Alternative Stories #13: This I can promise you

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. International Studies and Biology student and site leader Mackenzie McIntyre shares her story this week. 

Haphazardly stuffed with sleeping bags, rain coats, and (soon to be forgotten) economics textbooks, our white Dodge hybrid waits patiently on the corner of Church and Hill Street, preparing for the 18-hour adventure that would eventually deliver 11 college students to Waco, Texas. During a week when students tend to favor home-cooked meals, 24-hour Netflix binges, and the balmy breezes of Punta Cana, we will be working on a sustainable farm, engaging in a poverty simulation, and learning about the intersecting issues surrounding domestic hunger.

What could ever convince a group of college students to trade the sun, the sand, and the warmth of Mexico for seven days of service-learning on a sustainable farm in Texas? Well, I can’t speak for the other ten people in my van, but I can certainly attempt to describe the incredible sequence of events that eventually led to this moment.

My experience with Alternative Spring Break developed during a period of my life in which uncertainty characterized every moment. Uncertain friends. Uncertain groups. Uncertain major. Uncertain future.  As the thrill of freshman year dissipated, I was left without any sense of true belonging. I was a confused sophomore — too old to claim naivety, yet too inexperienced to feel secure.

I was searching for a family, but I felt too lonely. I was yearning for a purpose, but I couldn’t seem to pin one down.  I was craving a challenge, but was left unmotivated.

Everything felt so uncertain.

Alternative Stories #12: A community at PKRC

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. This week, nursing student and site-leader Merin Paul shares her story.

Freshman year was a whirlwind of meeting new people and having new experiences, but also finding my place at the University of Michigan, which can be hard when you are on a campus of thousands of students. You’re not sure where to start.

I had applied to Alternative Spring Break by complete chance my first semester, encouraged by peers in my living-learning community at the time, but not thinking anything of it — I was an introvert and really didn’t think I would be accepted. But I honestly loved volunteering from my experiences in high school; the act of giving to another without asking anything in return was always a mantra revered by my parents and instilled in me. I was really surprised when I was accepted to our trip, and thinking back, it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me freshman year. I can only think that my site-leaders saw something in me — something that I didn’t, in choosing to be on our ASB trip — because, without ASB, I can say that I would not have half the confidence in who I am or what I stand for at this university today.

Our trip was a Health and Disabilities trip to Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children (PKRC) in Killeen, TX., a camp for pre-K through high school youth with disabilities, where they could experience the same outdoor activities that able-bodied children regularly did. Going in, I was a bit uneasy, as I had never worked with kids before. I worried about how I would interact with them or even if I would be able to relate to them. Health and Disabilities was a topic I was passionate about as a nursing student, but also from growing up with a family friend with autism. What I loved about PKRC was how incredibly inclusive it was to all campers, adapting activities so that campers could have experiences perhaps not always accessible to people with disabilities.

I remember one of my experiences at PKRC very clearly: A few others from my ASB group and I had been assigned the task of fishing with some of the older campers for part of the day. I was a bit apprehensive because I had never fished before but also because I had never worked with older children. What if they didn’t like me or didn’t want to talk to me? What if I didn’t know how to aid them if they needed me to? I let these irrational fears flood my head at we waited by the dock for the kids to arrive, but once the yellow school bus pulled up and we started greeting the kids as they got out, my fears quickly dissipated. They were so excited to fish, and thrilled when we started handing out the rods, that it made me even more pumped to experience this for the first time along with them. Some of the kids who were quieter and introverted I could easily relate to, and we quickly hit it off during conversation. These same campers would soon talk ecstatically about their favorite teachers at school, and when a fish finally bit, the excitement was uncontainable. It was in that moment I came to understand that disabilities do not and should not define people.

