and macaroni and cheese.”
One of the strictest rules for the trip is that no alcohol or drugs are allowed, though the group didn’t seem to mind. They agreed the spirit of this trip is to serve the community in some capacity and to do something distinctly different from the “typical college Spring Break.”
“I really hope to have fun with my friends and give back to the community at the same time,” Williams said.
BU also offers eight other community-service-oriented Spring Breaks this year, including Teach for America in North Carolina; Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi and Louisiana, and Tennessee Valley Authority in Kentucky. Each of the trips has 13 participants this year.
“I’ve been involved with CSC for the past two years,” Caglia said. “I think every year [these trips] get better. Maybe post-Sept. 11 and President Bush’s call for more volunteerism have had an effect on people spending more time on community service. But I think people have always been doing community service. I’m glad to see it increase, and we definitely felt supported by the BU administration.”
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