College Students Head South for Spring Break...to Clean Up

Instead of heading south to party and lay on the beach for spring break, over 10,000 college students went south to clean up beaches and houses that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. This is part of what is called alternative spring break, in which college students participate in community service activities over their vacations. This movement has been gaining a lot of popularity over the past decade. In an article from Communitydispatch.com, Sandy Scott wrote a press release entitled, "10,000-Plus College Students to Spend Spring Break Volunteering in the Gulf," which describes some of the service projects that students were working on.

There are a number of organizations that sent students to the Gulf as well as other locations for alternative spring break. David Eisner, the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America urged students to come to the Gulf for spring break, but a lack of housing prevented many students from doing so. Eisner commented, "It’s vital that students coming to the Gulf are connected and coordinated with organizations already on the ground so that their projects are meaningful and they don’t waste time or resources." Other alternative spring break organizations include, MTV's Storm Corps, which sent 100 young people to rebuild in a Mississippi Gulf community and Habitat for Humanity's Collegiate Challenge, which hosted 10,000 students in multiple locations, about 1,000 in hurricane affected areas.


Over the past few years, an increasing number of students have been partaking in alternative spring break trips. Young adults have gained an interest in community service and volunteerism. There have been several reasons for this. According to Scott, "Rising idealism among youth, an increase in service-learning courses, frustration with the partisan political arena, and major catastrophic events of recent years, such as September 11th and the hurricanes." Students are realizing that they can have a meaningful experience over their spring break. One Texas college student explained, "We have a lot of chances to go out and party during our college career and life in general, but how often are you going to get to do something good for the community, nation and world?”

I think the increase in students participating in alternative spring break shows a lot about the character of our generation. We want to make a difference, especially when it comes to issues or disasters that have affected our country. It seems as though college students are realizing that they have the opportunity to party all year and they can have a more meaningful experience partaking in community service, rather than a wet T-shirt contest in Cancun. Today's young adults have lived through some of the most tragic disasters in our nation's history, such as September 11th and Hurricane Katrina, which have hit home for a lot of people. Instead of watching as people suffer from the disasters, students want to take an active role by helping in any way they can. After reading several articles about the significant number of students who did an alternative spring break trip this year, I am very impressed by today's college students and how they truly want to make a difference by helping to improve other's lives.