| This year’s spring break hot spots: Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua BY MIKE UNGER
Courtesy of Meghann Casey
Melissa Budhazasy, left, Audrey Pernik, center, and Amy Pucino spent their spring break in Virginia’s Appalachia region.
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Esteban Quinones, like so many of his fellow college students across America, spent his spring break in Mexico. But the School of International Service graduate student wasn’t in Cancun dancing the night away while tipping back shots of tequila. Quinones and a group of AU students were in the northern part of the country, just a stone’s throw from the U.S. border, talking to Mexicans and Americans in hopes of further understanding the many complexities associated with the issue of immigration. More than 100 AU students chose to take an alternative spring break trip this year, traveling to Virginia’s Appalachia country, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua for seven days of learning and enriching both their own lives and the lives of others. This marked the seventh year AU has offered the trips, which are proposed, planned, and organized primarily by the students. “The trips provide students with a greater understanding of the different social issues they’re exploring and give them a connection to how it affects their lives,” said alternative spring break coordinator Shoshanna Sumka, coordinator for global and community- based learning. Quinones and his classmates spent time in Tucson, Ariz., and in small towns south of the border meeting with leaders from organizations on all sides of the issue. “There’s a lot of focus on the number of people immigrating through Arizona,” he said. “Right now it’s a very symbolic spot for this issue. I think one of the more important things we learned is that the majority of people who are going through the border illegally are just like you or me. Regular people who have so few options to support their families. They’re just desperate to make a living for their families.” University chaplain Joe Eldridge has participated in many of the trips over the years as a staff representative. This year he traveled to Honduras, a country in which he once lived. The group spoke to governmental leaders, human rights advocates, and clergy, visited with orphans and disadvantaged children, explored Mayan ruins, and toured a maquiladore, a factory where workers produce garments for export. “There was a roar as we walked in,” said Eldridge, describing the sound of thousands of sewing machines. “The conditions were intense. It’s basically a cavernous factory with 1,200 people, mostly women, furiously sewing garments for sale in big-bucks retail outlets in the United States. I think that had a very profound effect; it was kind of stunning. You can imagine but you can’t really visualize. All the women do is sew.” One of the beauties of alternative spring break trips is that the images and lessons taken from these destinations remain with the students long after they’ve returned home. “I don’t think the students who saw that will ever buy a T-shirt at Gap quite the same,” Eldridge said. “It’s a journey of discovery of the realities of a poor country, and one would hope a journey into the interior of one’s soul.” In addition to the alternative spring break trips, other AU organizations ventured away from Washington on educational expeditions. One group of students traveled to Vietnam as part of the Honors Colloquium to meet with academic and political leaders and interact with local students to learn about life in Vietnam. Kogod School of Business’s Road Scholars program took 20 students to Los Angeles, where they met with business leaders in a number of industries. The students toured Staples Center, went to American Apparel, and sat in on the taping of a television show. “There’s always an opportunity for students to gain insight about the industry and get career advice,” said Allison Holcomb, Kogod’s academic program manager. “I think success for us is that at the end of the trip the students have learned about an industry that they either do or don’t want to work in.” Melissa Abrahams is a senior at Kogod who is interested in marketing and event planning. “It was great to be able to meet with executives and have them tell us about their backgrounds,” she said. “They were really helpful. It was reassuring. I will get a job, and I can do whatever I want.” Students who set out in a different direction during spring break may miss out on a party or two, but they almost always return home content with their choice of destination. “I’m glad I spent not only my spring break there but also the weeks planning the trip,” Quinones said. “You come back physically tired but it’s very inspiring and emotionally moving.” |
