As spring break comes to a close, WVU students are preparing to return to Morgantown from their homes and vacations spots. Some students will bring back more than a tan or a few souvenirs?they will bring back the lessons they learned from helping people on an alternative spring break experience in Patagonia, Jamaica, or the Navajo Nation.

Service learning trips have become a tradition at WVU. In the past, students have served others while learning about civil rights history in the South, traveled to the Gulf Coast to help Hurricane Katrina survivors, built greenhouses in Mexico, and much more.

This year, WVU students could choose from three service-learning trips offered through a partnership between the University?s Center for Civic Engagement and Amizade Global Service-Learning Consortium.

In rural Jamaica, students learned about educational issues while completing a service project. In Arizona and New Mexico, they immersed themselves in Navajo culture while learning about the Navajo Nation?s history, current problems, and vision of the future. In Patagonia, Chile, students ventured in the backcountry of this ?biodiversity hotspot? for biking, fly-fishing, and 40 miles of hiking as they learned about sustainable development.

The growing nationwide popularity of the alternative spring break movement reflects student interest in learning more about the world and doing their part to improve it. According to a Corporation for National and Community Service report, volunteering among college students increased by about 20 percent in just three years, from 2002 to 2005.

Students and faculty who participate in alternative spring break programs are honoring WVU?s commitment to change lives through knowledge.

To those who have participated in service-learning trips: Why did you decide to take part? And what did you learn from your experience?