Students pursue alternative option for spring break

College junior Kyle deSandes-Moyer built her spring break memories hanging off and tarring the roof of a half-built house in Punta Gorda, Fla., last year.

Joined by 13 others, she and her friends who worked on the roof affectionately called themselves the “Roof Monkeys.”

The unusual experiences like deSandes-Moyer’s are only part of what attracts Penn students to the Alternate Spring Break program every year, which is set to take place in the coming days as students leave campus for spring break.

The ASB program began in 1990 with one Habitat for Humanity project.

Since then, the program has grown to encompass eight trips across the country, both with Habitat for Humanity and other organizations, as well as a winter break trip.

This year, students are working on Habitat projects in Franklin, W. Va.; Beaufort, S.C.; Punta Gorda, Fla.; Liberty Hall, Va.; and Alamosa, Colo. Additionally, students will travel to several “breakaway sites” — which focus on different themes such as social justice and environmental sustainability — in Lexington, Va.; Everglades National Park, Fla.; and San Juan, Texas.

Each trip has a different project on a different site, but all of them share the same basic structure: groups of 12 to 14 people pay less than $350 each to travel somewhere in the country and engage in community service that they hope will remain with them for a lifetime.

Community service

ASB is one of 50 groups that are part of the Civic House Associates Coalition.

“While the students are providing great, hands-on assistance, they are also learning a great deal from the community members with whom they interact,” Civic House Program Coordinator Megan Pippet wrote in an email. “Alternate Spring Break offers students a unique opportunity to emerge themselves in service to others while offering the space to reflect on why there is a need for that service in the first place.”

College and Wharton sophomore Alec Barnes, who participated in the winter ASB trip to New Orleans, found out after coming to Penn that the academic demands of his classes made it hard to fit in community service, which he had been committed to in high school.

“I found out that I was really busy and I didn’t have as much time to devote to that I would have liked,” he said. “I thought going during break would be a good way to fit it in between academic demands.”

DeSandes-Moyer agreed. Though she had an interest in building houses through Habitat for Humanity at Penn, she couldn’t find the time in her hectic schedule as an athlete.

“Also, it’s nice to be on the same site and work on the same house for a whole week,” she said.

Engineering junior Matthew Rybak said one of the most memorable parts of his trip to Punta Gorda last year was seeing the direct effects of his work.

“We saw the person who we were building the house for, and she was so into the building of her house and got really excited about living in it,” he said. “It rallied us together as a team.”

An alternative experience

As part of their projects, some students have had unusual experiences unique to the ASB program.

From moving a cow on a farm to organic farming, College senior Anastasia Matijkiw has had diverse experiences with several ASB trips she has taken over the years.

“It’s those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you’re not going to get anywhere else,” she said. “We were picking up glass in the state park [in North Carolina], and we found old Coke bottles and old medicine bottles. These are things that you’re not going to see unless you’re on an ASB trip doing this kind of stuff.”

DeSandes-Moyer learned how to tar a roof for the first time on last year’s trip in sweltering 87-degree weather.

Despite the heat, though, she said “there’s something about hammering a nail or tiling the roof of the house that’s really fun. I’ve learned crazy things that I hopefully will be able to use later on.”

Nursing senior and ASB Habitat Coordinator Maggie Meyers said the quaintness and small-town locations of the trips make them even more valuable.

“The places we pick for trips are not places you would ever go with friends or family,” she said. “There’s no other time in your life that you’re going to these obscure places.”

Social camaraderie

Many ASB participants look to the trip as a way of meeting new people from different groups at Penn.

Meyers found herself wanting to meet new people long after others had stopped trying once New Student Orientation ended.

“At Penn, it’s really easy to get stuck in your own social circle,” she said. “I like that ASB really brings you a variety of people, and I met a lot of people who were interested in service the way that I was.”

College sophomore Yessenia Gutierrez, who helped in an animal society last year in Utah, agreed.

“The people who decide to go on the spring break trips are really interesting,” she said. “You have something in common with them already because you both wanted to go on this trip.”

For many, the late-night discussions that take place every night are among the highlights of the trip.

Every night after a long day of work outside, the group convenes to discuss their day, with the talks often touching upon larger topics and issues.

DeSandes-Moyer said the honesty and openness of the talks during the trip took her by pleasant surprise.

“I didn’t anticipate how close the group got with each other and how open we were with each other,” she said. “I thought, going into it, that I’ll make friends superficially, but at the end I made really deep friendships.”

Rybak agreed that before going into the trip, he was more hesitant about engaging in a completely open discussion.

“I didn’t think it would be a big deal because oftentimes, you don’t want to open up when you’re forced to talk about your feelings,” he said. But in the end, “everyone became so close as result of the discussion.”

College junior Bhargavi Ammu, who has gone on an ASB trip every spring since her freshman year, agreed.

“We talk about anything and everything, from the public education system to religion,” she said. “Everyone has such a varying point of view, and it’s great to hear about these different opinions.”

Enhancing the ‘Penn experience’

With these diverse opinions and personalities, though, there is admittedly disagreement and occasional friction among members on some parts of the trip, Matijkiw said.

She added that she sometimes longs for the “traditional” relaxation that spring break embodies for other Penn students.

However, for Matijkiw, the positives clearly outweigh the negatives — evidenced by the fact that most participants continue to return to the ASB program year after year.

To his knowledge, Rybak said that all of the members from his group last year are returning to ASB for this year’s trip.

Rybak is returning as a site leader on an ASB trip this year after being unexpectedly “sucked into” the trips.

“If anyone’s looking for a complete college experience, look past the frat parties, look past Spring Fling,” he said. “This will absolutely enhance your college experience. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done to enhance my Penn experience.”

For Matijkiw, this year’s trip will be her fourth and last.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do after I graduate,” she said. “It’s going to be hard having a spring break where I’m not doing this.”

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