Recently the students of EMU have begun to prepare for the upcoming Alternative Spring Break program. Last week the students who would be participating met for the first time in the Student Center to prepare for their journeys. This first large group meeting had everyone introducing themselves and getting familiar with the people they will soon be spending their spring breaks with.
While this may have been the first time the groups would be meeting, the coordinators for the program have been working nonstop all year to insure that this years ASB runs as smoothly as it has in the past at EMU. These wonderful volunteers at EMU are the core of the ASB program and without them these trips would not be possible.
Alternative Breaks, if you do not know, is a program that provides students with a fun and educational alternative to the typical spring break options. Instead of jetting off to some tropical location with friends to party, the students of ASB will be productively using their time to help impact the lives of other in the country. The trips are completely alcohol and drug free and for good reason, these are EMU students going on these trips, and of course they must represent the university to the fullest. This means staying completely sober the entire time, however, some things about a spring break will never change and you know these students will be having an incredible time.
This year the students will be traveling to different locations around the country to participate in different activities designed to benefit the communities the students will be in. These trips include; two disaster relief locations, an environmental, animal rights, and AIDs awareness and education trips.
The room on the first day everyone met was filled with eager anticipation as the students waited to find out where they would be going. All that can be said about the reveal process is that it was quite amusing. This year also will see the introduction of a new idea: two completely all fraternity and sorority trips. The campus Greek community has always been represented well on these trips so not surprisingly this new idea has been put in place.
The individual groups will continue to meet throughout the year until the time of their trips and some of these meetings start as soon as this week. We wish all the students the best of times as they learn new things and bond while providing much needed services, and of course there will be many updates.
By John Fenton
