While many Vanderbilt students spent spring break tanning on the beach or catching up on rest, participants in Vanderbilt’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) programs were beginning their days in a very different setting: on job sites and alongside community organizations. 

ASB is a student-run service program that sends students to communities across the country to work on issues like housing access, environmental sustainability and education. In the weeks leading up to the trip, participants meet to learn about the history and context behind their site. However, much of the learning happens once they arrive. For many, the week is less about a single project and more about gaining a deeper understanding of the communities they step into.  

Students who attended the ASB Baltimore, Maryland site are pictured in front of the Asylee Women Enterprise location. (Photo courtesy of Terra Lee)

For first-year Sammy Skier, ASB meant spending the week in Baltimore, Maryland, working with Asylee Women Enterprise (AWE), an organization that supports women navigating the U.S. immigration process. 

“We were more tailored and focused on their moving out process,” Skier said.  

Throughout the week, his group helped pack and reorganize clothing, clean out storage areas and prepare the property for new residents. Beyond the physical work, Skier emphasized the importance of engaging with the community itself.  

“All of the people that they’re helping are asylum women who had to flee… and now they have to deal with the unfortunate immigration process that the United States has,” he said. “We were just easing up their stress and making sure everything was okay for them.”  

He also pointed to what he described as a broader disconnect between Vanderbilt’s campus and the surrounding community.  

“Vanderbilt has a very big problem of being in a bubble,” Skier said. “Students aren’t necessarily going out of the campus area to explore what else could be done.”  

That sense of separation shaped how he viewed the experience. Even before the trip officially began, Skier and his site leader volunteered at a local farm, helping replant blueberry bushes to support a community garden.  

“It provided me the opportunity to go out and volunteer and definitely go back to what I got into college for in the first place,” Skier said.  

Since returning, he has started looking for more ways to stay involved locally, including a recent Davidson County political meeting.  

“There is a lot of stuff happening. Skier said. “And a lot of things people can be doing that none of us are doing.”  

First-year Sophie Chavez also traveled to Baltimore and provided service to AWE. However, it was the people she met who left the strongest impression. While helping a young woman gather supplies, Chavez initially assumed she was a child. Instead, she learned that the woman was 19 and had a child back in El Salvador.  

“That could have been me,” Chavez said, recalling how the moment “really opened [her] eyes” to the realities others face. 

Coming into college, Chavez already had a strong background in service, spending her high school spring breaks volunteering at a camp for children with disabilities. ASB offered a way to continue that work while also expanding her perspective.  

A defining part of that experience was the community she built. Despite not knowing anyone beforehand, her group quickly became close through nightly “life story” reflections.  

“You don’t expect people to have gone through so much just looking at them,” she said. 

Returning to campus, however, felt like a shift.  

“It was really weird,” Chavez said. She described the difficulty of going from such an immersive, people-centered experience back to academics and routine, but the lessons stayed with her.  

Students who attended the ASB Green Cove Springs, Florida site are pictured working with Challenge Enterprises. (Photo courtesy of Justin He)

While Skier described his experience as a steady, weeklong effort to support a single community, senior Justin He emphasized the range of connections and roles that can define an ASB trip. As a site leader, he spent his spring break in Green Cove Springs, Florida, working with Challenge Enterprises.  

“Basically, they provide adults with disabilities with opportunities to grow,” He said. 

His group split their time between different programs, including “Club Challenge,” where participants helped lead activities and job training exercises.  

“A lot of them were interested in running their own coffee shop one day or becoming a barista,” He said. “So, we kind of helped them with that and also just hanging out with them, getting to hear their stories.”  

He noted that interacting with all of them and hearing about their life stories was the most impactful part of his experience. As such, He described the experience as eye-opening, especially in contrast to the pace of student life.  

“We’re so… busy all the time with classwork and exams,” He said. “But just to see how happy they are to be there, it’s a great reminder that there is more to life than just being academically focused.”  

In addition to working with the organization, He also led a group of eight students, managing logistics and facilitating group bonding exercises. Each night, participants took part in what ASB calls “life map” sessions, where they shared personal stories.  

