Rylie Horrall | Lifestyle Editor

Looking for a way to spend spring break for this year? Check out the Service Learning and Career Development’s Alternative Break program.

Alternative Break is a project that gets students out and helping different communities ⏤ both global and/or local ⏤ through different volunteer and community organizations. According to the program’s mission statement, “(it) connects students with transformative hands-on experiences.”

The program is designed to help students grow personally and professionally, while giving them hands-on experiential learning, which involves using reflections on what a person has learned before, during and after participating in an event or activity.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to go out and do good somewhere else,” stated Jennifer Hansen, the career development coordinator at the SLCD. “(Many) students come back from them and go ‘That was life changing’ and … I would definitely agree with that statement.”

Applications to sign up for the Alternative Break program during spring break 2020 open on Oct. 7 and can be found on the Western website. Type “Alternative Break” into the search bar for quick access. Grad profiles of students who had previously signed up and participated in the program can be found with more information on the site. According to Samantha Dunaway, a previous attendee from 2017, “It was a one of a kind experience. It helped me understand and explore an entirely new culture while giving me the tools to help at-risk youth in the community of La Carpio, Costa Rica.”

Contact the author at howllifestyle@mail.wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Sam Dunaway