Costa Rica Spring Course & Trip

The Bennion Center is known for its wonderful Alternative Breaks program; our program was actually honored with the Program of the Year award. (see this video for the interview our staff partner Kris Fenn and student board representative Nisha Kavalam talking with ABC 4 about it here)

One of the really awesome programs we offer is a course every spring and partnering spring break trip to COSTA RICA! This is a very unique opportunity to really put service learning into actual work, as well as traveling to a beautiful, wonderful country.

So about the course...
The political science course is offered every Spring Semester and is worth 3 credit hours. The course fulfills the international requirement and is service-learning (Community Engaged Learning) designated. The course is cross-listed at the graduate level. One third of participants are graduate students. We draw heavily from MPA, MPP, MIAGE, PRT programs, among others. The academic content of this course is an introduction to International Development and Aid theories. We explore practical solutions and alternatives to traditional development aid theories and subsequent challenges.

And then of course, the trip!
The spring break trip goes down to the Monteverde region of Costa Rica. This component involves immersion in village culture, community and service-learning.

 Students will learn from first hand experiences that highlight:
1. the role of women in development
2. fair trade agriculture
3. eco-tourism
4. sustainable development
5. conservation biology
6. cooperative business management
7. micro-enterprise
8. payment for environmental services


Applications for this course and trip are available now here. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Gina Russo at grusso@sa.utah.edu.

Alumni Fellowship

The Bennion Center/Alumni Fellowship. This was one of the best experiences of my entire life. 

I got to choose where to go, anywhere I wanted and I chose Arcata, California. I got my inspiration to go here from two things: 

1. Alternative Spring Break

2. My friend who lived there for a while said, "I think you would like it here."

After these two events occurred, I researched more into the city and the organization, Friends of the Dunes. 

After the application and interview, I was excited to hear that I was being offered the fellowship, I began prepping to move for the summer.

Due to a family emergency, I had to leave just a few days after school ended and head to the Sacramento Valley, where I spent about a week. From there, I headed up to Arcata. I had previously made housing arrangements through Craigslist, Skyping them to make sure they wanted to live with me and I with them. So when I arrived, I kind of knew what to expect, but I was still extremely nervous. My new roommates greeted me with warm, open hearts.

A couple days later, I started my new position. Everyone at Friend of the Dunes was so thankful I was there and I was so thankful to be there. I worked Tuesday-Saturday, usually 40-45 hours a week. I did everything from entering contact lists to planning events to restoration. On one of the first days I was there, we had to close the nature center because of a downed cable line, but thankfully a co-worker and I found a great alternative thing to do that day, we saw the Kinetic Sculpture Race, which included gems like this:  

I helped plan Ocean Day, this is where 900+ elementary school kids came out and did restoration for half the day, did a beach clean up, then were assembled to get into formation that looked like a squid from a bird's-eye view.  

Another thing I got to do was lead weekly restoration projects, where a group of people from the community would come in and help remove invasive species for a few hours a day. It was so great to go out and do this with people who knew how important it is to keep our dunes free of invasives and were willing to commit to our environment.

Yet another exciting day in the life of my summer, I got to help save a sea bird that was tangled in fishing line with a buoy stuck in its breast.

I loved my job so much, being out in nature every single day was amazing, I could not have asked for anything more. I learned so many things this summer and was adopted into a loving new culture and was embraced by the redwood forest around me.

There is no way to fully express my experience with Friends of the Dunes, but I urge you to apply for this Fellowship because it changed my life and it may change yours as well!

More information and application available online.

P.S. I got to lick this slug, too.

-Allison Weichmann

Nisha Kavalam Spotlight

BENNION CENTER 2013-2014 SPOTLIGHT

Nisha Kavalam: Alternative Breaks Co-Coordinator

                                                           

What is the best advice you have ever received?

My great Aunt who is a nun in India advised me that no matter what the path I choose to take in life, that in it, I find happiness about all else.

If your life had a theme song, what would it be?

New Strings- Miranda Lambert

Where is the furthest place you have traveled?

India, Singapore, and Dubai

What would you do with the money if you won the lottery?

Split a portion into savings for my children, my family, and retirement; donate a portion to small non-profits I’ve volunteered for, and finally use a portion to travel around Europe or Asia for a few months.

What are the 5 things you cannot live without?

My family, my rollerblades, Nutella, consignment shops, and coffee.

Would you be brave enough to spend an entire hour, in a cemetery, at night, by yourself?

Absolutely not.

What would your perfect date consist of?

Seeing as I am the messiest eater in the world, it wouldn’t involve food (unless it’s ice cream). So basically anything that isn’t going out to eat like, going to a concert, a sporting event, exploring a new town/city or something outdoorsy.

