Instead of the warm beach, the calm lake trip or an intense week of partying, some Creighton students are planning spring break service trips, which they call fulfilling and unique.

Kelly Orbik, graduate student and Creighton Center for Service and Justice intern, is working with the Core Team and the coordinators of the spring break trips.

Orbik described service trips as opportunities for students to learn about the communities they are serving and provide help where needed.

Last year, around 220 students went on these trips. This experience would normally cost over $260 per person, but the Creighton Center for Service and Justice conducts fundraisers in order to charge students only $180.

The trips offer a variety of experiences, Orbik said.

“This trip consists of everything from building a house in Oklahoma to visiting homeless shelters in Ohio and crossing the border in Juarez to learn about border issues,” Orbik said.

Orbik added that students will be able to work with adults, children, people who have English as their second language, and at the same time, learn about injustices, racism, poverty and homelessness. These experiences can be experienced at sites in several states.

Graduate student Allison Kinney-Walker, who has attended several service trips, said the toughest part during her New Orleans service trip was not the gutting of the houses, but listening to people’s stories of how they lost everything.

She said there are no easy solutions for the people they help during these trips. There are some tangible results from the help provided, like when a house is built. But many times, there are no visible results. It is an ongoing process of service as the problems continue.

“You still can make a difference. One hour spending time with a person and actually caring about them makes a big difference in their lives. Service does make a difference; we just don’t always see tangible results,” Kinney-Walker said.

Arts & Sciences sophomore Cat Keating participated her freshman year in the New Orleans service trip, about 19 months after Hurricane Katrina. Keating said she was overwhelmed at all the things that had to be done. At the same time, she felt guilty because the New Orleans residents believed they had been forgotten.

“I would rather do this than go on a spring break vacation. I feel that I have a calling to serve other people and not just myself. I feel like, in a way, going to the beach is slightly selfish,” Keating said.