I grew a lot personally and with my peers on that trip. As we reflected each night, talking about our experiences each day and about the moments when we were scared or uncertain, I realized I was not the only student with these insecurities; we were all vulnerable to an extent. This brought us together only too quickly, and I can easily say my PKRC family is a family I grew to rely on long after the trip was over. Without ASB, I would not be who I am today at Michigan, which is why I was motivated to apply to be a site leader last year. If I could contribute at all to other participants’ self-exploration, camaraderie, awareness, confidence or excitement during their ASB experiences in the same way that I was lucky to have received, that will have been be my greatest accomplishment.

To share your Alternative Spring Break story, e-mail the ASB Public Relations Team at ASBSurPRise@umich.edu.

Alternative Stories #11: Breaking a stereotype

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. This week, we hear from Tina Al-khersan, an International Studies and AAPTIS sophomore and ASB site leader.

I entered my first year of college wanting to embrace with open arms opportunities that I would be unable to find elsewhere, and I hoped that these experiences would leave long lasting impressions on me.

I found just that in ASB.

My freshmen year of college, I struggled to find any clubs or extracurriculars that really interested me; I kept dropping in and out of groups with the hopes of discovering a topic that really spoke to me. I just could not find anything that I thoroughly enjoyed or anything that added to my college experience and self discovery.

After searching for different clubs for a while, I decided to apply for ASB. I knew my older sister and brother had done ASB during their college years, and I thought that I would give it a try because they always raved about their experiences. I ended up missing the deadline for one of the groups I applied for but was accepted into the second group. While we had weekly reflections, these did not necessarily prepare me for how eye-opening of an experience I was going to have while on my ASB trip.

During my freshman-year spring break, I was fortunate enough to go to the South Side of Chicago — the place that tourists avoid when they visit famous sites like the Bean. We were going to be working with an organization that provided jobs for people who had recently been released from prison. The organization provided jobs, shelters, and frankly, a second chance at life. Admittedly I went in with a list of qualities that I thought these people would possess. Society so often tries to tell us that people who go to jail are bad people and that they are mean, scary, and unrelatable.

This view that I had held about the types of people who go to prison was completely and absolutely shattered when I had the opportunity to interact with the men with whom we worked. Over the course of the week, I learned that they had been placed in unfortunate circumstances that they had no control over, and their personalities were warm, inviting, and so very kind. They taught me so much about how the criminal justice system is failing its people, how to have an open mind, and how to expect much more out of people than you give them credit for.

After the week ended with the organization, we had a reflection with our participants and the men with whom we worked. They explained to us that, through the friendships formed and conversations had, they realized how much potential they had to change their community. Since then, I have watched them take strides to combat teen gang violence in their community by creating their own organization. Also, they showed me how to effectively and passionately be an agent of change and how to positively interact with the surrounding community. I learned from them that ASB is not about entering a community and trying to “fix” what you may perceive to be broken. Rather, ASB is about entering a community with the hopes that you and the participants will go through an eye-opening experience together and learn from each other, and I thank them so much for that.

To share your Alternative Spring Break story, e-mail the ASB Public Relations Team at ASBSurPRise@umich.edu.

Alternative Stories #10: Leading change

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. Sophomore site leader Emily Yerington shares her story this week.

I learned about Alternative Spring Break by walking through the Diag and seeing the letters “ASB” written in chalk. Curious as to what these letters stood for, I went home and looked them up.

Having enjoyed volunteering in high school, I decided on a lark to apply. I got accepted to a trip to Neil Elementary School, a low-income school in Chicago, Ill., for students with physical and mental disabilities. I had never worked with special-needs students before and, to be honest, I was a bit nervous.

Once I got there, the students at Neil were nothing but friendly. Visiting Neil allowed me to understand the complexities of education inequalities. I met an 8th-grader who struggled with basic math, but offered incredible insight into the problems of racism and classism. And no matter what physical (several of the students were in wheelchairs) or academic setbacks they faced, all of the children could out-dance my ASB group and me! I realized that traditional means of testing could never adequately measure the success of this school or others like it. I came back from Neil inspired to pursue a career in education policy so that I can effect change on a large scale for students like those at Neil Elementary.

