Winter 2024 — Alternative Breaks encourage Oregon State University students to take a break — a break from the usual and from the routine, a break from the comfortable.
When students commit to participating, they commit to immersing themselves in a community, learning deeply about others and working alongside community members and new friends in pursuit of personal and social change. These trips, sponsored by Community Engagement & Leadership (CEL) over spring break, help students discover the interconnected nature of social issues, challenge their assumptions and strengthen their leadership skills.
During this year’s Alternative Break — taking place from March 23 through March 29 — students will travel to Ashland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; and Yakima, Washington.
Oregon State students have been traveling to these locations for more than 10 years. “We have long-standing relationships with leaders and organizations in these communities, as we believe in cultivating reciprocal relationships,” CEL Program Coordinator Peter Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson explains that Alternative Breaks are entirely student led. He oversees six student trip leaders, who work together in pairs, and begin planning in November.
“They lead all elements of the trip from planning through delivery and wrap-up,” he says. This includes itinerary building, reflection sessions, travel logistics, meals and supplies. “They conduct outreach to community organizations and leaders to build partnerships. They co-facilitate pre-trip team meetings to orient participants to the program and build a strong team dynamic. They also serve in an on-call crisis response role during the trips.”
Thirty-two students participated in last year’s Alternative Break, including six who served as co-leaders, engaging in more than 800 service hours and 960 education hours focused on environmental conservation, restoration and justice, housing and food security, Indigenous cultural engagement, immigrant justice, and land use practices.
As in year’s past, the 2023 programs proved to be meaningful experiences for Oregon State students and community partners alike. One participant commented, “I became both aware (of) and broke down biases, questioned my perception of identity and community, and gained a new sense of empathy.” Another student said, “I am more aware of my actions and what they communicate to people. I now understand how my behaviors communicate things to people and that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and humanity.”
The program in Yakima, Washington, examined the impact of land acquisition, settler colonialism and immigration by exploring the narratives of different cultural groups, including Native Americans from the Yakama Nation, Filipino Americans, the Latino/a/x community, undocumented migrant workers, and those experiencing housing insecurity, economic disparities, food insecurity and environmental injustices. “I learned about how life circumstances impact people in negative ways, but that a strong community helps to alleviate the pain. The trip taught me to be more empathetic to people who have different lives from me,” one of the students who participated in the program said.
“Alternative Breaks challenge students to practice critical service, cultural humility and critical systems thinking,” Wilkinson said. “They provide the opportunity to explore root causes of social issues, and consider privilege, power and oppression, when identifying strategies for social change to build more equitable and caring communities.”
Community Engagement & Leadership Director Emily Bowling says that staff are inspired by the values and vision of OSU students to impact their communities positively.
“We are focused on building spaces for learning and leadership development that inspire values-driven, relational leadership,” she says. “We aspire to cultivate student change agents who honor the strengths and humanity in all of us, support communities of belonging, and celebrate that we rise by lifting others.”
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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