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Spring break doesn't always mean party central

March 15, 2007 1:03 am

GRAFTON--In the coming weeks, im- ages of "College Spring Break" will again flood the airwaves, giving pundits and cultural commentators another opportunity to speak at length about the decaying morality, apathy, and dangerous drinking habits of the stereotypical "college student."

In fact, this stereotype has spread so pervasively through our culture that it is hard to imagine that college students do anything else on spring break besides reach mythical levels of imbibery and debauchery.

An increasing number of college students, however, are choosing to participate in an alternative spring break, traveling with their peers to many of the most marginalized areas of our nation--and abroad--and committing themselves for a week to the service of others.

During my time at James Madison University, I had the privilege of co-leading two Alternative Spring Breaks, most recently leading a group of 17 to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Through my experiences on the Gulf Coast, I invite you to look with new eyes on your understanding of today's "college student."

Our group drew from all aspects of collegiate life, including fraternity brothers, business students, musicians from the marching band, a football player, a local alumnus, and the associate dean of general education.

Despite our different backgrounds and varied motivations for participating in the ASB (only two group members had close ties to the Gulf Coast), we came together as a group through our shared desire to do something about the tragedies of Katrina--to contribute in some small way to helping the people of the Gulf Coast rebuild.

During the trip, I learned firsthand the depth and dedication of my peers, as our group fully embraced the mission of the trip by working hard at every task and never complaining about a situation. Wanting to live and work in solidarity with those we served, we ate simple meals (five days straight of peanut butter and jelly), and slept on the floor of a Methodist church in Gulfport, Miss.

In fact, sleeping space was in such short supply that the entire male contingent of our group (10 of us total) crammed into a vacant classroom that had barely enough floor space for all of us to lie in our sleeping bags at the same time.

This dedication continued on the work site. A perfect example: When we were clearing a family's yard of head-high debris and fallen trees, the chain saws that our volunteer organization had given us quit running. Rather than leave the job unfinished, two of our group decided on their own to buy hacksaws at a local hardware store, allowing us to finish the job by hand.

On other work sites, we gutted a home to prepare for rebuilding, scraped up a linoleum floor in a home that once stood completely under water, and cleared an unbelievable amount of limbs, trees, and other debris left scattered by the storm.

Each night, our group came together for reflection, discussion, and prayer, ensuring that we each had an opportunity to internalize the work of the day. What stood out from these sessions was that every member of the group was able to articulate his feelings about the devastation around us and demonstrated a wealth of understanding and connection to the people we served.

The diversity and commitment of our group speaks volumes about not only the quality of the ASB experience but also the character of the participants--and what's more, these experiences are not unique to students at James Madison University. According to Break Away, a leading nonprofit in the alternative spring break world, approximately 35,000 students from across America took part in ASBs in 2006, with an additional 5,000 participating this spring.

If nothing else, these rising numbers show a movement of active and passionate students who choose not to be limited by the ideas and ill-conceived notions of others--students who, fleeing the comfortable confines of college life, use their gifts and talents to improve their world.

Just as with other stereotypes, that of the one-dimensional, beer-swilling, responsibility-shucking college student seeks to minimize what college students can do--yet this very idea actually ends up helping those students on alternative spring breaks.

Over and over again, the people of the Gulf Coast welcomed our group with overwhelming gratitude, saying: "It means the world to us to have you here. You could have gone to Cancun to party for a week, but you came here. Why?"

Our response, a sentiment shared by thousands of students across America, was simple: "We just wanted to help."