A quick perusal of Wikipedia reveals that the usual spring break activities include "binge drinking, recreational drug use and casual sex," and indeed the words "spring break" conjure images of sand, sun, surf and fun.
The phrase also serves as a subtitle to countless "Girls Gone Wild" videos, but that's really neither here nor there.
While popular spring break destinations include Cancun, Florida and Hawaii, for students who think being tan is overrated and Senor Frogs is so "high school," spring break might not fall into the all-knowing online encyclopedia's narrow definition.
Perhaps it is our "Type-A" nature, or maybe its our commitment to extra-curricular activities, but many Dartmouth students seem to choose this latter option.
Some spend their 15 days volunteering, while others take part in outdoor adventures or a training trip with their sports team.
Whatever the reason, a number of Dartmouth students are shunning the sun and taking the road less traveled this spring break.
Paul Lintilhac '12 plans to spend six days in Cuba, distributing medical and school supplies through a church affiliated with the Eco Center of Vermont. He obtained a humanitarian license to visit Cuba through his connections to socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and through America's Relief Team, a non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to reduce the suffering of the most vulnerable groups in the Americas and to provide the tools and resources needed to increase their self-sufficiency.
This will be Lintilhac's second trip to Cuba. Last year he spent four months studying at the University of Havana through a program run by Burlington College. This time, however, Lintilhac will travel to Cuba by himself rather than in a group.
Lintilhac said that he looks forward to staying in the same house he lived in for four months and reconnecting with friends he made during his last visit.
Just an island-hop away from Cuba, meanwhile, 12 Dartmouth students will be participating in an Alternative Spring Break to the Dominican Republic through the Tucker Foundation.
Ediz Tiyansan '09, Christopher Han '11 and Grace Taveras '11, along with a Tucker employee, will lead a group of nine Dartmouth students to the Haitian migrant community of Barrio Saman.
The group will spend nine days on the trip, six of which will be spent constructing a "cancha," a special type of sport court with three walls. During these first six days, two students per day will take a break from construction to teach HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness classes to local youth using the methods developed by the Grassroots Soccer program.
Another pair of students will break off from the group and travel through the community performing a "census" in order to learn about the demographics of the area.
Aside from achieving the service goals of the trip, its participants also hope to learn about the culture of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the socioeconomic crisis in Haiti and the effects of poverty and marginalization in the area. Throughout Winter term, the team has met once a week in order to prepare for their trip.
Han and Taveras, who participated in the first Tucker trip to the Dominican Republic last year, both said t their past trip experiences motivated them to lead the trip this year.
Although this will not be Tiyansan's first alternative spring break trip, it will be his first time in the Dominican Republic with the team.
"Volunteer trips give you such a non-touristy perspective on the culture of a country because you are immersing yourself into a community, rather than simply visiting," he said. "The people are a lot more embracing because you are helping rather than simply viewing."
Back on American soil, a group of 10 Dartmouth students, led by Jiles Pourier '08 and Cinnamon Spear '09, will travel to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in Eagle Butte, S.D.
Although this trip is funded through the Tucker Foundation, both Pourier and Spear have strong ties to the area. Pourier is originally from the Cheyenne River Sioux community, and has worked in the community numerous times. Spear participated in a program on the reservation during her sophomore summer.
"I chose to do the trip again because I am a familiar face in the community, and I told the children on the reserve I would come back," Spear said, "I just didn't know I would have an opportunity so soon."
The group will spend its mornings doing various odd jobs around the reservation, including spring cleaning and gardening, and in the afternoon will cook dinner for the community. The group also plans to work with the Cheyenne River Youth Project, a community-based organization that runs after-school activities for area youth and teens.
In addition, they will host a college awareness night for high school students on the reservation who are interested in pursuing university degrees.
Head east from South Dakota and you will find Rashmi Agarwal '09 and Elliot Mattingly '09 in Leslie County, Ky., leading a group of eight Dartmouth students who are spending their spring break in rural Appalachia.
While Dartmouth Medical School teams have visited the area in the past, this will be the first undergraduate-led trip to the region, Agarwal said.
Mattingly, who is from Kentucky, was at the forefront of the planning and organization of the trip. Agarwal said she was motivated to lead a trip this year after participating in a previous Hurricane Katrina service trip. Mattingly is a former of The Dartmouth staff.
"I enjoy going on service trips," she said. "It's a different type of community service, because transplanting a group of people to a completely different place develops different bonds."
The first three days of the trip will be spent at the Laurel Mission doing construction work under the supervision of Rev. Titus Boggs.
The group will also travel to local schools, teaching students about proper hygiene and sanitation. The group will spend the second week of the trip working with Kentucky's Frontier Nursing Service, focusing on children's healthcare.
In San Francisco, Ki Jung '11 is leading a Tucker-sponsored Faith in Action trip. Jung will lead 12 Dartmouth students to California's Bay Area, where they will work for 10 days with various organizations to serve homeless youth. Some days will be spent working with Habitat for Humanity, while others will be spent volunteering at local homeless shelters.
Like other trip leaders, Jung chose to lead a trip this year after his positive experiences on past trips, he said.
"I went on a Faith in Action trip to Mississippi last year, and it was a great experience," Jung said. "When the group came back, Kurt Nelson, a Tucker employee, asked me to lead this year's trip."
If service isn't your thing, there are still many ways to make your spring break something different from the stereotype captured on MTV.
Elizabeth Teague '09, for example, will lead a 10-day whitewater kayaking excursion through the rapids of North Carolina on the annual student-organized Ledyard Canoe Club spring break trip.
While half of the 28 students participating are Ledyard Canoe Club members, the trip is open to kayakers of all levels. Staying in a lodge at night, the students will tackle the rapids of the Green, Nantahala, Pigeon and Ocoee Rivers during the day.
Going on a different sort of water adventure, members of the Dartmouth sailing team will be spending their spring break training at Old Dominion University in Virginia. The team will spend two weeks sailing in the likely not-so-warm waters, with the hope of qualifying for nationals.
Sailor Sam Williams '12 said he eagerly anticipates the trip.
"In Virginia, we have the chance to practice in a nice, warm venue with a few other really good teams," he said. "It should be a great opportunity to get ready for the upcoming spring season."
Both the heavyweight and lightweight crew teams will be heading down south to Oak Ridge, Tenn., for the two teams' annual 10-day training trip in order to prepare for the spring season.
"It has everything we are looking for in a selection camp," coach Chris Bordeau said in his choice of Oak Ridge. "There is lots of flat water, a fully-buoyed 2000-meter race course and very few distractions."
The team will be training twice daily, with one afternoon off during the course of the trip.
"The two-a-days will be really intense," Kristy Abo '12 said. "But it will be a great chance for the team to bond and grow as a group."
So in March, don't be afraid to ask that pale kid in your 10A what he did over spring break. Chances are, even if it didn't include Senor Frogs, it might have left them with a good story to tell.
