Alternative Breaks

How Bowdoin ASB Works

ASB trips are organized and led by students. ASB leader responsibilities include recruiting participants, developing participant seminars, coordinating with community partners, and leading the actual trip.

Leader Selection

ASB proposals and leader applications are reviewed each spring for the following year by a committee of students, faculty, and McKeen Center staff. Those leaders whose trips are selected receive support and training from the McKeen Center to plan and implement their ASB trips.

Leaders' Seminar

During the fall semester, ASB leaders participate in weekly leadership seminars facilitated by the staff of the McKeen Center. The seminars prepare leaders in how to organize and lead their trips and to help student participants examine the political, social, cultural, and economic aspects of the communities in which they will be living. Through this seminar, leaders develop their own seminar which they lead for their trip participants in the spring.

Participants' Seminar

Participants attend weekly pre-trip seminars to prepare them for their community experience. These meetings may include background and cultural information about the site, guest visits, reading assignments, film viewing, and team-building activities.

During and After the Trip

During the trip, students participate in meaningful educational and service activities, daily reflective sessions, and evening group activities. After returning to campus, students work together to educate the larger Bowdoin community about their issue area and experience.

Alternative Spring Break Trips 2025-2026

*NOTE - Students on financial aid do not pay to attend ASB trips* 

Immigrant Advocacy: Resilience in Salinas, California

Trip Leaders
Noemi Guzman and Mauricio Cuba Almeda

Mission
Learning how migrant farmworkers unite to address the challenges shaping their community.

Background
Salinas, known as “The Salad Bowl of the World” because it grows almost half of the nation’s lettuce, depends heavily on the labor of migrant farmworkers. Salinas sits at the northern end of the Salinas Valley and is famous for being the setting of John Steinbeck’s classic novels. Salinas has one of the highest concentrations of immigrants in California. In 2023, more than a third of the population was born in another country, according to the U.S. Census, and more than 80% are Latino. Despite their essential contributions, many farmworkers in the region face systemic challenges, such as housing instability, limited access to healthcare, food insecurity, exploitative labor conditions, and a lack of affordable childcare. Yet, Salinas is also a hub for community resilience and organizing. Grassroots coalitions and mutual aid networks have long mobilized to advocate for the rights of farmworkers. This trip will provide an opportunity to engage with those on the front lines of this work and better understand how migrant communities come together to address injustice and build community.

Trip Cost
$850

AI for Indigenous Past and Futures in Hawai’i

Trip Leaders
Andrea Cordova Cisneros & Wing Kiu Lau

Mission
Exploring AI for Indigenous knowledge and climate action, this trip shows how Hawai’i blends technology with tradition. Participants will see AI support sustainable tourism and environmental preservation.

Background
Hawai’i faces pressing challenges at the intersection of climate, culture, and tourism. The island’s ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change and the impacts of destructive tourism, while indigenous communities continue to grapple with the legacies of colonialism that threaten the preservation of language, traditions, and cultural knowledge. AI initiatives on O’ahu spearheaded by the University of Hawai’i and local AI nonprofits and startups are rising to meet these challenges, supporting climate research, promoting regenerative tourism practices, and creating new frameworks that center and preserve indigenous knowledge and cultures. By harnessing technology in unique ways that respect and amplify local practices and expertise, Hawai’i becomes a model for how AI can be harnessed both to address pressing environmental challenges and protect native cultures.

Trip Cost
$1,200

Educational Equity in Puerto Rico

Trip Leaders
Belen Montesinos Canales & Olga Isailovic

Mission
Gain hands-on experience supporting Montessori education and exploring the intersections of learning, culture, and social justice in San Juan.

Background 
Puerto Rico faces significant challenges in its public education system. Our proposal seeks to collaborate with Public Montessori for Peace, an initiative of the New School Institute that promotes the Montessori educational model in public schools, focused on the holistic development of children and young people. With the new Trump administration, the decline in government support has led to an increase in the number of students attending private schools, with greater funds being allocated to provide lower income students with aid vouchers instead of being utilized to improve existing schools funded by the government. This organization uniquely combines the standard of the partially private Montessori learning style with public affordability, enabling all students to succeed. In a context where many schools are still recovering from the aftermath of natural disasters and structural difficulties, an innovative alternative that fosters autonomy, mutual respect, and active learning, is especially relevant. By engaging with this organization, we hope to directly support educational work in the classroom while also learning about the precarious territorial context that has influenced education on the island. This trip will not only allow for modes of meaningful cultural exchange but also strengthen values of social justice, equity, and community.

Trip Cost
$1,000

Housing as History: Culture and Crisis in the Home of the Blues

Trip Leaders
Eve Foley & Tolly Kaiser

Mission
Combatting the ongoing poverty crisis through Habitat for Humanity service in the Home of the Blues, Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Background
The Mississippi Delta has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. The poverty rate in Clarksdale is over 40%, so, compared to the statewide average of 19.8%, residents of Clarksdale are living in extreme conditions. Many families here have lived in the region for generations, with lineage extending to enslavement and sharecropping. Clarksdale is a deeply complex town with insufficient housing and severe poverty. By going there, trip participants will be exposed to such issues firsthand, and we have the opportunity to make a genuine impact.

Trip Cost
$800

Stories of the City: Listening to New York

Trip Leaders
Lucia Galdamez & Oscar Gonzalez

Mission
Participants will explore New York City’s immigrant experience through storytelling, connecting with those who humanize immigrant voices.

Background
Participants will explore immigration in New York City through a journalism lens. We will engage with migrant communities across the five boroughs by conducting interviews, documenting narratives, and building relationships in everyday spaces. The trip will include collaboration with news non-profits and mentorship from Bowdoin alumni in journalism. Together, participants will create a portfolio of stories reflecting the diverse experiences of immigrants.

Trip Cost
$600