The College Fix

Altruism is not dead among the nation’s youth.

Take this story coming out of Indiana, via the Indianapolis Star:

Last year, IUPUI student Cole Johnson found himself on spring break in Florida amid the hordes of college partiers celebrating a week of bikinis and booze.

And he spent 168 hours not making a difference in anyone’s life.

“It was almost moving backward,” said Johnson, 22. “I didn’t see a point to it anymore.”

This week, Johnson is leading a group of students from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis to work on a farm in Virginia. An “alternative” spring break program, the substance-free trip explores food production and sustainability.

He’s among a growing number of college students who are giving up the traditional go-wild spring break in favor of service learning trips. Indiana colleges say their alternative spring break programs are gaining momentum as students become more aware of social issues on a global scale.

… In recent years, alternative break programs have responded to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and damaging tornadoes in the Midwest and South.

Breakaway, a national alternative break network based in Atlanta, connects programs from 175 schools. Last year, it estimated its members gave more than 600,000 service hours.

What a promising alternative to boozing it up and making bad decisions.

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