The Allegheny Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Teams are back on campus after a challenging, eye-opening, transformative spring break where they served in Chicago, New York, Tennessee and Kentucky. The groups are back with renewed energy and many stories to tell. Sunday night the groups came together to share their stories, the challenges they encountered, and they shared poems, songs and plenty of laughs.

The group that went to Vital Bridges in Chicago had the opportunity to learn more about the lives of those living with AIDS and HIV. Judit Borsay, one of the student leaders, was struck when it was made clear, through her group’s service that you do not die from AIDS, you have to live with it. The interactions with the people and families who had AIDSchanged a lot of the member’s perspectives on the AIDS epidemic in the United States. Although the work was emotionally draining, the people inspired the team, and some of the students also had the opportunity to attend the COOL conference and learn more about bringing their passion for Service-Learning back to Allegheny!

Another team traveled to the Faith Keepers School in New York. Here they learned about the culture, language, and history of the Seneca tribe. They worked on the reservation building picnic tables and connecting with the 4,000 Native Americans that live on the reservation. They worked and had fun with the students who attend the school and this team even participated in the largest peace march in Erie.

The Tennessee ASB team had quite the experience as well while working in the woods. Here they worked on trail building and they had the opportunity to connect with nature, and learn about the mountain culture through programming including a Ho-Down that had music provided by local fiddle legends. The ride to work was treacherous, and signs along the mountain highways would read such things as, “Caution: Road Broke Off.” but they made it home safe and left their mark on the Cumberland trails!

The Kentucky crew also had a cultural experience while serving at Cranks Creek Survival Center in Harlan County, KE. The group spent a week painting, building and connecting with the impoverished mining families. The relationships formed inspired the group, and although they were surrounded by despair and poverty, the people had a spirit of hope and were a blessing to work with. The trip opened the group’s eyes to Appalachian poverty, environmental issues regarding coal mining and also the joys of living simply.

On Sunday night it was evident that the teams of 12-14 people came back with a bond that will never leave them. They left their spirit with those they worked with in Chicago, New York, Tennessee, and Kentucky, but I guarantee that they spirit they brought back to campus, as a result of the people they met, is greater than that which they left. All of the groups had difficulty expressing their experiences and emotions due to the challenges and memories that they are still beginning to process. If you are considering participating in an Alternative Spring Break next spring, don’t hesitate; it is an experience that will instill within you compassion, curiosity and a desire to serve, while also blessing you with a community of students who share a genuine passion to serve as well.