Easton Hood spent an Alternative Winter Break in Memphis Tennessee, where his group visited historic sites like the Lorraine Motel.
Alma College’s Alternative Breaks program offers students the opportunity to spend academic breaks engaged in immersive, community-centered service experiences across the country and around the world. Coordinated through the Center for College and Community Engagement, these trips pair hands-on service with education, reflection, and cultural learning, encouraging students to better understand complex social, environmental, and economic issues.
Rather than traditional travel, Alternative Breaks invite students to work alongside community partners, learn from local leaders, and reflect on their own roles as engaged citizens. For many students, these experiences become defining moments of their Alma journey—shaping career paths, deepening values, and reinforcing the importance of service beyond college.
Below, three Alma students share what Alternative Breaks meant to them.
Sophia Sanford
Alternative Winter Break to New Orleans, Louisiana
Sophia Sanford served as a student leader on an Alternative Winter Break trip to New Orleans, where participants worked on environmental restoration projects, including planting cypress trees to help mitigate coastal erosion.
“The work we did was not work that we will see the improvements from for generations, but knowing that we did something to help fix the century-old scars is enough. Knowing why we were doing the work we were doing made it even more impactful on me and then learning how the work we were doing was going to help so many people in the future also cemented the meaning of the work.”
Through service and education, the trip connected environmental science with long-term community resilience, leaving a lasting impression on Sophia and her fellow participants.
Morgan Brow and classmates went scuba diving during an Alternative Winter Break to the Caribbean island of Bonaire.
Morgan Brow
Alternative Winter Break to Bonaire
Morgan Brow participated in coral reef restoration efforts during an Alternative Winter Break to the Caribbean island of Bonaire, gaining hands-on experience in conservation work.
“I am a pre-vet student but I want to go into conservation and wildlife rehabilitation. In order to have healthy wildlife, we must make their homes a habitable place to live. This experience has shown me just how much I care about the environment and has sparked a drive to do more.”
For Morgan, the experience helped clarify future goals while offering a rare opportunity to see ecosystems—and the importance of protecting them—up close.
“I would absolutely recommend this experience to other students because we got to see parts of the world that the vast majority of people will never get to see.”
Easton Hood
Alternative Winter Break to Memphis, Tennessee
Easton Hood spent an Alternative Winter Break volunteering at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and working with community-based organizations in Memphis through Serve 901.
“My favorite part of this experience was the volunteering. Not one time was I really ever bored or wishing I was doing something else. We had a great group of people, and we all worked well together and had a great time together every day.”
The experience reinforced Easton’s commitment to service and gratitude.
“This experience has shown me that I should not take what I have in life for granted. I already made an effort to give back to the communities that have built me into who I am today, but this trip had just solidified that belief.”
To learn more about Alternative Breaks or how to get involved, visit the Alternative Breaks webpage or contact the Center for College and Community Engagement.
