For some students this year, spring break won’t be about relaxing in the sun. A few groups on campus are spending their time off in various places around the globe, including reporting in Israel, exploring the effects of ecotourism in Costa Rica, service learning in Washington, D.C. and caving in West Virginia. Students will be able to apply both classroom knowledge and personal skills in real-world settings.

Washington, D.C.

Through the Office of Residence Life, 44 students will be taking a service trip to Washington, D.C., to work with nonprofits on the issues of hunger and homelessness. Since 2008, this trip has been a way for students to give back to a community and meet new faces along the way, said Karess Gillespie, assistant director at the Office of Residence Life.

This year, students will work in small groups with one of several nonprofits, including DC Central Kitchen, Martha’s Table and Seabury Resources for Aging. They’ll help organize the thrift store at Martha’s Table and assist in housekeeping duties in the homes of elderly adults with Seabury Resources for Aging so these adults can live independently. Along with serving those in need, students will do a lot of behind-the-scenes work with nonprofits, such as organizing files.

At the end of the trip students prepare a community dinner, cooking a meal for the homeless in the area and sitting down with them to eat. This experience allows students to learn more about the people they’re helping.

Gillespie said the trip gives students an opportunity to get outside their comfort zone and learn about themselves in the process.

“I think Syracuse University students get caught up in classes and other things and don’t take time to reflect or engage in something that’s really different,” she said.

Costa Rica

The trip to Costa Rica, offered only to students in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, gives participants a chance to explore the island’s environmental and sustainability policies. Students will apply journalistic and public relations skills to discover how environmental issues are handled in a foreign country, said Hub Brown, an associate professor of broadcast and digital journalism.

Five students are meeting with organizations such as the Costa Rican Board of Journalists and officials such as the former ambassador to the United Nations for Costa Rica. While in the country, students will also be observing the effects of ecotourism.

Costa Rica builds part of its identity around this idea of sustainability, which is a topic that interests many students, Brown said.

“It is what Costa Rica wants to be known for, and it’s important to take a look at how they manage that and how they do that, how they tell that story to the world,” he said.

West Virginia

Over the past 30 years, the Syracuse University Outing Club has been helping students build their own adventures in Franklin, West Virginia. SUOC hopes to give students a healthy dose of the great outdoors.

“Our main goal is to just get people outside, and to make it accessible for everyone, which is sometimes hard to do when you’re just always on campus or in a city like Syracuse,” said Jessica Emmerson, president of SUOC.

Students can participate in activities such as rock climbing, hiking, caving, backpacking and mountain climbing. Most activities include a beginner-friendly option so that those without any experience can still feel comfortable participating, Emmerson said.

Students also have the freedom to explore the area, including taking a short trip to the nearby Highland Maple Festival, a celebration of maple syrup and a chance to observe the syrup-making process. On the second-to-last night of the trip, participants gather for a potluck-style pig roast.

“(The trip) can be as mellow or not as you want it to be. It’s really a type of a choose your own adventure and make it whatever you want it to be,” Emmerson said. “It’s really a trip for anybody.”

SUOC is still taking requests to join the trip up until it begins this Thursday. The fee for the trip is $180.

Israel

Students of the NEW 530 Topics in Specialized Reporting class will apply their classroom knowledge in Israel over break, producing or writing stories on topics of their choice. This is the first time the class has taken an international trip, Professor Joel Kaplan said.

Through a partnership with the Jerusalem Press Club, students will stay in the country for 10 days, traveling to cities such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ramallah.

“The whole purpose of Newhouse, in my opinion, is to produce the next generation of journalists,” Kaplan said. “Although the industry has had a lot of upheaval recently, part of journalism is to be able to report on different cultures and different people.”

Tom Austen, a broadcast and digital journalism senior, is producing a story about a small town outside of Tel Aviv that is referred to as the “Oasis of Peace.” While the town is located in a region of conflict, its peaceful lifestyle is the center of Austen’s story.

Other students in the class are tackling topics such as gender segregation under Orthodox Judaism, African refugees seeking asylum and the movement of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“It’s important to scope out what the school offers in terms of things you can use to get experience and have fun while doing it. When I saw this, I jumped on it,” Austen said.

Published on March 4, 2018 at 9:52 pm

Contact Amy: abnakamu@syr.edu