By ADAM ROBERTS

Senior Reporter

For most students, spring break means sleeping in and hanging out with friends. Not so for 14 OU students who are giving back to the community through the Center for Student Activities (CSA) alternative spring break program.

The students are to leave Saturday for New York City, where they will be working over seven hours a day on service learning projects.  

OU partnered with the Youth Service Opportunity Program (YSOP), which will organize projects for the students to participate in. These activities include sorting food at a food bank, painting buildings and preparing dinner one night for the homeless at a nearby shelter.

Students are paying for the trip out of their own pockets. Though they have raised money with bake sales and other fundraising efforts, students will have to put up $650 of their own money to participate.

To keep costs low, the group will stay in a youth hostel.

From 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day they will volunteer on site around New York City.

Afterward, the group is to go back to the YSOP headquarters to reflect on their day’s work.

“It shows the great generosity of this diverse group of students,” said Jean Ann Miller, director of the CSA and trip supervisor.

The traveling spring breakers will be responsible for navigating New York City and finding their destination each morning.

The culture shock of big city life and using public transportation is sure to be a challenge for some of the volunteers, according to Miller.

After the work is done, the students are planning activities together to take advantage of their free time in the Big Apple.

The alternative spring break program is the centerpiece of the CSA’s new Volunteer Center. It will also serve as February’s service learning opportunity.

This is the first year of the new alternative spring break program and the first such trip to a major urban area, although a similar trip to South Carolina was taken several years ago.

The CSA’s plan is to offer similar volunteer programs in the future. A Detroit-centered service program will take place during one weekend of the next fall semester.

Students are looking forward to the trip, whether they are individuals who have made volunteering a regular part of their routine, or those who are giving back for the first time.

“Helping in the community is great,” said Angie Freeman, 21, a senior who is planning on taking part in the trip.

For some the trip was something they fell into.

“I saw a flyer about it and it piqued my interest,” said Violet Niedbala, 19, a sophomore who has been raising money for the trip.

“I’m going to enjoy making others’ days a little brighter,” Niedbala said.

It’s not all about the volunteering though.

“I mean, it’s New York,” said Freeman, who made it clear the big city has its own draw.