Having had such an eye opening experience with ASB as a freshman, I decided to become a site leader. Like my first ASB trip, my experience as a site leader has already exceeded expectations. Going in, I expected to enjoy this role, but I had no idea how much. I stay up late thinking of activities to do with my team and researching aspects of our social justice issue. I enjoy standing out in the cold going bucketing because I relish the opportunity to spend time with my team and to tell passers-by about the ASB program and our trip. Fundraising is not a chore, but a challenge. I look forward to the weekly Education & Training sessions from Lead Team, where they explain leadership strategies such as conflict resolution, team-building, fundraising techniques and how to spread the word about ASB. This year, ASB not only taught me more about the complexities of social justice issues, but also taught me about myself. I learned that I love being a leader and hope to incorporate the skills and knowledge I learned in ASB into my career.

ASB has been a highlight of my college experience so far and I’m sure it will continue to be in the future. Not only have I developed a passion and skillset from ASB, but I have met a network of like-minded individuals working to combat social justice issues. Social justice is not about “saving” others; it is about learning from new cultures and working to improve society as a whole, and so I hope to take the knowledge gained from my experience with ASB and become a catalyst for positive change in education.

To share your Alternative Spring Break story, e-mail the ASB Public Relations Team at ASBSurPRise@umich.edu.

Alternative Stories #9: An unexpected education

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. This week, we hear from sophomore site-leader and Secondary Education major Grace Beckman. 

My hometown, Greenville, is a small conservative town in western Michigan, consisting of a mere 8,000 people. Ann Arbor, however, has opened my eyes to many things, both positive and negative, that I had not been exposed to growing up. I always felt a step behind when talking about my social identity or social justice because I hadn’t had the same experiences as many others around me. Being a member of Michigan Community Scholars Program (MCSP), a learning program based on community service and social justice, was my first exposure to many social issues, and opened my eyes to many topics for the first time. However, Alternative Spring Break is where I’ve been able to address these issues directly while strengthening my personal identity and understanding the importance of service-learning.

I was placed on a Youth and Education trip my freshman year, where I had the opportunity to work with Junior Achievement in Louisville, KY. While in Louisville, my team and I led middle school students in simulation projects to better understand the importance of budgeting their money. Prior to this trip, I took my education for granted; college was something that had always been expected of me. But these students taught me much more with their excitement and eagerness to learn than I could have ever taught them in financial literacy.

The most meaningful aspect of ASB is its ability to leave lasting effects. Not only do you gain authentic friendships (that is a big part of it), you return home wanting to make a difference. Before my trip, I was convinced that I wanted to go into business. I had taken business classes in high school and competed in marketing competitions, and I thought that it was what I meant to do, but after spending a week in Louisville, I realized my passion for working to improve the education system. It is no secret that the education system in the United States needs improvement, but it was not until I saw the discrepancies firsthand that I realized that I wanted to be a part of that change.

I am fortunate to be surrounded by hardworking and motivated individuals through the Alternative Spring Break organization at the University of Michigan. I have no doubt that those whom I’ve met will make a difference in their given fields of studies, and will continue to incorporate their experiences with social justice into their daily lives.

To share your Alternative Spring Break story, e-mail the ASB Public Relations Team at ASBSurPRise@umich.edu.

Alternative Stories #8: Putting the pieces together

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. Business junior and MCSP site-leader Zach Shaw shares his story this week.

Though the task seems complicated at first glance, putting together a puzzle is actually rather simple. It doesn’t matter how intelligent you are or what your background is; all you need is motivation, patience and, of course, the pieces.

But in life’s puzzles, the pieces aren’t immediately available. That’s what I’ve struggled with most in my service so far at the University. Whether I was traveling the country with ASB or partnering with communities here in Ann Arbor, I’ve worked with some of the most motivated and patient people around. Yet, I’ve still struggled to grasp the greater context of these issues, and often came and went without much to take away from the experience. I wasn’t putting the pieces together. In many cases, I didn’t even have the pieces.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise then, when my co-site leader Barrett and I were selected to lead a rural poverty-based ASB trip this year. We both had a decent working knowledge of most social issues, but had never been exposed to rural poverty for more than a pit stop on a road trip. This meant that we had to really dig deep to understand the complexities of the site to which we were going.

