This week all students will be excitedly counting down to Spring Break. Many Wahoos will use the week to go home and spend time with their family and friends. Others will use the week to catch up on sleep and work. There has been, however, a growing tension between those who will be participating in Traditional Spring Break and Alternative Spring Break.
In an effort to mediate the dispute, I sat down with a leading member of each group to talk about the issues and get everything out on the table in the hope of bridging the gap between the two groups. What follows is a transcript of our summit meeting.
Moderator: Gentlemen, welcome. Would each of you provide an opening statement to describe what your group is all about? ASB, you won the coin toss and get to go first.
ASB: It’s great to be here and spread the word about the organization I love. As you can read on our Web site, www.altbreak.org, ASB is a student-run organization that conducts service projects during the fall, winter, spring and summer breaks for University students. Our mission is to bring together members of the University community who might not otherwise interact outside their usual social spheres, for the common goals of service and education about the global community. We aim to train Virginia’s future service leaders.
TSB: Traditional Spring Break is really about celebrating youthful exuberance and excess. It is a break from the vicious cycle of work hard, party hard to simply party hard for a week. It also is a celebration of spring by traveling to warm and sunny destinations around the world while it is still winter. I’d also like to point out that ASB is truly indebted to disciples of our version of Spring Break. They define their entire activity as an “alternative” to ours. Without us, they would simply be Spring Break. What do you think about that? I’d really appreciate a ‘thank you.’
Moderator: I’ll ask the questions around here, thank you very much. Now then, what issues do you have with your Spring Break counterpart?
TSB: My biggest issue with them is that they are so self-righteous. They try and guilt trip you into feeling bad about having fun over Spring Break. Really, they are just like us. They’re trying to do something interesting during break like traveling to exotic locations. Only they try to justify their travels by doing a little community service, whereas we’re honest about what we want to do. Secondly, don’t even get me started on their fundraisers, at which they try and get us to pay for their trip. I sometimes wonder if ASB is really just a subsidiary of Qdoba. Lastly, they take these long-distance trips with wildly ambitious goals like curing AIDS in Africa and are only there for a week. One, couldn’t they do more good for less money — more bang for their buck — if they stayed closer to home? Two, if they were truly committed to these causes, shouldn’t they drop out of school and join the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps?
ASB: First of all, at least we try and do some good with our time away from school. If there were more people like us, a lot of the problems we seek to correct would already have been fixed. That’s really my biggest issue with those TSBers — they are so self-centered. All they care about is themselves, having fun and indulging in excess. ASBers try to give back and make the world a better place one vaccination, one planted tree or one hungry mouth fed at a time. As for the second charge, ASB is not just about the work but expanding your personal horizons by going new places, meeting new people and getting different perspectives about the world. With TSB all you do is hang out with your usual friends and see the world through the same alcohol-induced haze you do every weekend. ASB is about helping build the world up just a little bit at a time, not being self-destructive and narcissistic.
Moderator: What are you most looking forward to this Spring Break? Any other closing thoughts?
ASB: I’ve already touched on how ASB is a life-changing experience, a way to gain a new perspective on life, gain so many life skills and make lifelong friends. It’s also going to be a great feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment after a full year of planning and hard work to finally get down to business. I’m also really looking forward to coming back and sharing our experiences with the rest of the University community. Be sure to check out all the photos from our trip on Facebook.
TSB: I’d like to point out that I’m really an Alternative Spring Break guy at heart. This year because of the economy, I’ve had to look into alternatives such as Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and Myrtle Beach, S.C. instead of the usual Cancun or the Caribbean. Otherwise, I’m just really looking forward to taking the party on the road for the week. It’s really important to gear up for the second half of the spring semester. When we get back we’ve got St. Patrick’s day, Foxfield, graduation parties and then beach week. In closing, I totally agree about Facebook. Check out the pics and you’ll see what’s up.
Moderator: Thank you both for an honest and informative discussion. There you have it. Facebook, once again, is the great common dominator. Check it out to decide if you are an ASBer or TSBer.
John’s column runs biweekly Mondays. He can be reached at j.gregory@cavalierdaily.com.
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