For students looking to utilize the time between winter and spring terms, OSU’s Community Engagement and Leadership has an offer. Alternate Breaks provide an opportunity for travel, community service, and place-based learning.

There are three destination options for Alt. Break, each has a different area of focus, as the service projects and learning experiences in the trips are specifically designed around each location.

In San Francisco, students focus on food and housing insecurity, and the dimensions of injustice that contribute to them, primarily in the Tenderloin district.

“Just be super open-minded …You’re in obviously the biggest city (of the three), with some really big issues,” said Emma Bowadt, a second-year majoring in political science who went on the trip in 2024.

She mentioned cooking at multiple soup kitchens and chatting with a formerly incarcerated community member as highlights of the trip. “I’ve studied a lot on the prison system in the US and how god awful it is, so it was really cool to see someone who made it out.”

In Ashland, Oregon, the focus is on environmental justice. Students actively work on projects related to conservation, restoration, and sustainability. Lodging is in the innovative, environmentally friendly Willow-Witt Ranch Meadow House, on which more information can be found here. 

In Yakima, Washington, students learn about social and tribal relations in the area and how they pertain to land use, both in the colonial past and moving forward into a changing climate.

“It’s a combination of the social issues within Yakima, and also the landscape,” said Emma Kim-Hare, a second-year psychology major and co-lead for the trip this spring. “We’re going to do a lot of educational sessions and we’re working with a lot of partners that really care about their communities.”

Alt. Breaks are all led by student leaders, like Kim-Hare. Although there are CEL faculty involved in planning and logistics, each trip cohort is made of only students, with 10-12 participants including the leads. It is a unique, peer-led experience, with a focus on collaboration.

“If you are interested in learning about other communities and issues, it would be a really good experience, because I think a lot of it is seeing things from a new perspective,” said Kim-Hare.

Alt. Breaks are open to students on all OSU campuses, including Ecampus. The program fee is flexible; participants pay what they can between $0 and $200. Students who are not on the main campus are asked to pay an additional $200, covered by the Corvallis students’ incidental fees.

The priority application for the 2025 Alt. Breaks closed on Jan. 24, but applicants are still being accepted and/or waitlisted on a rolling basis. More information and a link to the application can be found here.