Fall break is here and even though the spring semester seems light years away, it’s time to consider how to spend your time during spring break.

Park University is offering students opportunity to travel through the school through two different alternative spring break programs.

Memphis, Tenn.
The first is in Memphis, Tenn., to give back to the environment by cleaning up the Mississippi River. Chad Pregracke, CNN’s 2014 Hero of the Year, and his Living Lands & Waters group gives students the option to be a part of his team.

The dates for the Tennessee trip are from March 9-17, 2015. Pending final arrangements, the cost for the trip is $500. This fee will include meals, transportation, activities and lodging.

The Living Lands & Waters group offers this program every year to enable college students to make a difference that will last a lifetime.

According to the Living Lands & Waters’ website, “students will traverse the river on foot and in boats while working closely with our crew and fellow students…this spring break experience is guaranteed to leave you with not only the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve given back to the community, but a lifetime’s worth of laughter and memories.”

For more information, visit www.livinglandsandwaters.org.

Patanatic, Guatemala
The second 2015 alternative spring break option for Park students will be in Patanatic, Guatemala, for nursing students. This is co-sponsored by Park’s Global Education and Study Abroad Office and the Office of Student Life.

All students that are interested in serving the community are welcome to apply but positions are awarded on a first-come first-served basis. Students can apply online by Dec. 1, 2014, with the deposit of $200.

Those who are medical volunteers or local leaders will team up to give primary health care to the people of Patanatic and surrounding areas. Volunteers without medical clearance will be able to participate in the educational activities of the hygiene and water sanitation program. This will include installing latrines, cooking stoves and water filters, working in reforestation, de-worming campaigns and other activities at the schools.

Travel dates are from March 9-17, 2015, and the program fee is $1,500, subject to final arrangements. This price includes airfare, cultural activities, lodging, meals and onsite transportation.

Financial aid is not available to students for this trip because there are no courses required to take it. However, fund-raising opportunities will be explored through the sponsoring offices with accepted applicants.

“The lack of medical access these people have is unbelievable,” said Allee Smith, senior and three-time study abroad veteran, about her trip to Guatemala in the Spring of 2013 and 2014. “Children in the deep villages may have never seen a doctor before. Dentist offices are not on every street like they are here; nor are optometry offices. Many of these children just need a cavity filled or to get glasses but they do not have access to these resources. Our job is to make these resources available to them. Interacting with these children is an amazing experience. They are always eager to make new friends.”

Smith is an avid supporter of the experience.

“Do it, you won’t regret it,” said Smith. “Guatemala has been a life changing experience each time. It is amazing to see how other people in different parts of the world. There are people who are essentially living in shacks but are the still beyond happy with their lives.”

For more information about the Guatemala trip, please contact Priyata Shrestha at 816-584-6580.

For all Study Abroad inquiries, contact Angela Markley Peterson, director of Global Education and Study Abroad, at 816-584-6510 or at [email protected].