What we found is that the figurative pieces are everywhere, and we just needed to apply our motivation and patience toward finding them: There are the educational movies and other resources we’ll be sharing with the rest of East Quad at our upcoming pre-break engagement event, as well as professors — even those whose classes we’d had — who dedicate their time and research to the topic of rural poverty. Even our own participants made the connections between academic studies such as medicine, business and education and how they pertain to the roots and causes of rural poverty.

There’s still plenty to learn, but I can already feel a heightened connection to the service we’ll be doing. Each social issue comes with its own complications and struggles, and very rarely in life will all the pieces be there right away. But by reaching out through service, education, or even just taking the time to listen to people’s stories, the bigger picture becomes clearer.

To share your Alternative Spring Break story, e-mail the ASB Public Relations Team at ASBSurPRise@umich.edu.

Alternative Stories #7: Taking a rewarding risk

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. This week, we hear from site leader Rachel Sullivan, a Movement Science sophomore.

Though I wasn’t accepted to Alternative Spring Break (ASB) at first, when I came back for the second semester of my freshman year, I received an opportunity to join a group from the waitlist for Environmental Justice, which wasn’t my first choice, but still seemed like it could be interesting. Fall semester, I had felt pretty discouraged about being rejected and was ready to write off the whole idea. However, since the new year had just rung in I was feeling a bit more willing to take chances. And take chances, I did. Soon, this became the theme of the trip for me. Taking a chance on joining a group that had already been established. Taking chances on being a part of an organization I didn’t know much about. Taking chances on spending a week with birds.

Here comes the interesting part: I never really liked animals too much (except for my two pet cats). I was content with living in a separate world from animals. Especially birds. Birds were probably my biggest fear in this world prior to my ASB trip, so when I was informed that the group I would potentially be joining was focused on Animal Welfare in North Carolina, where they primarily cared for different types of birds, I was a bit apprehensive.

Then I thought to myself, how could I ever get over this fear unless I face it? How could I ever grow until I do something completely out of my comfort zone? With this, I made the decision to join the trip and had a blast the entire week. With the support of my new friends, I found it invigorating to take chances and face fears each day of the week. It was a huge learning experience for me, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to do ASB my freshman year and learn so much about myself, and while also being able to continue with the organization as a site leader this year, focusing on a different topic that is also new to me so I can take even more chances.

To share your Alternative Spring Break story, e-mail the ASB Public Relations Team at ASBSurPRise@umich.edu.

Alternative Stories #6: First experiences

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. This week, International Studies sophomore and current site leader Niyati Rangnekar shares her story.

I discovered Alternative Spring Break (ASB) through my learning community, the University’s Health Sciences Scholars Program, and became interested in the program because of its emphasis on service learning – something I felt that I was missing in my first semester of college. In high school, I was very involved in tutoring at the Boys & Girls Club, so I was looking forward to a service-learning trip that would push me out of my comfort zone and into a new, unfamiliar environment that I knew would transform my perspectives. Additionally, the idea of sharing an experience with a group of people who would eventually become close to me sounded incredible, especially because I was a freshman still in the stage of finding close friends.

As a participant my freshman year, I went to Peaceable Kingdom Retreat (PKRC) in Killeen, TX, where I fell in love with the mission and the children that came to the center. PKRC is an 120-acre retreat center that holds educational and outdoor activities for all children – and the inclusivity of PKRC is what really drew me in. Though PKRC hosts a wide variety of activities, every activity has equipment that is adaptable based on each child’s needs. No matter the ability of the child, they are able to participate in every activity offered at the retreat. PKRC thus creates an environment where children are given the opportunity to truly express themselves, while they may not be able to elsewhere. What I most admire about PKRC is the environment it has created where there is really no such thing as a “disability” and everyone is given the opportunity to accomplish anything.

