The Daily Princetonian
Thursday March 28, 2013
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BREAKING OUT OF PRINCETON Students spend their spring break exploring civic engagement Maggie Zhang Staff Writer
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his past week, six groups of Princeton students spent their spring breaks living on food stamps, painting murals, restoring parks, recording heritage stories and visiting charter schools — a departure from the typical college spring break. These students participated in Breakout Princeton, a Pace Center program designed to help students travel outside Princeton’s campus (and their comfort zones) in order to learn about social issues. This spring, students learned about art and social change, art and music education, hunger and homelessness, the rhetoric of fracking, education entrepreneurship and language preservation. Sioux Nation: Preserving Oglala Heritage Stories, Pine Ridge, S.D. “Our breakout trip was like Murphy’s law: If anything could go wrong, it did. This trip was more full of surprises than anything I have planned before. I didn’t expect a storm to land our group in the Mall of America when we should’ve been interviewing elders in South Dakota. I didn’t expect a spider infestation to cause our main source of interviewees to be evacuated and leave us without interviews,” Sarah Jeong ’15, one of the co-leaders of the Sioux Nation group, said. Indeed, even before arriving at their destination, the Sioux Nation group faced poor weather conditions, delayed and canceled f lights and hours in the Minneapolis airport. These obstacles did not stop the students from learning about language preservation in the Lakota tribe of Pine Ridge Reservation. They studied the subject by speaking to Princeton alumni, meeting with nonprofit organizations, visiting cultural sites, giving college advice to local students, interviewing elders of the tribe and discussing their ideas on heritage and identity. “Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has so many social issues, from high poverty levels to low life expectancy, from alcoholism to depression. At times it was really hard for us to be confronted with these issues and not to feel upset by what was going on around us,” participant Michael Chang ’16 said. Despite the troubling nature of Pine Ridge Reservation, the students felt inspired to think productively and ask themselves what they could do to improve the future. “In that sense, the Breakout trip doesn’t necessarily have to end, if we choose to continue to think about and address these issues,” Chang said. The Sioux Nation trip differed from its fellow Breakout program trips in its longdistance
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locale. “On previous Breakout trips, we were consistently going over budget, so now Pace is cutting the number of trips that can f ly to places. I lucked out and got to go to South Dakota, but I have a feeling that next year there may not be f lying trips,” co-leader Steven Russell ’14 said. “Hopefully with some alumni support we will be able to have trips across the country again.” Hunger and Homelessness: Discovering the Uneaten Potential, Washington, D.C. The Hunger and Homelessness group took on the SNAP challenge: a week in which they lived solely on food stamps. With $1.50 in stamps per meal, students ended up eating a lot of beans and rice. “My conception of it was that we would be starving and it would be awful. And to an extent, yes, every meal was unsatisfying. But in all honesty, it was a really interesting experience,” co-leader Azza Cohen ’16 said. The budget gave insight into the options available to Americans on food stamps and how that could affect possible lifestyle choices. “One night, we went to McDonalds for dinner — there were four vegetarians, so the only thing we could eat was a side parfait. Another time we went to Safeway, and most people got a banana and a piece of cheese or donut,” Cohen said. During their trip, the group attended the DC Health & Fitness Expo, visited the National Coalition for the Homeless, volunteered in “food recovery,” worked with local chefs at DC Central Kitchen and even talked to Congressman Rush Holt about the farm bill and childhood nutrition. “One of the main realizations that I think we all experienced was that homelessness can happen to anyone and it is wrong to simply assume that people are homeless due to their own mistakes or wrongdoings,” Clara Kerwin ’16 said. Students not only learned a lot but also found ways to contribute. “We didn’t accept the solutions that were given at face value. Rather, we discussed ways in which the solutions could be improved,” Clarissa Kimmey ’16 said. “The f laws we found were encouraging rather than discouraging. They meant that we might be able to help improve these organizations whenever we graduate or even beforehand. Art and Music Education: The Sound of Community Development, Princeton/Trenton, N.J. The Art and Music Education group focused on schools around Princeton, Trenton and Camden. “Even though I was part of the local trip, I think the
service we did, the people we met and the discussions about music and arts education in New Jersey was an experience I will never forget,” participant Dee Luo ’16 said. Though some members expected to spend their week working on a solution to disparities in public schools across the state, they found that pinpointing a clear problem to solve was nearly impossible. “Many of us found that the issues in the education system of New Jersey run so deep that the problem is quite complex — in fact, there is no one problem. There’s a network of problems, and it may take an entire restructuring of the system to resolve them,” Luba Margai ’15 said. When not doing their own research, the students gave back to local schools. They taught elementary students dance moves, lyrics and percussion instruments to an arrangement of the song “My Girl.” “We wanted to show the kids that, as college students, music is still relevant to our lives and that it wasn’t just isolated to a high school classroom. We hoped to encourage the students to stay with their instruments, because there is a chance that in the future they’d be able to play with bigger and better ensembles,” Margai said. The Breakout group also spent time painting inspirational quotes on the walls of the City Invincible Charter School in Camden and attending a poetry jam at Trenton Central High School West. “It was clear that for the students, it wasn’t the praise or recognition they got for performing — it was their own desire to speak out and believe in themselves. It was truly inspiring!” Luon said. Art & Social Change: The Art of Creative Empowerment, Philadelphia, Pa. The Philly group broke the mold of typical Breakout programs, as they heavily emphasized the arts. Students spent a week splatter-painting a formerly graffiti-ridden wall, talking to local artists and alumni, walking the Mural Mile, visiting Urban Outfitters’ headquarters and more. Many students found inspiration for their own artistic pursuits. “The positive impact of the City of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program really refueled my belief in the potential and worth of public murals in creating a long-lasting and significant impact on society,” said Felicia Ng ’15. Students also worked with the Norris Square N e i g h b o rhood Project
COURTESY OF MAGGIE ZHANG
Students on the Art & Social Change Breakout trip get to contribute to a graffiti wall in Philadelphia.
2008 2012 number of trips
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PA, L.A., Boston, D.C., AZ, FL South Dakota, Trenton DESIGN BY LIN KING :: STAFF WRITER PHOTO COURTESY OF PARINDA WANITWAT
3/27/13 11:43 PM