A Spring Break to Change Lives
by Amanda Rosa
Salem, Mass., Nov.10, 2016 — Spring break in college is famous for crazy times with friends in different tropical destinations. College students look forward to having fun, letting go, and leaving all of the semester’s stress behind. Salem State University offers their students an alternate way to celebrate their spring break. Twenty-two SSU students will go to Beaumont, Texas from March 12 to 18 this spring to build a house for Habitat for Humanity.
On Thursday in the Martin Luther King Jr. room of the Ellison Building on North Campus, Bruce Perry, assistant dean of enrollment management and student life, and Jessica Lampasona, a student who has been on the Habitat for Humanity Spring Break Trip before, talked about the experience being offered for students this upcoming spring. Though the audience was small at around four people, Perry and Lampasona are hopeful and excited to meet more students interested in the trip in the upcoming information meetings, as this was the first one offered.
“We’ve never had any empty spots on the trip,” said Lampasona, talking about the importance of signing up while there’s still room.
The first 22 students who pay the full cost of $400 will get the available trip spots. They do recommend however, paying in installments if it’s not possible to pay all at once. The first payment would be $100 due Friday December 2, the next is $150 by Wednesday, January 18, and the last is $150 by January 27. Along with the payments, all students are expected to do at least four hours of service related to the trip, or for Community Service Initiative events.
On the trip to Beaumont, Texas, all SSU volunteers will stay at a nearby church. Lunches will be provided on the work site, yet for other meals the students will work together to prepare food for each other. But the trip isn’t meant to serve the students. The idea is for SSU students to volunteer and help Habitat for Humanity build a house for someone in need. It’s safe to say that the students of SSU will leave Beaumont feeling accomplished and proud of helping the less fortunate.
“We are going on the trip to help the people; it’s not a vacation for us,” said Perry.
Even though it may be less of a vacation and more of a trip to help others, Perry has included different things to do on the information packet during the downtime between building sessions. Some of these include the Gator Country Wildlife Adventure Park and Restaurant and the Parkdale Mall. Perry said that as a group, they vote and decide what they want to do with their free time while in Beaumont.
Perry and Lampasona seemed genuinely excited about the trip and all of the good they will be doing with the 22 student volunteers. Perry had collected videos of previous trips that were broadcasted on news channels, and had Lampasona talk about her experiences with Habitat for Humanity in the past.
“They are so nice and seem to be really passionate about the program and all that they do for the less fortunate people who we would be building the house for,” said Erin Duffy, an interested student in the audience.
Duffy, a senior chemistry major at SSU, is interested in the alternate spring break to Beaumont because she wants to help others and do something on her break that will leave her feeling like she made a difference with her school. At the beginning of the meeting she was worried about her lack of experience with building houses, yet Lampasona said that prior experience is definitely not expected.
One student in the audience said he found out about the trip through an email, and his friend found out from him.
Anyone interested in the trip can contact Bruce Perry at bperry@salemstate.edu.
