"What I Did This Spring"

Samantha Boch

Major: Women's Studies

"I traveled out to Iowa City this spring break and helped out the relief associated with the disastrous floods this past spring. Even after a year, the community was still struggling with the remodeling of their homes and yards. An advisor and nine students were stationed at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church for the week. The church would receive requests from the community and then we would go out and complete the various assignments. We helped out Keo, who lost his house after the flood and helped him move over 3,000 landscaped stones to his new home. We helped revive a local fish shop by cleaning out aquariums and reconstructing the store. It was amazing to see how much work a small group of determined students can accomplish."

Kiersten Bowmer

Major: Early Childhood Education

"I spent spring break attending the international a cappella music festival, SingStrong, in Reston, Virginia. As a member of the collegiate contemporary a cappella group InChant for the past four years, I had the opportunity to share my Buckeye pride with hundreds of singers from around the world, sharing in the common language of music, and even volunteering to work the merchandising table for Germany's internationally renowned a cappella group Vocaldente. SingStrong brings in some two dozen groups from across the globe for four incredible concerts and over 20 master classes. All SingStrong proceeds benefit the Alzheimer's Association."

Luke Barhorst

Major: Pre-Radiation Therapy

"During my spring break, I left with six other Alternative Spring Break members to Adams and Brown counties in Ohio. During our trip, we traveled to schools such as Eastern Brown Junior High, North Adams High School, West Union Junior High, and West Union Elementary. In each of the schools, we worked with a robotics program that emphasized engineering for students in grades six to eight, building robots from Legos. We also taught classes for women in engineering and anger management. In addition to leading classes, our most important role on the trip was traveling to classrooms speaking and answering questions about college."

Breanna Bowlin

Major: International Studies

"My Alternative Spring Break group visited the Steel Yard of Providence, Rhode Island, which promotes local artists' work, offers arts training programs, and hosts art-related events. Given the aging buildings and the organization's expansion project, there was much work for my volunteer group. Our main mission was to make and replace windows in the shop area. We learned so much that no other opportunity would have been able to offer, from glass cutting to grinding to welding, all which enabled an enhanced appreciation for the arts. This program was by far the most remarkable volunteer program I have completed as it put a unique twist on volunteering: for the sake of the arts."

Julie Codispoti

Field of study Masters in Geological Sciences

"Over spring break, I went to San Salvador Island in the Bahamas to study geology, particularly carbonate depositional systems. Each morning we had breakfast at the Gerace Research Center cafeteria at 7:30. By 8:30 we met at the truck to drive to our destinations for the day. The mornings were spent looking at and discussing the geology of the island. We ate lunch, which consisted of sandwiches and fruit, in the field. The afternoons were dedicated to snorkeling to identify some of the coral and fish that lived in the area."

Priyanka Joshi

Major: Biology and Spanish

"I traveled with a group of twelve Ohio State students on an Alternative Spring Break trip to Belize City, Belize. We worked with One World Running, a Colorado based non-profit, to size and deliver more than 1,500 shoes. Recipients of the shoes were Belize natives ranging from infants to the elderly. The recipients were aencouraged to run in a 5K race throughout Belize City. Shoes are a necessity often taken for granted. Because of their new shoes, our recipients are no longer exposing themselves to unsanitary substances that could enter their body thought the cuts in their feet. The trip was an inspiring experience that has further motivated me to serve internationally."

Brian Lapolla

Field of study: Master of Architecture

"Over spring break, I went with sixteen other architecture students to Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, and São Paulo, Brazil. While there, we focused our research primarily on informal settlements (favelas or slums) and tourism's impact on a culture at multiple scales. Traveling into a favela with a local architect, we discussed implementation strategies to improve this unregulated way of life. While in Porto Alegre, we participated in a study with local architecture students on a site analysis of the Jesuit Mission of São Miguel. Our research will be implemented into a design studio during spring quarter. We want to give special thanks to George Acock for the generous donation that made this trip possible."