Furthermore, this was my first time volunteering so closely with such an organization. I enjoyed forming relationships with the children who came to the camp with so much joy at being able to have fun just as their able-bodied friends were able to. PKRC transformed my experience into one of just stepping outside of my comfort zone to one in which I was able to witness the empowerment of young children.

PKRC really changed my life, and I am so grateful for the experience I had over spring break. The extreme resilience and perseverance of the children I worked with over spring break really inspired me, and I found myself re-evaluating my life passions and goals to revolve around working with children. Before ASB, I had not previously worked with children who had different abilities, and what I experienced at PKRC made me realize how much joy I feel just hanging out with the kids at PKRC who truly represent the happiness and freedom of childhood, regardless of their abilities. It is the overwhelming sense of purpose that I felt after such a rewarding experience that made my experience with ASB so special.

With that being said, I am so grateful to return to PKRC as a site leader. With a new group of participants, I am looking forward to a different experience that I believe will be more rewarding than the first!

To share your Alternative Spring Break story, e-mail the ASB Public Relations Team at ASBSurPRise@umich.edu.

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Alternative Stories #5: Growing through service

Every week, members and partners of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) community will share their Alternative Stories, a series of narratives inspired by the experiences, memories, and meanings made and shared through ASB. This week, we introduce Ryan Yucha, a senior majoring in Microbiology and French, with a minor in the History of Medicine and Health. Ryan is also a PR member of the ASB Lead Team.

I applied for Alternative Spring Break (ASB) because everyone was doing it. The learning community I was in my freshman year had its own site, so the prospect of going on a trip with all of my friends seemed pretty appealing to me. So, I sent in my application, did the interview and — alas! — I didn’t get a spot on the trip. Having gotten excited about going on an ASB trip, however, I applied to go on trip that wasn’t associated with a learning community. This time, I got a spot.

I went to New York City to work with God’s Love We Deliver (GLWD) helping prepare and deliver meals to those who had ailments that prevented them from leaving their homes very often. I was able to learn about issues surrounding HIV/AIDS (which is why GLWD was founded), other illnesses, hunger, and food waste. The trip was very eye-opening for me, and it exposed me to real world issues that I had never encountered before.

Because my freshman-year trip was such a positive experience for me, I decided to come back my sophomore year as a site leader — not really knowing what I was getting myself into. It was a lot of work. My life consisted of hour-and-a-half meetings every week, coordinating trips, additional trip meetings, fundraising, and a lot more. I began to ask myself if it was really all worth it.

Once it was time for our trip, however, it was without a doubt worth it. Site leading was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve done in all of college. I led a trip to Fort Worth, TX. working with another HIV/AIDS non-profit: Samaritan House. Samaritan House is an amazing organization that provides homes for people who are afflicted with HIV/AIDS and are also homeless. They provide housing, food, medicine, counseling, therapies, support, and more.

I was blown away by this organization. I learned so much about the way HIV/AIDS can affect a person’s life as well as those around them. Everyone on the trip grew so much from the stories told by the unbelievably kind people at Samaritan House. It was my job, then, to help guide the reflections so that everyone could learn as much as possible from the day’s happenings.

I was nervous about my abilities to lead such a group, many of whom were older than me, in a dialogue aimed at taking away lessons from the day. I had no choice, however, and was able to take part in, and lead, really meaningful discussions at the end of each day. This is when I realized my own abilities to lead a group of people with varying backgrounds, interests, and identities. Site-leading a trip helped me to learn not only about HIV and homelessness, but it also taught me how to be a better leader and to be confident in my own abilities. My ASB site-leading experience was one of my most transformative to date, and I would not trade it for anything.

 

To share your Alternative Spring Break story, e-mail the ASB Public Relations Team at ASBSurPRise@umich.edu.