San Diego Extravaganza

One of my wildest, most fun, most memorable, and well-earned journeys of a lifetime: San Diego, California. Let's begin.

I spent time around the ASU Changemaker Central organization. This space was where students go to learn how they can make a positive change in communities both locally and globally. While here, I became aware of the Alternative Spring Break program. This program allowed a group of college students to travel across the United States to different states and perform volunteering projects to improve the communities and nonprofit organizations in the area. The program that most appealed to me was the San Diego group. I wanted to attend to make a difference and also take my first step into wanderlust!

Of course, a program like this costs some money. At the time, I was the President of my student organization, the Association of Fundraising Professionals. I decided to get crafty and create my own opportunity for joining the Alternative Spring Break team. I reached out to the Senior Coordinator of Changemaker Central. Mina Ahmad, to discuss options for creating a partnership for fundraising efforts. We sat down together and talked about how we can create a fundraising strategy for students that may not be able to afford the San Diego trip, but still wanted to be part of this and make a difference.

I began writing out a strategy to form letters for requesting sponsorship from local business. I wrote up the letter and signed with the coordinators name so that she would be the main point of contact for sponsorship requests. All the while, I was still attending classes at ASU full-time and running my own student organization needs with 4 interns working in the organization.

I was able to earn my place in the Alternative Spring Break program and travel to San Diego, California with my labor as payment! Yes, the trip was entirely free. I'm talking food, lodging, transportation, events, and wi-fi so I could still get my school work done!

Before the trip, we all attended bi-weekly meetings to learn about the history and culture of San Diego. We also learned about the homelessness epidemic and how we would be helping to solve this problem. After a few weeks of orientation and pre-travel planning, we were all set to go. A small team of about 15 people, 3 vans, 3 leaders, and one ambitious global leader with a goal to make a positive social change.

We traveled in 3 separate vans through the desert into San Diego. Once we arrived, we setup camp in the San Diego Hosteling International Hostel. Our Hostel was right in the heart of Downtown at the Gaslamp District. In the hostel, we had a variety of cultures and lively characters that resided with us! People from Germany, China, Saudi Arabia, and a few domestic locals from Utah and other states...all sharing the same spaces to learn and provide resources to the great city of San Diego.

After a long day of travel, we slowly began to shower, eat in our shared kitchen space and found our way to bed on our own time. Over the next few days, we would volunteer and provide valuable community service to Habitat for Humanity, St Vincent de Paul, San Diego's Senior Center, and AmeriCorps NCCC. We cleaned riverbeds, prepared meals for senior citizens, fed the homeless, and restored homes while also preparing a new community for homes with Habitat for Humanity.

After our work was finished, we had our well-deserved break time! We spent our nights playing at the beaches, playing success in the warm sunny spring days, lighting up campfires and sharing s'mores, eating on the boardwalk, exploring the street performers on Gaslamp District, and simply kickin' it with the other travelers in the Hostel.

This experience opened up my mind to entirely new possibilities! I learned how to create a unique travelling experience for myself and others, write professional fundraising letters for donations and sponsorships, how to coordinate with a team to perform quality community service, and how to balance out a life of and work with fun and travel! The people along the way, I won't soon forget. Their experiences, their knowledge, and their lives helped to shape me to be who I am today.

At the end of my travels, I went home with a newly shaped perspective on life. I was reborn and ready to take own community development as a seasoned community leader. My team leads honored me with the Humanitarian Award in May 2014. I was so incredibly grateful to have been selected for this award! This experience kickstarted me to finding myself, gaining new world skills to create a bright future for communities.