Author: Blythe

Why not earn civic engagement hours, participate in significant service and have fun in Syracuse’s Alternative Spring Break!

Molly Linhorst went to Washington D.C. where she volunteered with the Youth Service Opportunities Program, helping the hungry and homeless of the D.C. Metro area. Sponsored by the Office of Residence Life, this program allows students to spend their spring break involved in philanthropic efforts.

 Molly had this to say about her week in the nation’s capital:

 “As a political science student, I spent some of my time (successfully) hunting down Congressmen around the Congressional office buildings. But government certainly isn’t the only attraction in our nation’s capital. Make sure to walk the National Mall. The Mall (a long strip of monuments, not a shopping center) is particularly gorgeous at night. Some of my best ASB memories stem from midnight walks along the World War II Memorial.

 “Now let’s discuss the most important part of the trip: the service work. ASB has worked with the Youth Service Opportunities Project (YSOP) since the trip’s inception. YSOP organizes our work, designating where each service team will spend its day. YSOP is the central hub to the trip, and the staff has an answer for every question imaginable. They strive to help each participant understand the causes and consequences of homelessness through speakers, in-depth discussions, and a dinner night in which ASB participants cook and serve dinner to homeless attendees. YSOP encourages organic understanding and interaction with the homeless and hungry of D.C.

“I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. Spend a fun-filled week with new people and places. Explore a city. Change a life. Share a smile. Get civic engagement hours.”

To learn more about the Alternative Spring Break, contact Karess Gillespie in the Office of Residence Life.

Zachary Ranieri and Samuel Chertock worked with the Syracuse Public Art Commission, a group which seeks to contribute to the public art on display in Syracuse.

Samuel explained that “the mural consists of a heavily-pixelated image of the Erie Canal, upon which we adhered and spraypainted QR codes (which link to Syracuse-area art institutions and community service organizations).” And Zachary described the effect of this project in this way:

“The project helped me to further understand art as a tool which can bring communities together. People would frequently stop by and ask what we were working on, and share their thoughts about Syracuse in our conversations. The excitement people expressed was not something I expected, and it helped me to realize how art can be a powerful catalyst for exploring our culture and folk tradition. Public art can spark conversations, reveal knowledge, and bring out a community’s values; it is much more than an aesthetic contribution to the city. People talked about how Syracuse has fallen on hard times, of their hopes for its future, and how they missed the past, knowledge shared much more freely due to the mural. I learned from the experience, and I like to think that many more will learn things as a result of this mural’s completion.”