“You get to know each other very well,” He said, adding that many of the students he met were people he “probably would never have met otherwise.” 

He first joined ASB as a sophomore, motivated by a desire to give back in a way that felt meaningful.  

“I wanted to do some kind of service trip,” He said. “I feel like I would have regretted just staying home… There would be no fulfillment for me.”  

Although he initially hesitated to take on a leadership role, he found the experience more rewarding than a traditional break.  

Reflecting on the experience, He encouraged other students to step outside their comfort zones. 

 “You just kind of have to do it… put yourself out there,” He said. “ASB is a great starting place if you want to do something service-wise for your community.” 

ASB participants pictured doing yard work. (Photo courtesy of Angelina Ma)

Expanding on He’s emphasis on connection, Senior Angelina Ma highlighted ASB’s focus on education, community and personal growth. As chair of ASB, Ma helps set the organization’s overall direction while supporting everything from recruitment and event planning to travel logistics and safety compliance.  

Her four years in ASB span trips to Taladega, Baltimore, Corpus Christi and Rock Hill, which have given her both leadership experience and an understanding of what meaningful service looks like. 

For Ma, what sets ASB apart is its educational pillar. 

“The life map sessions really help you build empathy for one another,” Ma said. 

For Ma, ASB was a space where students could confront systemic injustice while also learning from each other. In contrast to Vanderbilt’s fast-paced, often overwhelming academic environment, this intentional pause creates opportunities for vulnerability and connection. 

That combination is what keeps Ma coming back. Each trip, she said, is both humbling and eye-opening while also offering the chance to engage with communities that are often overlooked. 

Together, Ma’s reflections prove ASB is about the people you meet, the perspectives you gain and the growth that comes from stepping outside the rhythm of everyday campus life. 

Students who attended the ASB New Orleans, Louisiana site are pictured performing service, as photographed March 10, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Stephaine Yu)

Adding another dimension to ASB’s impact, Senior Stephaine Yu emphasized how the program fosters community, especially for students still finding their place at Vanderbilt. As co-education chair, Yu helped train 20 site leaders across 10 trips and organized participant programming leading up to spring break. 

As a transfer student herself, Yu described ASB as vital in building connections.  

“It’s a great way of meeting people,” Yu said.  

Yu noted that many participants are freshmen or transfers looking for community, and her own experience reflects that. After joining a Colorado trip, her first year working on a rehabilitation farm for men recovering from substance abuse and homelessness, she returned the following year in a leadership role, drawn back by both the service and the people. 

For Yu, some of the most meaningful moments come from the unexpected, such as playing pickup basketball with men on the farm just days after meeting them. This year, in New Orleans, that same sense of closeness emerged during an “affirmation circle,” where student participants reflected on each other’s strengths even after a chaotic night that left the group sleeping on a bus.  

Like others, Yu pointed to the contrast between ASB and everyday campus life. 

“On campus, you’re so focused on your studies, your work, your future,” she said. “It feels a little disconnected from who you are as a person.” 

ASB, in contrast, offered a chance to step outside that pressure and reconnect with a broader sense of purpose. She also noted that the experience lingers; coming back, she felt “more like myself,” reminded that academics are only one part of her identity. 

Looking ahead, Yu acknowledged that ASB is still evolving. With growth in the number of sites, leadership is working to restructure roles and expand opportunities for engagement beyond just one week.  

Yu’s advice to students is straightforward: start by showing up. Whether by applying to ASB or simply seeking out service opportunities, getting involved doesn’t require prior experience, just a willingness to try something new.  

Taken together, these stories prove that ASB is defined by how the experience changes them. Across different sites, roles and years, participants described the same lasting impact: stronger connections, deeper empathy and a clearer sense of purpose. In the middle of a fast-paced, achievement-driven campus culture, ASB offers the chance to pause, listen and engage with communities and each other in a more meaningful way.  Long after Spring Break ends, that perspective is what students carry back with them.