Alternative Spring Breaks (n.): a service learning experience that occurs over the course of spring break for undergraduate students.
When I told my friends that I was going on an ASB two years ago, I was met with very mixed reviews. Some students looked at me as though I was crazy, others gave me a sympathetic look, and some were incredibly excited about this challenge I was tackling. I had no idea what I was getting into. What was a service learning experience? What is a facilitator? Were we doing community service? Then why on the itinerary did it have "cultural activities" listed? What did I get myself into?
For those that don't know, an immersion is a service based trip to different communities outside of the Rollins College area. There are weekend long ones and more in depth ones that stretch over the course of spring break that are referred to as "alternative spring breaks," or ASB for short. There are usually about four to five ASB's going on at the same time, each of them focusing on a different current issue in our society like poverty, climate change, racism, etc. After choosing a topic to focus on, a location is then picked.
For instance, there was an immersion last year that focused on the importance of the arts in Austin, Texas, a city known for its art culture. Traveling to these cities, you are ideally supposed to see how that specific issue affects the community. Hence the name "immersion." You are meant to immerse yourself in the community and the topic of choice. It's a large undertaking and it can be messy, but ultimately if things go right, it will change your life.
That spring break from two years ago remains one of the best ASB's that I have been on. The group bonded to a point that was unreal. We continuously were laughing and working alongside one another to learn about our community which was Nashville. Yes, there could have been more service, but overall, we became a family by the end. That experience was in the back of my mind as I led my last immersion this past spring break.
It's a daunting task, being away from that which is familiar to you for a week. It can be heartbreaking, seeing day after day, unprivileged children with special needs trying their hardest with outdated textbooks and technology, or homeless men and women struggling to make it through the day. But the skills learned on immersions are essential to our survival after college. Rollins College has a bubble of privilege and entitlement surrounding it.
These opportunities are needed in order to step outside of that bubble, otherwise, we will not have the empathy necessary to make the world a better a place. And if we don't strive to make the world a better place, then what exactly are we doing? Simply surviving? That's not good enough for me. I don't want my future to based around surviving, but instead based around living connected to the humans and to the world around me.
Mahatma Ghandi said, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Two years ago I began to find other parts of myself through my involvement with Rollins' immersion. I challenge you to do the same.
