UC San Diego Students Serve Communities, Save Money over Spring Break

March 20, 2009

By Christine Clark

University of California, San Diego students are finding creative ways to economize on spring break and also provide humanitarian aid during their week away from classes beginning March 21. Of the 80 students participating in an Alternative Breaks program, more than 60 will travel across the globe, working in orphanages, schools and hospitals and about 20 students will volunteer in community service projects in the U.S.

Alternative Breaks students volunteered in Biloxi Miss. during their summer vacation in 2008. This spring break, ten students from UC San Diego will travel to Biloxi, Miss., to help repair damages from Hurricane Katrina.

Alternative Breaks is designed to involve groups of 10 students in one-week service trips to underdeveloped countries, but this year more than 40 students applied to the domestic trips, which cost about $500. One group will travel to Biloxi, Miss., to help repair damages from Hurricane Katrina, and another group will go to Supai, Ariz., to provide services to Havasupai Indians.

“The national Alternative Breaks trips are great because they allow you to cut back on the most expensive part of travel, the airfare,” said UC San Diego student Neeraja Rajagopalan.

Alternative Breaks participants such as Rajagopalan hold fundraisers throughout the year to help offset the cost of their trips. “We were able to cover a lot of the miscellaneous costs like hotels and transportation,” said Rajagopalan, who is traveling to Biloxi. “The end result is that we get to do a really great service project for a very affordable price.”

Last fall, Alternative Breaks participants hosted a “Whiteout Party" with deejays and dancing and raised $3,000 for the program, according to Pongpunya Jack Korpob, Alternative Breaks site leader and development coordinator.

Korpob will lead a group of students to Belize this spring. Students in his group will camp in the jungle and take part in an environmental assessment at a national park. At the end of the week, they will educate elementary school children about the environment and biological systems.

“It’s an opportunity I can’t pass up,” Korpob said. “I feel this experience is much more rewarding than an ordinary vacation because it allows me to constantly learn about social justice and to pursue my passion of volunteering.”

Other students are vacationing on the cheap by finding trips through UC San Diego’s Outback Adventures or exploring San Diego.

Daniel Phung found a 10-day kayaking trip to Mexico for $440 through Outback Adventures, a division of UC San Diego Recreation. Outback also offers students inexpensive backpacking, surfing, rock climbing, hiking, horseback riding, and caving classes and rental gear.

Phung is an assistant guide for Outback Adventures and will be traveling to Baja California from March 21 to April 1. “I am super excited,” he said. “I’ve never been out of the country and it will be great to be in the outdoors. I’m getting a great deal too. I found similar trips online, but they cost more than twice as much.”

Media Contact: Christine Clark, 858-534-7618