Service, Reflection, and Fun: Alternative Spring Break in Tucson, Arizona
As a Northeastern student, the beginning of March brings much anticipation and excitement. After two months of hard work in classes and often a busy week with exams and presentations, we are rewarded with Spring Break: a whole week off to travel, relax, or recharge before heading into the end of the semester. While many of my classmates spent their time on tropical vacations in Cancun, the Bahamas, or Puerto Rico, I decided to do something a little bit different. When the end of February hit, I packed my bags and set out on an Alternative Spring Break trip to Tucson, Arizona.
The roadway leading into our campsite at sunset
What is Alternative Spring Break?
Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trips are service based trips offered through Northeastern’s Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement (CSCE) to a variety of domestic and international locations. Each trip partners with a local, community-based organization that focuses on a specific social justice issue, and the program as a whole emphasizes relationship building, reflection, and action-based service. This year, trips were offered to cities like Seattle, Charlotte, Miami, London, and Toronto, and they addressed issues such as food security, public health, affordable housing and even, in my case, environmental conservation! To participate in an ASB, students go through a rolling application process which includes ranking trip preferences and responding to some short answer questions about their interest in the program and the perspective they will bring to the trip. Outside of the trip itself, participants also attend a trip specific orientation and program wide pre-departure and post-departure dinners to ensure that they are prepared for their travels and are able to get the most out of the programming.
We cooked most of our meals together at camp, but for this dinner we were able to eat out and have delicious Mexican food!
My ASB Experience
For this ASB we traveled to Tucson, Arizona where we partnered with the National Parks Service (NPS) at Saguaro National Park. We began our trip early in the morning on the first Saturday of Spring Break when I met the nine other trip participants on campus to take a group shuttle to the airport. For many of us, this was our first time meeting outside of brief introductions at the pre-departure programming, and we all started the week effectively as strangers! Little did we know the incredible friendships that we would form over the seven days that would follow.
Despite the dry conditions, we had a blast hiking Tanque Verde Falls on an afternoon off
Camping
One thing that makes the Tucson ASB different from most is that, instead of staying in a hotel or hostel, we spent the duration of our trip camping in tents. Once a home, the property we camped at was left to the NPS when the owner passed and is now used for camping by groups like ours! While the structure is no longer fully functioning, it did have a working spicket for water and a covered patio space with a picnic table where we played games and shared meals. The location was also surrounded by beautiful views of the Ricon Mountains, which created the perfect backdrop for our tents. The property also has a cooking tent with utensils and a few gas burners where we were able to prepare meals as a group. Despite some cold nights, limited opportunities to shower, and the less comfortable sleeping conditions that come with camping, it was an awesome opportunity for team building, and I loved (almost) every second of it!
Very fortunate that I was up early enough to catch this beautiful sunrise over camp
Service
As is hopefully no surprise, we spent most of our trip completing service with the NPS Trail Crew. The Trail Crew is a group responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the hiking trails throughout the park. They play a crucial role in ensuring trails are safe, clear, and well-marked which contributes to safety for visitors and environmental conservation efforts. We were able to assist the Trail Crew throughout the week by trimming and removing trees, cactus, and other plants. As a general rule of thumb, anything you could reach out and touch from the center of the trail was too close and needed to be removed. Equipped with lobbers, shovels, and saws, we went to work cutting, digging, and stashing. The work certainly wasn’t easy. Many desert plants have spines and thorns, and it wasn’t uncommon to find yourself entangled in a catclaw shrub or tweezing cactus spines out of your clothes or skin. We also often trimmed thick branches and there were times when I was putting all my might into closing my lobbers or pulling a handsaw. Overall, however, the work was incredibly rewarding, and as a result, we were able to create beautifully maintained trails for park visitors to enjoy.
These midday lunch chats with our trail crew helped break up the long service days
While the service days were long and tiresome, it wasn’t all hard work. Before beginning service and after concluding for the day, we would often hike out to and back from the location we were working on. During these hikes, we were able to take in the beautiful desert scenery and chat with the trail crew members we were working with. We also took long lunch breaks which featured a variety of sandwiches we’d made that morning. From a classic PB&J to peanut butter, banana, and honey to almond butter and strawberry jam, by the end of the week, I started to look forward to crafting my sandwich choices for that day’s lunch. A particular highlight from service days for me was the “Wilderness talk” which was given over one lunch break by one of the NPS members we had been working with. We discussed “capital W Wilderness” which is a distinction given to designated land under the Wilderness Act of 1964. The discussion was incredibly insightful and allowed us to think about what Wilderness is and how it should be managed. I appreciated that the ASB extended beyond going through the motions of the service we were completing and gave us many opportunities for learning and reflection.
We made many friends on the trail, including Leanne (a regular park volunteer) and Jasmine (a donkey)
Excursions and Adventures
Even if Alternative Spring Break is primarily about service, it extends far beyond that, and another goal of the program is to explore new places. When we were not out on the trails with NPS or back at our campsite, there were many opportunities for adventures and excursions into Tucson or neighboring areas! From leisure hikes to ice cream runs to comedy shows, we had no shortage of things to do.
On our day off, we attended the Pistoleros Wild West Stunt Show: a slapstick comedy show set in a western themed town
One highlight for me personally was the additional time we were able to spend hiking or in nature outside of service. Tuesday morning, some members from the trip decided to wake up extra early for a sunrise hike in the park. We were able to find a trail with a little more elevation gain than we had been getting and catch incredible views of the morning sun. Even with a hazy morning sky, I absolutely loved the opportunity to watch the world wake up. On the other end of the spectrum, Thursday night we took a drive up to Windy Point Vista, a mountain top overlook to watch the sunset. Lying on our stomachs on the edge of a rock with wind pelting us in the face, I witnessed the most incredible sunset of my entire life. Time stopped and no one could look away as we watched the colors shift and change from bright oranges to pinks and dark purples. I wish I could live in that moment for eternity.
The view during our sunrise hike (real life always looks better than the photographs)
Takeaways
This ASB trip is something I have wanted to do for a couple of years now. Volunteering has always been of interest to me and, as an avid fan and enjoyer of the National Parks, I was excited by the opportunity to explore a new park while serving the spaces I know and love. Beyond the service aspect, I have always loved group travel and was looking forward to meeting new people while having the opportunity to hike and camp. Even coming in with high expectations, the experience I had in Arizona exceeded them in every way. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities for reflection throughout the week. Both the time for structured daily group reflections and individual moments for personal reflection throughout the week were incredibly impactful. I left Arizona feeling refreshed and rest with a new outlook and perspective. With that, I am extremely grateful to the incredible individuals who chose to attend this trip alongside me. They all brought the best intentions and unique perspectives which shaped the experience for not only me but also the group as a whole. ASB is certainly not for everyone, but personally I found the program to be a lifechanging trip, and I am so glad I chose to spend my last spring break volunteering in the desert.
By the end of the trip, it was hard to believe that we had truly only known each other for a week