SALISBURY, MD—For some students, spring break is a time to vacation at southern beaches, catch up on class work or simply enjoy a few days relaxing at home.
For 14 students from Salisbury University, however, this year’s break was a potential opportunity to help change lives through an alternative spring break service trip to Washington, D.C., sponsored by SU’s Center for Student Involvement and Leadership (CSIL).
“I really like helping and volunteering service hours,” said Olivia Ingrao, a senior biology major from Lutherville-Timonium, MD, who also recently ended a one-year term as SU’s Student Government Association president. “I don’t have much time during the school year to do that on top of everything else, so while I had a free week, I thought I should do something productive and helpful with my time.”
During the four-day trip, the SU cohort, led by Tricia Garvey Smith, CSIL director, helped clean a facility used by Little Lights Urban Ministries, which provides youth support at three public housing communities in the D.C. area; bagged produce for the Bread for the City food pantry; and cleaned Charlie’s Place, a homeless ministry operated by St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church.
At the latter, the SU volunteers also helped arrange a closet filled with donated clothing, an experience Ingrao called “transformative,” not only for the closet (which “was not organized” when they arrived, she noted), but for the students themselves. “I really felt accomplished at the end of it,” she said. “They were really grateful for our work, and that felt good. We made an impact.”
For sophomore biology major Vanna Perdue of Salisbury, the alternative spring break also provided an opportunity to meet fellow students she had not often interacted with as a commuter student.
“I needed to put myself out there,” she said.
What she experienced was beyond anything she could have imagined.
“It was like an entry-level study abroad,” she said, noting that in addition to making new SU friends, she enjoyed meeting travelers from Australia, Germany and Singapore at the hostel where the students stayed. “If you’re thinking about study abroad, or even going further across the country, this is a good way to test yourself. It’s a different environment. It’s something new. It’s like dipping your toe in.”
Ingrao, who studied abroad in Italy and Austria as an SU student, agreed: “It was like learning about a new place with people you didn’t know and experiencing things you hadn’t experienced before. For students who are super busy and don’t have the time to study abroad or to go places during the school year or over the summer, I would definitely recommend it.
“This is a great experience to learn about yourself, make new friends and gain new skills, to learn how to travel, how to talk to people and how to live by yourself. It was a really cool experience.”
Like a study abroad trip, the students also got to experience culture during their stay in D.C., including visits to several monuments, the National Zoo, and the Smithsonian Air and Space and African American History and Culture museums.
“We’re so used to living near it that it’s easy to forget that D.C. is D.C.,” said Perdue, noting the number of visitors they encountered who had traveled from beyond the region and outside the country to experience the U.S. capital.
In the end, however, the biggest draw was the opportunity to assist organizations that help those in need.
“It’s very rewarding to do the service,” Ingrao said. “I only wish we could have done more.”
Additional students participating in the experience included Melinda Adams and Emily Kirchner of Salisbury; Jaydan Fogo and Philia Lewis of Washington, D.C.; Tessa Jakelski of Parkville, MD; Mansi Kher and Aarti Patel of Delmar, MD; Kelly Martinez of Silver Spring, MD; Caden Minors and Gabriella Pileggi of Elkton, MD; and Natalya Waldron of Bowie, MD.
Learn more about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at www.salisbury.edu.
