It’s that time of year when college students are breathing a sigh of relief after finals and looking forward to Spring Break. Some simply head home for Mom’s cooking and catching up with old friends, some work to earn a little extra cash, but most dream of spending the week in a warm, sunny place, preferably with the ocean nearby. Nearby Southern Oregon University in Ashland offers a different opportunity to its students: the Alternative Spring Break. The university’s Civic Engagement Program has offered a variety of trips over the last few years to students interested in doing community service rather than simply chillin’ over the break. This year they can help the hungry and homeless in Tacoma, Wash.; fight “environmental racism” in Oakland, Calif., where inner-city neighborhoods suffer from a lack of access to fresh, local produce; help build houses in California’s Central Valley; or work at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. The latter, costing $1,900, is the most popular, while students only pay $250 to participate in the domestic programs. And for students who don’t have the budget to allow them to respond to their altruistic yearnings, scholarships and fundraisers are available. Certainly a number of colleges and universities across the country, as well as a number of nonprofit organizations, offer similar programs to interested students. The participants themselves enjoy the opportunity to make a difference, learn something about social issues and themselves, and experience a different part of the world — even if it’s not that far from home. I know my older daughter will never forget her trip to the Gulf Coast in the spring of 2006, when a group of students from the University of Evansville spent a week helping residents clean up after Hurricane Katrina. Of course, one needn’t be a college student to use time away from “real life” to help others. Simply search “volunteer vacations,” and a whole host of organizations will pop up which offer a slew of local, national and international experiences. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor