Penn State Alternative Breaks
The Penn State Alternative Breaks (PSAB) program provides opportunities for students to learn more about themselves, others, and the world around them through service. Our program offers service trips throughout the academic year including service weekends, fall alternative breaks, alternative winter breaks, and alternative spring breaks. Each program is designed to encourage personal growth and reflection, promote civic engagement around a social issue, and immerse participants in a new community.
If interested in learning more, contact the PSAB Executive Board at alternativebreaks@psu.edu
Our Mission
PSAB facilitates student-led service trips throughout the academic year focused on promoting social justice, fostering active citizenship, and building community.
Cost
With the support of the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement and the Student Initiated Fee, we are able to make trips affordable to students at only $25.00 for service weekends, $50.00 for fall alternative break and $100.00 for alternative winter break and alternative spring break. This fee covers the cost of food, housing, transportation, and registration for our community partner organizations. If funding may be a barrier for you to participate, please contact alternativebreaks@psu.edu to learn about possible payment plans and partial or full fee waivers.
2024 - 2025 Programs
Full descriptions are listed in the drop-down menu below. Follow us on Instagram @psualtbreaks and contact alternativebreaks@psu.edu to be added to our listserv! Details for the 2024-2025 programs will be posted in August!
You may be required to sign a waiver to be able to participate in PSAB service trips.
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Days of Service:
We are excited to announce that details will be coming soon for our upcoming Days of Service! These special events provide a wonderful opportunity for our community to come together and make a meaningful impact through various service projects. Stay tuned for more information on how you can get involved and how your participation can help make a difference.
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Service Weekends:
We are thrilled to announce that details will be coming soon for our Fall Service Weekends! These weekends are a fantastic opportunity for our community to unite and contribute to various service projects that make a significant impact. We look forward to sharing more details with you soon and hope you will join us in this meaningful endeavor.
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Fall Break
We are excited to announce that details will be coming soon for our Fall Alternative Break! This event offers a unique opportunity for our community to engage in impactful service projects while experiencing new environments. Stay tuned for more information on how you can get involved, the activities we will be participating in, and how your efforts can contribute to positive change. We look forward to sharing more details with you shortly and hope you will join us for this enriching experience.
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Spring Break
We are excited to announce that details will be coming soon for our Alternative Spring Break! This event offers a unique opportunity for our community to engage in impactful service projects while experiencing new environments. Stay tuned for more information on how you can get involved, the activities we will be participating in, and how your efforts can contribute to positive change. We look forward to sharing more details with you shortly and hope you will join us for this enriching experience.
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Site Leaders will lead alternative breaks with a co-Site Leader, which involves facilitating discussions, monitoring activities and service, and communicating with the PSAB Executive Board and the trip's service site. You do not have to have been on a service trip before to apply. Open applications for leadership roles will be posted on our PSU Alternative Breaks website when available. Responsibilities include:
- Attending trainings
- Educating yourself on your assigned trip topic
- Hosting pre-trip orientations
- Facilitating discussions
- Monitoring activities and service
- Establishing relationships with trip participants
- Communicating with the PSAB Executive Board, service site, and faculty/ staff trip advisor
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A faculty or staff member attends each alternative break as a faculty/ staff trip advisor. These partnerships are essential to providing strong and safe learning opportunities for students. Faculty/ staff trip advisor attend the trip at no cost and participate in daily service, reflection, and educational activities. Other duties can include:
- Driving a University owned 15-passenger van or mini-van
- Handling a University purchasing card for food and activity expenses
- Supporting student Site Leaders with conflict resolution and difficult conversations
- Sharing any social justice knowledge about the topic students are working with
- Assisting in any emergency situations and assessing risk
- Having fun with students while learning and engaging in the community
If you are interested in becoming a faculty/ staff trip advisor, please email alternativebreaks@psu.edu
- You may be required to sign a waiver to participate
- Faculty/ staff trip advisors are expected to fully participate in service, so they will have limited time to complete responsibilities for work. Faculty/ staff trip advisor must be full-time exempt status employees and should speak with their supervisor regarding adjustments to workload.
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What does the process look like for applying to an Alternative Break?
There are separate application processes for fall, winter, and spring break trips. Participants will fill out an application and then, if selected to move on, will be asked to interview for the program. During Interviews, participants will learn more about the trips, do group activities, and be pulled out individually to answer quick questions with Site Leaders for the trips. This process is done to best achieve diverse trips with multiple perspectives, identities, and years in school that will provide a strong learning environment for everyone involved.
How many people go on trips?
Our trips will have no more than 12 people each. Typically, there are two student Site Leaders for each trip, and then one or two faculty/ staff trip advisors.. We typically get many more applications than there are spots, so we create a waitlist and if someone drops from a trip, we will work to fill it with someone on the waitlist.
What will we be eating throughout the week?
Some Community Partners include meals during your trip and others require that we cook our own food...either way you will be able to share any dietary restrictions/preferences that you have with your Site Leaders, and we will accommodate them to the best of our ability. For groups cooking your own meals, you will work together as a team to come up with a menu for the trip. If there are specialty items you need (like you want red bull to drink or only eat a specific kind of granola bar) please plan to bring those items yourself. Our food budget is based on $10 per person/day and living modestly. This covers nutritious meals, minimal snacks, and occasionally a meal in a restaurant. You will not be permitted to run to Starbucks or go grab fast food throughout the trip. There may be an opportunity for those things on your community immersion day, but plan to bring with you specialty snacks or just rough it for the duration of the trip.
Will there be time for me to do homework during the trip?
Your schedule is going to be very busy throughout the trip. There is not much downtime or free time. After reflection in the evenings, you will have time for showers and everything before bedtime, but this is typically a time where participants are hanging out, getting to know everyone better, and journaling. If you have a large project/paper/deadline that is coming up immediately after the trip please plan accordingly as you won’t have much time, if any, to work on those things during the trip.
What does a typical day look like?
The days are going to be long. Expect to be up early, sometimes needing to be at your service site by 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. Usually, you will do service for most of the workday, breaking for lunch, and then everyone will eat dinner together. Following dinner, there will be time to reflect about the day, processing what service you did and what you have learned. Again, there is not much free time throughout the trip except in the early morning hours and after reflection in the evenings, so please plan accordingly.
Will there be time for me to explore the area during the trip?
Each trip has some built-in “free time” during the experience. This time has traditionally been so that we can explore museums and learn about the local community more. This time is not designed for you to go shopping, visit friends, or for you to explore on your own. You will be required to be with at least one other person at all times and will likely be asked to stay as a group as well. Each trip decides what their community immersion time will look like, but this isn’t an opportunity to plan something special to do during the trip. Reach out to your Site Leaders if there is something specific you are hoping to see and they may be able to fit it into the trip.
Do I have to sign a waiver to participate?
Yes, you will be required to sign waivers from the University, from the Penn State Alternative Breaks program, and potentially from your housing/ service sites. In order to participate, you will have to sign these waivers. Please read the documents carefully before signing. We also have a photography waiver in order to take pictures and use for promotion for the PSAB program.
I am having difficulty/am unable to pay for my trip. What do I do?
We have financial assistance available to participants on a case by case basis. Please email alternativebreaks@psu.edu after being selected to attend a break to request a payment plan, partial payment, or to complete a fee waiver.
I live near our housing/ service site, can I just stay there after the break?
We understand that some of you may live nearby where you are doing service over the break. The Office of Student Leadership and Involvement has an Alternate Transportation Waiver that you will need to fill out if you plan to not take the transportation provided back to State College with the group. You will need to provide information on how you plan to get to home (or wherever you are going) this would include information about who may be picking you up, what time is your bus/plane/train and how are you planning to get there. We will not be able to drop you off at the train station, etc. so please plan accordingly.
My family/friends live near our housing/ service site, can I visit them during the trip?
There will not be time on the trip to visit local friends and family in the area you are serving. There may be an opportunity to invite someone to have dinner with the group, but this should be discussed with Site Leaders before the start of the trip. There is a very tight schedule and each individual is required to be actively participating throughout, which also means no taking a break from service to visit friends/family.
