A Different Kind of Spring Break For many American university an endless party on a sunny beach in Florida or Mexico. In Panama City Beach students, the weeklong spring break holiday means Florida, a city with permanent population of around 36,000 more than half a million university students arrive during the month of March to play and party. making it the number one spring break destination in the United States A weeklong drinking binge is not for everyone. however, and a growing number of American university students have found a way to make spring break matter For them. joining or leading a group of volunteers t travel locally or internationally and work to alevate problems such as poverty homelessness. or environmental damag makes spring b a unique learning experience that university students can feel good about During one spring break, students at James Madison University in Virginia participated in 15"alternative spring break trips to nearby states, three others t more distant parts of the United States. and five international trips. One group of JMU students travelled to Bogalusa, Louisiana to help rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Another group traveled to Mississippi to organize creative activities for children living in homeless shelter. One group of students did go to Florida. but not to lie on the sand. They performed exhausting physical labor such as maintaining hiking trails and destroying invasive plant specie that threaten the native Florida ecosystem. Students who participate in alternative spring break projects find them very rewarding. While most university students have to get their degrees before they can start helping people. students volunteers are able to help people now. On the other hand, the accommodations are far from glamorous. Students often sleep on the floor of a school or church, or spend the week camping in tents. But students only pay around $250 for meals and transportation, which is much less than some ir peers spend to travel to more traditional spring break hotspots