Alternative Spartan Breaks (ASB) recently returned from 8 successful experiences, 7 within the United States and 1 internationally, hosted during Spring Break! 66 students teamed with community partners to build homes, assist hospital patients, support community and ecosystem sustainability, and more.

“I like taking new opportunities and new experiences, and I haven’t been on this trip before,” said team leader Isabella Leksche Rosales ahead of the Rainforest Revive experience in Costa Rica. For ten years, participants on this experience have promoted sustainable land use, water resource preservation, and education on local ecosystems and culture. “I’m most excited about seeing a different ecosystem and having an immersive experience as I’m trying to learn Spanish.”

“Before this trip, I had limited knowledge of conservation and sustainability in relation to the environment,” shared Rainforest Revive team leader Cordelia Kraus. “Our community partner guided us in addressing [the UN Goal of] Life On Land, which emphasizes restoring ecosystems. Team members studying entomology and landscape architecture taught me the interconnectedness of the natural world and how every component, no matter how small, contributes to creating a sustainable environment.”

During ASB experiences, a team of undergraduate students, guided by one or two dedicated team leaders, immerses itself in a community to understand its needs, support local initiatives through hands-on service, and engage in meaningful reflection on the impact of their work.

“My team was always up to discussing things we learned and reflecting. We all came from different backgrounds and had different experiences and perspectives to share with each other,” said Pathways to Possibility team leader Josephine Morley. Participants on this experience partnered with an organization hosting a low-cost essential needs market, fitness classes, after school program, and financial literacy classes.  “As for working together, we made a great team. We all had quality communication, drive, and participation to get tasks done efficiently.”

ASB experiences also center around one or more UN Sustainable Development Goals. These global goals for 2030 offer a map for participants to connect their interests with their engagement experiences. Of the 8 Spring Break experiences, 7 focused in some part on Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being.

“We were assigned with giving the children [at the hospital] a worry-free environment in their time of struggle, and loved ones were able to relax knowing their children are taken care of,” shared Helping Tiny Hearts participant Lana Kouatli. This team provided resources and assistance to patients and families at a pediatric hospital. Along with Good Health and Well-Being, this experience also supported Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 5: Gender Equality, and more.

“The town [where we volunteered] is located in a valley that gets frequent intense flooding,” observed Raise the Roof participant Alex Gustafson. In support of Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, among others, this team connected with a nonprofit building free homes for displaced community members. “It demolishes houses, pollutes the water and riverbanks, and often reaches the main street. The houses were fresh starts for so many.”

By the end of these experiences, ASB aims for participants to bring their reflections on working with an unfamiliar partner back into their home communities and future community engagement. “The experience showed me an entirely new world of both community service and medicine,” said Kouatli. “I went into an environment of families and situations entirely different from mine and those around me. Experiences like this provide space for mental growth and understanding unlike any other thing you can do.”

Additional experiences included Paving Pathways for Families, which supported a community center offering a variety of free programs and resources for families in need; Clean Rivers, Clear Impact, which helped with cleaning up the Mississippi River; Saddle Up to Serve, which connected with individuals with disabilities at a therapeutic horseback riding program; and Pathways of Care, which assisted with a housing and care facility for families of patients receiving extended medical care.

The Center for Community Engaged Learning is grateful to our Spring Break participants for their commitment to connecting with communities as a part of their break and to the ASB Executive Board members for coordinating these experiences! To learn more about ASB programming, visit asb.msu.edu.