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Dean of Students

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Support students participating in Alternative Break. Be sure to note "Alternative Break" in the designation line.

Contact Us

Leadership & Service
206 Bone Student Center
Campus Box 2640
Normal, IL 61790-2640
Phone: (309) 438-8972
TDD (309) 438- 2762
Facsimile: (309) 438-3147

Alternative Breaks

If you're looking to get involved and make a difference in your community, then Alternative Break is for you! Alternative Break provides students of Illinois State with the opportunity of a lifetime. The trips, hosted through Leadership and Service, a unit of the Dean of Students Office, takes participants to locations across the country and beyond to help meet needs in the community. Students can volunteer to help build homes for the homeless, feed hungry families, tutor young children, and much more.

Student Testimonials

Erin Bickus Erin Bickus, Public Relations Major

This year was my first year being involved with ASB and I loved every second of it. I wanted to be a site facilitator because I wanted to not only impact the lives of the people we were helping, but also impact the lives of the ISU students going on the trip. Each participant that goes on an ASB trip comes back with his or her own story of what impacted him/her. Some of these stories are about the great friends they made on the trip, while others are about the service project they worked on. For me, it was when I met one resident of St. Bernard’s Parish named Steven Gonzales; his story truly changed my life. Read Erin's testimony.

 

 

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Emily Butzen, Elementary Education Major

As an undergraduate at Illinois State, I am so glad that I decided to participate in Alternative Spring Break. I had a great experience as a volunteer.  During my trip in Washington D.C., I helped with the Food and Friends program that served individuals with HIV and AIDS. Read Emily's testimony.

 

 

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Tom Ponce, Political Science Major

I participated in Alternative Spring Break for two years. My last trip was to New Orleans, and was one I will always remember. It took place a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana. At the time, the city was slowly coming back but was far from oblivion. I worked with helping to gut houses and with the rebuilding process. With each house our team got better at our work and worked closer, harder and most importantly - together. Read Tom's testimony.