Leigh Lotocki

Major: Dance

"As part of Annie Kloppenberg's MFA Project, Indelible Marks, I went on a jam-packed, three day 'mini-tour' of New York City and Boston with Annie and seven other cast members and dancers from Ohio. Even in this small span of time, I realized how demanding and rewarding a touring lifestyle can be. I found new interests and even saw some familiar faces in both cities. Traveling to and performing in new places means something totally different to me now that I am nearing graduation. Getting to see the dance community outside Ohio State has made the future feel more within reach."

Anne McKinley

Major: Middle Childhood Education

"I had the unique opportunity to visit my father in Haiti, where he is a U.S. Military Observer for the United Nations Stabilization mission. During my visit, we visited an orphanage. Upon our arrival, the children of the village greeted us with songs. I passed out toothbrushes and toothpaste, which many of these children had never used before, along with some pencils, pens and little trinkets. It was a very rewarding experience to be able to do something so little that meant so much to these children. I was thankful to have the opportunity to open my eyes to a world I may have never seen otherwise."

Katie O'Lone

Major: Landscape Architecture

"This past spring break I attended a SERVitecture service/learning trip to Pass Christian, Mississippi. We worked with Project Reclaim, a design-build project for Katrina victims. Our group worked on two homes, one that was flooded and gutted and the other a completely new construction. It was rewarding to put the finishing touches on a home, such as adding trim, painting, and tiling the counters. What made the trip was the people who attended. It was great to work with other dedicated students and spend time in the evenings playing volleyball, walking down to the beach, or having a group dinner in New Orleans one night."

Colin Pierce

Major: Mechanical Engineering

"This spring break I traveled with nineteen other classmates and instructors to London, England. After taking a class that focused on the history of London, multiculturalism, leadership, and the problems of diversity and racism, our trip let us experience first-hand all that we had learned in the classroom. We saw the most popular tourist attractions, heard Prime Minister Gordon Brown speak in Parliament, served lunch to the homeless at a local community church, and discussed many of today's most pressing problems with a group of prominent local community and government leaders. It was an amazingly educational and memorable experience."

Jason Pradarelli

Major: Biomedical Science

"Volunteering in Huancayo, Peru, was likely the most motivational aspect of my undergraduate career to date. Working with the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, our group ofnine Buckeyes shadowed and rotated throughout the pediatric, surgical, gynecology, and internal medicine departments of La Hospital Carrión, a poor hospital for uninsured patients in Huancayo. We visited, taught,and played with children in orphanages, girls' shelters, and teenage mother homes in the community. Aside from the striking differences between the American and Peruvian healthcare systems, the most amazingpart was seeing the children's faces light up when we took the time to pay attention to and play with them."

Jamey Stutz

Major: Geological Sciences

"This spring break, I participated in the Shell Drilling and Production Camp in New Orleans. Attendees included students from Texas, Louisiana, California, Greece, and of course The Ohio State University. Buckeyes from Physics, Engineering, and the Geological Sciences participated in five days of presentations on processes involved with the oil and gas industry and the latest and greatest Shell has to offer. We learned about it all, from finding it to cleaning it up. The most exciting part was surviving a simulated helicopter crash into the ocean. Sounds intense but it was a huge eye opener into the dangers of the industry."

Belinda Tran

Major: Art and Technology

"After studying modern-day Greece through various pieces of literature in class, we traveled the country to experience the culture and its people. I climbed up mountains to see historic ruins in Mycenae, to a temple dedicated to Apollo in Delphi, and to the famous Acropolis with the Parthenon. I took ferries to the quiet Greek island of Hydra and spent a day basking in a community that instead of motorized vehicles, had donkeys. We saw the remains and the continued influence of Greece's great history on their modern society while experiencing a culture that thrust us into comparing it to our own. Being in the company of our classmates was part of the experience, bonding us all together far beyond what we have just being in the classroom."