Imagine trying to keep track of 11 other people besides yourself. Imagine making living, travel and food arrangements for 12 people for an entire week, all while trying to keep up with regular coursework.
It almost sounds like a nightmare, but that is exactly what alternative break trip leaders from the Service Leadership and Community Engagement office did just two weeks ago.
Most might picture someone “in charge” as a professor or administrator, but for the most part these trips were administered by students. As stressful as this may sound, trip leaders Molly Markow and Elise Sterck say they viewed the trip as a learning opportunity.
“I would say leading a trip is a huge learning experience and really rewarding,” Markow said. “Working with a budget, scheduling and contacting site services and planning meals for a group of 12 are all things I’ve never done before.”
The trip’s participants consisted of undergraduate and graduate students from different walks of life, which is what Sterck says made the trip such an enjoying experience.
“Though we had a very diverse group of students on board, it was wonderful to see how service work can bring people together,” Sterck said. “San Diego was a vibrant city to visit, and I think that everyone felt like a week of volunteering in a beautiful place was a rewarding way to spend their spring break.”
To become a leader of one of the trips, Markow, Sterck and the other trip leaders needed to have participated in an alternative break trip before. After being selected as a leader, they endured months of training and classes to prepare for the break.
Months prior to the trip all of the leaders were responsible for planning out the logistics, which included finding areas for the group to volunteer at.
“Contacting volunteer sites and planning transportation, recreation, food and lodging on a budget proved to be quite time consuming, and it was sometimes a challenge to try to cater to the needs of 12 very different people,” Sterck said.
Though both Markow and Sterck have participated in the alternative breaks program before, Sterck says it is a different experience going from being a participant to a trip leader.
“In comparing my experience as a participant on an alternative spring break my sophomore year to being a leader this year, I’ve developed an incredible appreciation for the amount of time and effort the previous trip leaders would have put into planning a trip like this,” Sterck said. “Overall, I think the experience has helped me grow in my ability to be patient and tolerant in many situations, and I would gladly do it over again.”
The trip did have minor setbacks, however. Grocery shopping in a city turned out to be a little frustrating when the group discovered it could not take the shopping cart out of the store, unlike in Wyoming where everyone takes the carts to their cars. During a few stressful moments, trip leaders also worried that the group would not be able to make it back home due to a flight delay caused by bad weather in Denver.
However, all the flights landed safely in Denver with only minor delays. Even with these minor setbacks and delays, Markow says she will not be deterred from participating in future trips.
“To be able to create a service learning opportunity for students after having experienced one of my own was really exciting,” Markow said. “After such a wonderful trip I will probably do it again next year. I just can’t stay away.”
