Alternative Spring Break

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a weeklong service opportunity during the University's Spring Break in which participants travel to help meet a need in a community. Since becoming a student organization in 2000, nearly 1,000 students have participated in ASB.

Students using power tools during ASB Participants examine the root causes of the social issues they work with through pre-trip education and reflection during the trip. Students meet with their team approximately five times prior to departure in March and two times after the trip. Past participants have helped Hurricane Katrina victims by working with KaTREEna in New Orleans, built homes with Habitat for Humanity in Georgia, served individuals leaving the prison system in Texas, cleaned the Mississippi River through Living Lands and Waters, and more.

Students will also enjoy one free day during their trip to enjoy the sites in their host city or in a city they travel through. This structure allows students to get to know a community and its residents on a deeper level to have a lasting impact!

Bus groups typically include 45 total participants with six student leaders and three staff trip advisors on board.

Participants learn lessons in compassion and service that cannot be taught in the classroom alone, as well as the value of serving individuals, families, and communities in need. Students will bond with other participants and form new relationships from the moment they attend Reveal to find out which trip they are on.

2023 Trips

Applications are now closed for Spring 2023 breaks. Information will be available for Spring Break 2024 in August 2023.

Applications will be evaluated based on a rubric including attitude, teamwork, growth, and cultural competency. Please be thoughtful in your responses.

Trip options:

Trip one: Living Lands and Waters, Saving the Mighty Mississippi through Restoration and Recycling (Tennessee)

You will be doing physical labor with this experience-- for example: cleaning up trash in rivers and lakes, removing invasive plant species, etc.

Trip two: Community Immersion in Memphis with Serve901 (Tennessee)

You will participate in a variety of service projects around Memphis while learning about a variety of social issues such as affordable housing, criminal justice, disaster relief and more.

Trip three: Supporting the Elders of the Cherokee Nation (Oklahoma)

This trip will partner with students from Heartland Community College in service work.
The service includes general construction and property maintenance such as building wheelchair ramps and general home repairs.
Students will need to bring a sleeping mat (available for rent through Campus Recreation) or an air mattress

Trip four [HONORS EXPERIENCE ONLY]: Addressing Poverty through Affordable Housing and Education with Our House (Arkansas)

The service includes general construction and property maintenance such as building wheelchair ramps and general home repairs.

Students will need to bring a sleeping mat (available for rent through Campus Recreation) or an air mattress

Trip five: *International Children's Outreach, Building Community with Youth (St. Lucia, Caribbean)

ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST PROVIDE PROOF OF FULL COVID VACCINATION BY THE DATE THE TRIP DEPARTS TO PARTICIPATE

*This trip involves interaction with minors. By applying for this trip, you consent to a background check in compliance with ISU's Protection of Minors Policy 1.19
We will be doing a variety of projects benefiting youth in the community and in a local school.
Price does not include any needed vaccines, visas, luggage fees, or required ISU travel insurance. Trip departs from Chicago O'Hare, students must find their own transportation to and from the airport.

Fees

See our Costs and Payment page for information about trip costs, fee discounts, and our financial responsibility policy.