A Look into the Alternative Breaks Process

Alternative Breaks

Working Alongside Communities. Building U.

The Alternative Breaks (AB) program is a unique chance for not only students but staff to become more involved at the University of Utah. For students, this program offers direct, hands on service, education, and leadership opportunities, while staff have the chance to become a mentor to a student leader.

Prospective student site leaders are interviewed when they come back from their AB trip and shortly after are matched with a social issue focus and location. From then on out until the week of the break they are planning what volunteer organizations they will be working with, where they will stay once they arrive on location, and how they will effectively lead the rest of the student participants through an unforgettable (for some, life changing) experience.

Staff partners who are interested in this mentorship are interviewed throughout early summer and selected based on their enthusiasm to support a student for six months to a whole year. Once staff partners are selected they start attending bi-monthly meetings with student site leaders by mid-summer or September. This allows them to get an idea of what the AB program is about and who they potentially want to work with for the coming year.

Student site leaders and staff partners at the fall 2013 retreat.

By mid-summer or late September, student site leaders and staff partners are required to attend an overnight retreat. At this retreat student site leaders and staff partners are presented with extensive diversity and safe zone trainings. This experience readies them for the group of undetermined student participants that will be placed on their trip in late August or early December. The retreat also serves as a crucial time for staff partners and site leaders to get to know each other and ultimately figure out who they want to collaborate with.

After the retreat is over, the administration team (comprised of a student chair and co-chair, and two full time AB staff members) deliberates to match student and staff depending on who they mentioned as having bonded with the most so far. As soon as this is achieved, the student site leader and staff partner hit the ground running! They begin contacting volunteer agencies, figuring out lodging logistics, finding educational opportunities around their social issue focus, contacting guest speakers, and planning fun get to know you events, all for the student participants to experience.

About a month or two before fall or spring break rolls around the site leader and staff partner have put in a significant amount of planning and are ready to meet their participants. Up to three pre-trip meetings are organized by the student site leader and staff partner before departing. These meetings are required for participants to attend since they are oriented to what the AB experience is all about and the social issue focus they will be working with.

On departure day you can feel everyone’s energy and excitement. The fact that AB trips drive to every location is a perfect chance for everyone to start really getting to know each other.

-Stephanie Cooper, ASB Site Leader and Student Board Member

Alternative Breaks

Before spring break this year, I never thought I could love the Bennion Center any more than I already did. Then, I went on my very first Alternative Spring Break (ASB). It was honestly one of the best weeks of my life! Alternative Breaks are run through the Bennion Center, in partnership with the Center for Student Wellness. In the past, the majority of the trips were over spring break. Now, the program is expanding to a few trips over fall break as well. Alternative Breaks are the perfect combination of service, education, friendships, and fun!

The ASB trip I went on was in Seattle, WA. Each trip has a different focus, and ours was hunger and homelessness. We visited 2-3 different organizations each day, most of which included homeless resource centers and food banks. We were able to provide direct service, such as cleaning rooms and serving food, but we also received a lot of education about what each organization was doing to alleviate hunger and/or homelessness. This trip served as a great reminder of why I became involved in service in the first place. If you are not currently involved in service, these trips will inspire you to start!

Top ten reasons to go on an ASB trip next year:

10. Free t-shirt! All participants get an awesome t-shirt.

9.  When people ask you what you did over your break, you’ll actually have something great to tell them! Plus, you will look like such a good person when you mentioned that you spent most of your break doing service work.

8. Photos! Lots of new friends and sightseeing= lots of picture-taking. You may even get a few entertaining dance videos out of your trip.

7. The trips are relatively cheap compared to what you would normally spend on a vacation. Plus, there is often scholarship money available that will cut the cost down even more!

6. Road trip! Bring good music and some sweet dance moves.

5. Sight-seeing: Although service is a large component of the trip, there is plenty of time for seeing the city and shopping for souvenirs.

4. Networking: If you are particularly interested in the issue that your trip focuses on, you will learn a lot more about some of the organizations you could work with in the future.

3. Meet amazing people: Your staff partner, site leader, and fellow ASB participants will all be great people who are invested in service! Also, the community members you meet at the organizations you serve at will blow your mind.

2. Friendships and bonding: I was really surprised and amazed at how close I became to my ASB Seattle group after only one week. There is something about doing service together that brings people so much closer than they would be otherwise. There was a lot of love, laughter, and life in our group, and I am sure we will be friends for a long time!

1. Service! Volunteering is always great, but being able to participate in service while being in another city and making new friends makes it even better! You will be helping others, but you will also be learning a lot about yourself. It’s a win-win situation.

-Alice Ma, ASB Seattle ‘13 participant

 

Visit our website for more information on Alternative Breaks. Fall 2013 info coming soon.