While many college students view spring break as a much-needed week to recuperate from a homework hangover or go crazy in Cancun, there are a few who see spring break differently. More than 60 students from Eastern Michigan University dedicated their spring break to volunteer for various organizations.
EMU’s Vision Volunteer Center puts together the university’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program. Through ASB, college students from all over the country go on unconventional “vacations” to different sites to help
others.
EMU facilitated seven different ASB trips this year, ranging from animal rights-focused services, to working with the homeless, to even helping terminally ill children live their dreams for a week.
William Holman, EMU senior and student coordinator at Vision EMU, has been on seven Alternative Break trips, not including his own personal volunteer work. He has had a passion for volunteer service since high school.
Holman went to Atlanta, Georgia this past spring break to work for the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition.
“We worked with the homeless population in Atlanta, doing needle exchanges, sexual education, working with their HIV program and the other things they offer,” Holman said. “We worked to reduce the stigma of homelessness. It isn’t about ‘fixing’ them.
“I have more understanding now about harm reduction programs. They’re not there to cure them, just make it safer for them. They offer counseling, but nothing is forced.”
Five other students accompanied Holman on the trip. “It’s really a bonding experience,” he said. “I’m still friends with the people I met from my freshman year ASB trip.”
Holman said the experience changed his life. “It really gave me a change in perspective. You just kind of live the day-to-day life of a homeless person. You meet them where they’re at and it’s a real life experience.”
Chelsea Riley, another Vision EMU student coordinator, went to Kissimmee, Florida this year for a radically different experience. Her ASB group worked for a week at the Give Kids the World Village for terminally ill children, which is part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
“Terminally ill children, up to 18, stay there for a week with their whole family for free,” Riley said. “They are housed and fed in this village, which is really close to Disney. The Village is like a small theme park itself. We staffed the kitchen and helped with meals, staffed the rides and helped out with all of the activities the kids do.”
The children who visit the Village typically have less than a year left to live and are given a chance to leave hospitals and doctors behind and have the vacation every child would dream of.
“They do holidays for the kids,” Riley said. “For example, Halloween is on Monday and Christmas is on Thursday. A lot of the children may not make it to the holidays so they give them a chance to celebrate.”
Riley recounted a memorable Halloween moment.
“On Monday we all dressed up in costumes. One of the girls on our trip dressed up like Jessie from Toy Story and matched one of the little girls in the village. She really thought she was meeting the real Jessie! She
was so excited and her family even went up to the Big Jessie and thanked her.”
Riley also described some of the children and their families’ favorite things about the village, including eating ice cream for breakfast and the Castle of Miracles. “In the Castle, every child gets a star to write their name and age on. Every star gets put up on the ceiling and it stays there forever. Families are allowed to come back and find their child’s star after they’ve passed.”
The Castle of Miracles houses about 110,000 stars, one for every terminally ill child that has stayed in the Village.
Every day after their shift, all of the volunteers in the group do a reflection period and talk about how the day went. “The reflections bring meaning to the work that we do,” Riley said.
“It was an emotional experience, but it’s really nice to know you made a difference for the children and helped make the end of their life the best it could be,” Riley said. “You want to cry, but at the same time, you just have to smile because the kids are having so much fun. They’re
not thinking about death at all, and that’s really the whole point.”
This trip was Riley’s second Alternative Spring Break. “It’s about going and doing something new,” she said. “You learn about yourself and it really opens up your mind. You gain a different perspective. After trips like this, you should never come back the same.”
