MISSION OF ASB:

UMBC’s Alternative School Break Program

Alternative School Break (ASB) are student-run week long service engagement trips designed to challenge students and combat civic issues underlying larger societal concerns-- such as homelessness, health care, and the environment. A successfully trip effectively teaches students the power of service and leaves them with a sense of camaraderie, compassion, and empathy for the people of the world, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status.

Alternative School Breaks at UMBC consists of  three tiers of service learning. At UMBC we encourage the higher learning of the student via their maturity, critical thinking, and perceptions of society. ASB at UMBC can be broken down into education, volunteering, and community, all are addressed while attending an ASB trip. Students are immersed into a community that faces a challenge that prevents upward social mobility or survival. Students will be engaged in a week long immersion that requires a small group of students to actively engage in service and reflection, meanwhile living on the poverty line. Living on the poverty line entitles-- living on $6 dollars a day for food and sleeping in sleeping bags in churches or other facilities. Each trip is planned and lead by a student trip leader. To insure the safety of the students on the trip a learning partner is required to attend. Learning partners are faculty/ staff of the university system. In depth preparation is included when committing to a trip, which includes service learning related to the population/community you are serving and a pre-break service trip.

EDUCATION:

The education of the student is the highest goal of ASB. The education of the mind provides students the best possible chance to understand and learn about other cultures, peoples, and communities. An educated volunteer is pertinent to the service provided to the people in need. When one is knowledgeable about the people/culture they are helping the service they provide is greatly enhanced. During ASB trips students are required to participate in daily reflection sessions that test the person’s mind and influence a person’s perspectives on the world. Each reflection provides every student the chance to learn about the real world outside the classroom or a textbook. Education is vital to the growth and development of the individual as they seek further understanding of the society that they live in.

            “Too whom much is given, much is expected” (Anonymous). This famous quote displays an important lesson about service, but describes how critical an education is to volunteering. A person is privileged to attend a university in the world and it is great honor to help those in need. The education of the person instills each person with the question “Why?” Why is service necessary and beneficial? Why do people need help? Why did people’s lives or communities end up the way they did?

            Students who are engaged in service on a long term basis will experience the benefits of strong relationships. A volunteer establishes a relationship with those he/she is serving and also with their fellow volunteers. This relationship is crucial to a volunteer’s mission. When one creates a relationship with their fellow volunteers more efficient and accomplished service is performed. The relationships formed while on ASB trips are huge when in relation to the growth and maturity of the volunteer. Many of the benefits of the relationship between volunteers grows into compassionate friendships and boundless amounts of fun. Learning from your fellow peers is a ideal way to understand the hardships and life lessons that are displayed by each person on the trip. One of the biggest misconceptions that people have when they volunteer, is that the people they are helping receive the most benefits, meanwhile the volunteer receives nothing in return. On the contrary, a volunteer will become educated about life through the life and mistakes of others. They will also experience new and influential emotions and feelings that will help to mold and shape them into caring, compassionate civic individuals. A newfound sense of hope and love can be spread through the interactions and relationships forged between volunteer and those they desire to serve. However, a huge commitment and dedication to the serving of others is required. It requires some sacrifice and hard-work, which is not for everyone, so when you decide to go on an ASB trip make sure you are ready and prepared.

VOLUNTEERING:

It is important to identify the differences between helping and serving when you are volunteering. When one helps another they are providing a necessary work deed that benefits the individual on a short term basis. Helping someone does not allow for the volunteer to provide the best possible act of service in order to make the life of the individual more advantageous. Helping a person requires no empathy, but it does allow for a significant amount of compassion and sympathy. A person who is serving others combines compassion with empathy while they sacrifice their time to providing the individual/community the best help possible. During the ASB trip volunteering will take place each day. Depending on the type of trip the volunteering will be either directly or indirectly helping someone. A volunteer is one whom desires to change a problem or issue their community via hard work and sacrifice of their time and energy. Volunteering is meant to be fun. As above stated, the relationships between volunteers is crucial to the overall trip and the service you provide. It’s understandable that people have work to do over the break, however, team building or rather community building is also important. Having fun brings people together and forms strong bonds among the group. Through experience the amount of fun you have during the trip dictates the mood of the group and the balance of the group is also influenced by fun and laughter. It is important to remember that sometimes certain volunteer experiences can leave a person raw inside, and so fun, social activities are essential the overall attitude of the trip.

COMMUNITY:

 As a member of a community it is important to realize the plights of the community and its citizens, but also to recognize the accomplishments and attempts of the community to correct the issues that are present. As a newcomer to a new community it is your responsibility to respect the cultures, traditions, and the peoples themselves. Once that is achieved then it is time to start serving. It is always nice to change and solve all the problems present in a community, but one has to realize that an idea like that is implausible. It is best to go into a volunteer situation with the idea of serving others to the best of your ability and the knowledge that anything you do to help is more than what they were receiving before you decided to help. Establishing a relationship with the community you are serving is another staple of the UMBC ASB ideology. When working with various and different communities across the map fostering a relationship can help better the service you are attempting to provide as it mediates the differences that hinder the service you try to provide. The combination of volunteering and education that are incorporated in ASB at UMBC help to better the volunteer and the community.