Despite lingering effects of the recession, many students are still planning on taking trips throughout the United States and abroad for spring break.
Jennifer Azar, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said finances will keep her from returning home to Belgium, where she has previously spent her spring breaks.
“I used to travel back to Europe, but I can no longer afford that right now,” she said in an e-mail.
Azar will still be traveling over spring break, she said. Her trip is shorter and closer this year because of the recession. Instead of going to Europe, she will go to Miami for the beach and sun, she said.
Honors Program Director Michael Mass said he has been worried about the Honors spring break trips in the last two years because of the recession.
“Some students just cannot afford [the Honors] trip because it is too expensive,” Mass said.
This year’s 10-day Honors trip to Vietnam and Cambodia will cost $2,200 for one week, plus visa fees, according to Mass.
But this year, the fees and the recession did not stop students from applying to go.
“We had to turn some students away,” Mass said. “Many students have applied for the trip.”
Eighteen undergraduates and two graduates will participate in community service and cultural activities on the trip, which coincides with Professor Peter Kuznick’s Honors colloquium course, “America’s Killing Fields — Vietnam and Cambodia: History, Film and Action,” according to Mass.
Marcy Campos, director of the Community Service Center, said that the Center’s seven alternative spring break trips had not been affected by the recession, even though fees ranged from $900 for domestic trips to $3,000 for overseas. All spring break trips are full, Campos said.
The Center’s spring break trips this year include four overseas trips to Bangladesh, Kenya, Columbia and Ireland/Northern Ireland, and three domestic trips to New Orleans and New Mexico with 10 to 15 students per trip, according to Campos.
Students would have opportunities to participate extensively in community development activities on those trips, Campos said.
While group international spring break trips will continue this year, some individuals will stay in D.C.
Students like Huong Nguyen, a first-year graduate student in the School of International Service, have decided to stay in D.C. for spring break because money is tight.
“I don’t have enough money [to travel] this year,” she said. Instead, Nguyen will spend time exploring D.C. with her friends.
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
