A record 193 students participated in the 18 Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trips offered this year, which tackled issues including education reform in New York City and the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s.

 

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, ASB is a voluntary student organization, closely affiliated with the Haas Center for Public Service, which has the goal of exposing “students to complex social and cultural issues through community visits, experiential learning, direct service, group discussion, readings and reflection activities,” according to the group’s website.

 

The program received nearly 890 applications this year, submitted by 360 individuals. Each student may apply for up to three trips each year.

 

“The turnout was definitely a lot higher than last year,” said Sarah Hennessy ‘12, executive director of ASB. “Every year we’re adding more trips. Last year we had 17 trips, and next year we’re aiming to offer 20 to 22 ASB trips.”

 

Because of this high student interest, Hennessy said ASB is also planning to expand its program this fall to offer three to five trips during Thanksgiving break, what she described as a “shorter version of ASB.”

 

The ASB management team is currently planning the new Thanksgiving offerings, hoping to preserve the factors that have made the spring break trips a success.

 

“Students would attend one or two six-hour seminars and then four days out in the field before coming back to the Haas Center to share their public service experiences,” Hennessy said of the current proposal for the fall trips.

 

“We want to preserve the ethics and principles of service learning taught during ASB,” she added. “We never just send people out in the field; they need to be prepared, know service-learning principles and have some content knowledge. This will be built into the Thanksgiving break program, but just in a different way than the ASB program is.”

 

Spring ASB trips currently require that participants take a one-unit course throughout winter quarter to explore the topics of their trips.

 

Thirty-six student volunteers led this year’s trips. According to Hennessy, leader selection, done in pairs, happens during spring quarter the year before a trip is scheduled. Leaders propose a trip topic with a rough itinerary and interview with the ASB directing team.

 

After selection, leaders plan their trip during summer and later take a fall quarter leader preparation class. After receiving applicants, team leaders rank potential participants, who are then sorted among the various trips they applied for to ensure best fit.

 

“We try to create a balanced group,” said Dominique Mikell ‘14, a trip leader this year. “We consider different experiences and think about the group dynamics.”

 

Mikell led “Justice Deferred: The Realities of California’s Juvenile Justice System” with Rameerah Anderson ‘12 this year.

 

“We went on the Justice Deferred ASB trip last year and had a great time,” Anderson said. “But we also had different interests … and wanted to talk about main topics that people weren’t paying too much attention to. Our own interests included education and gender and race disparities.”

 

“For our trip, we visited many juvenile halls and organizations in Oakland, Santa Clara and San Mateo,” Mikell said. “In Sacramento, we learned more in depth about Senate Bill 9 and also had dinner with a probation officer.”

 

Mikell added that the group also had an opportunity for direct service, serving breakfast to the homeless at a church that hosted them during the break.

 

“All the participants got to talk directly to the people that were having these kinds of experiences,” she said. “This created a balance between learning and service, so that we see what we can do and the ways we can participate.”

 

ASB receives funding from ASSU Special Fees. The student body approved the program’s $80,358.25 budget last year. In this year’s spring election, ASB is campaigning for $84,760.00 in special fees.

 

 “Trip leaders are accountable for all their expenses,” said Sherlene Chatterji ‘14, associate director of finance for ASB. As for the participants, Chatterji said, “Each student pays a fee to participate, but we offer financial aid to those who need it.”

 

Chatterji reported that a total of $11,000 of financial aid was given to students: $9,000 for out-of-state airfare and $2,000 for non-airfare trips. She added, however, that ASB doesn’t pay entirely for any individual, and each participant pays a minimum of $40 for his or her spring break trip.

 

This year marks the 25th anniversary of ASB, and the group will hold a reunion on Saturday to mark the occasion.

 

“We’ve invited any program alumni to come back, and we got a huge response,” Hennessy said. She expects 200 to 250 people to attend the reunion.

 

“In the future, we hope to create a mentorship program with alumni who have gone on to careers in public service, so that they can show how to shape a path in public service,” she added.

 

“The relationships you create with your fellow participants and leaders continue. We still communicate with our past ASB leaders,” Mikell said. “ASB isn’t just a one-week experience; it lasts for the rest of your Stanford career.”

 

Kue Chang ‘15, a participant in the trip “Asian American Issues: From Identity to Action,” agreed with these sentiments.

 

“I realized that people can enact a big change through the community or by organizing,” Chang said. “Not only can an individual make a difference, but a larger group of people can make even more of a positive difference.”