Humanitarian

This Spring Break, 130 Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students will not be sunbathing or drinking strawberry daiquiris, but instead they will be building homes in six different cities across the southwest United States.

‘I honestly don’t think you will be able to find a better experience on this campus,’ said Andrea Rosko, a junior international relations major and alternative break coordinator, who has gone on four Habitat for Humanity service trips. ‘It’s a great way to (spend) Spring Break because you get to combine travel and community service.’

The SU/ESF chapter of Habitat will be making trips to Birmingham and Mobile, Ala.; Almost Heaven, W. Va.; Jacksonville, Fla.; St. Tammany, La.; and Chatham, N.C.

Rosko said that while most schools take one group of about 20 students on Habitat trips each year, the SU chapter does six or seven times that amount. Each trip brings volunteers to cities and towns to build homes for families in need.

Those participating work from 8 a.m. to about 3 p.m., said Justin Cole, executive director of Habitat at SU, who will be attending his sixth trip next week.

‘I truly love Habitat,’ Cole said. ‘The thing about Spring Break trips is the tangible qualities, the roof that you raise, the windows you put in, the walls you put up.’

Toby Dornton, a senior construction management major at ESF, has been on four Habitat trips during Winter Break but is anticipating his first Spring Break trip to St. Tammany, a town about an hour outside of New Orleans.

‘It is most definitely a great experience,’ Dornton said. ‘I didn’t realize Habitat at SU went to Louisiana, or I would have done it in previous years, too.’

Though the trip will send many veterans, like Dornton, to volunteer this Spring Break, there are also newcomers looking to enjoy their Spring Break with Habitat.

Alaina Mallette, a freshman international relations and Spanish major, just joined the organization a few weeks ago and is going to West Virginia to volunteer during Spring Break.

‘I’m looking forward to getting to meet the people in the community,’ Mallette said. ‘I’ve heard the community is really close, and it seems like it would be a really great experience being able to meet the people we are helping firsthand.’

Mallette said she first got interested after hearing friends talk about their past experiences with Habitat.

‘I hear once you build one (house) you want to go out and build a whole bunch more,’ she said. ‘Sometimes I wish I was going to lounge in the sun for Spring Break, but I know in the long run it’s so worth it to do what I am doing because you get to bond with people on a different level and it will be so rewarding.’

— Compiled by Rebecca Toback, asst. feature editor, rltoback@syr.edu

 

Homebody

Imagine Syracuse University without long chicken nugget lines at Ernie Davis Dining Center. Imagine falling asleep without intense vibrations from neighboring walls. Imagine no classes to wake up late for. For the approximate 350 students staying at school for Spring Break, campus will be abnormally still.

‘As much as I love vacations, I sometimes feel tired after them because I’m constantly doing so many things,’ said Rachel Frost, a sophomore stage management major who is required to stay on campus because she has theater rehearsals. ‘It’s nice to be here at school having nothing to do, be in PJs all day and catch up on TV.’

For some students, spending Spring Break at school is nothing new. Stephany Tan, a senior English and advertising major, is a Syracuse vacation veteran. Because her home is in Miami, she feels it is too much of a hassle flying back for such a short period of time. ‘I don’t really look forward to going anywhere warm,’ Tan said. ‘I look forward to being able to get all my work done and relax a little bit.’

All residence halls will remain open during the break, but dining and fitness centers are closed and buses barely run.

Frost has a car on campus, so she will be able to drive off campus to get food. Tan, on the other hand, does not have a car, so she plans to rely on takeout.

Eric M. Nestor, the assistant director at the Office of Residence Life, said students who remain in the residence halls during Spring Break have the opportunity to feel a part of a smaller community.

‘New connections can be formed that perhaps did not develop during the year,’ Nestor said. ‘Being able to come together in the lounge to watch a TV show, play a game, study together and eat some meals together can help foster new friendships.’

William Longcore Jr., also an assistant director at the Office of Residence Life, said that since the break is short, loneliness must not be part of the decision to stay on campus or not.

But considering only a small percent of any resident hall’s population remains on campus, students can feel the effect. Tan and Frost both said staying on campus is ‘lonely.’

— Compiled by Talia Pollock, asst. feature editor, tpollock@syr.edu

No. 1 fan

It takes 1,633 miles to get to Cancun, Mexico, from Syracuse University. For a vacation in Waikiki, Hawaii, 4,777 miles separates the big island from the Carrier Dome. But for Mike Porcelli, the greatest Spring Break of all lies only a fraction of that distance away. To be exact, 250 miles away. At the end of this short stretch: Madison Square Garden in New York, the Big Apple.

For his Spring Break, Porcelli, a second-year industrial design major, will be traveling to New York City to watch the Syracuse men’s basketball team battle its way through the Big East tournament this week. While Madison Square Garden is not filled with white sandy beaches and people drinking piña coladas, Porcelli has wanted to see the Orange play in the famous New York City arena ever since he saw the six-overtime spectacle between the Orange and Connecticut during last year’s Big East tournament. He said he vowed not to miss out on the event ever again.

But the road toward the ultimate Orange Spring Break is not for the weak of heart. While some spend hours waiting in airports for their flights to Spain, Porcelli devoted his time to waiting at the Carrier Dome in hopes of getting tickets for the game at the Garden.
‘They sent an e-mail out to student ticket-holders saying that they had 50 tickets for the season ticket-holders available and the box office was opening last Thursday at 7 in the morning,’ he said.

In comparison to standing outside the Dome in the dead of winter for hours on end, sitting in an airport might seem like paradise all on its own. But this didn’t matter to Porcelli. He was going to get those tickets. He was going to see the Orange play.
‘We decided to get there pretty early, I think about 4 to 4:30 in the morning,’ Porcelli said. ‘So to even want to get up and wait in line in the freezing cold that early in the morning, (it) goes to show how big of a fan I am.’

Regardless of how the team does once he’s in New York, Porcelli said he knows his trip will be a memorable one, even if it is only 250 miles away. Curse waiting in lines. Curse the beach. This is the Big East tournament. This is national television. This is Porcelli’s Spring Break.

‘Watching the basketball team and seeing the surprising success and just to see them do well in the tournament in New York City when it’s more publicized than the regular season (and) just before the NCAA Tournament,’ Porcelli said, ‘just the whole situation is pretty exciting.’

— Compiled by Flash Steinbeiser, feature editor, ansteinb@syr.edu 

Published on March 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm