Alternative Bronco Breaks (ABB) are coordinated during the winter (Alternative Winter Experience, AWE), summer (Alternative Summer Experience), and spring breaks (Alternative Spring Break, ABB) and take students off campus, and in some cases out of the state, to work on a volunteer project. This spring break, ten groups will be traveling throughout the country to spend the week volunteering for pre-selected organizations.
Chelsea Davidson has been on three ABB trips, and currently serves on the executive board as a publicity chair. She took her first trip in 2013 to Kansas City, Missouri where she worked with Operation Breakthrough to provide child care and other services to poverty stricken families.
“This was when I first fell in love with what ABB does,” Davidson said. “In the span of a week I got to meet 10 new awesome people, explore a new place, get needed volunteer hours, and make a difference in an organization that worked with an issue that interested me.”
Davidson, who is majoring in Early Childhood Education, decided to become more involved and applied to become a site leader. Site leaders help to plan and organize trips. Davidson’s next experience took her San Antonio, where she worked with the local AIDS Foundation.
“It really felt like we were able to make a difference, and the staff were so friendly and appreciative of us. Many of my participants felt as though it was a life changing experience,” Davidson said, “and that was awesome to see as a site leader.”
On her next trip, an Alternative Winter Experience in 2014, Davidson went to Philadelphia to work with MANNA, an organization the prepares and delivers nutritious meals to people living with terminal illness.
While Davidson remains on the executive board, student teaching responsibilities will keep her from taking a fourth trip for spring break this year.
“I think that every WMU student should participate on at least one ABB trip,” Davidson says. “Not only do you get to travel, meet new people, and get volunteer hours, but it is also truly a life changing experience. I have talked to past participants who have changed their major, gone back several times to visit their volunteer organization, and even ended up moving across the country and working for their volunteer organization after graduating, all as a result of their respective ABB trips.”
She adds that the commitment is structured to the lifestyle of college students, “Aside from a few meetings, it is really only a week commitment, and the price is low, only $240 for the whole trip."
Each trip includes two site coordinators who select locations and organizations. Applicants are asked to rank social issues related to the various trips, so that students can be matched to a trip and organization for which they will be passionate.
“Some of my favorite WMU memories come from ABB trips. I love the people that I have met and the experiences I have gained through this organization. I cannot imagine my WMU experience without Alternative Bronco Breaks,” Davidson said.
This year, student groups will be traveling to Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, South Carolina, Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Arizona, and Arkansas during spring break.
To learn more, click here.
*The deadline for WMU students to apply for the Alternative Summer Experience has been extended to March 7. Please use the link above to learn more about applying for ABB.
The image was taken on Chelsea’s 2014 Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip to San Antonio, Texas. She can be found in the back row, second from the right.