Since 1995, the university's students have been getting more out of spring break than a tan. What used to be about the sun and lying on the beach has transitioned to a time of service -- a time for Wake Alternative Breaks, also known as WAB. For the past eight years students have initiated nation-wide service trips and have no plans to stop anytime soon.

There have been a variety of trips throughout the years. Students have traveled everywhere from Boston, where they participated in urban work, to South Dakota, where they worked on a reservation. This year, three different groups will head to Tampa, Atlanta and New Orleans with one thing on their minds: serving others.

The university prides itself on the amount of volunteering students do each year and these students are no exception. They are a prime example of what it means to follow through with the university's motto of Pro Humanitate. "This is a nice option for students who do not have time during the school year to volunteer. It's a struggle to find the time between meetings and homework. This allows students to focus their energy without any outside distractions," said Sally Sue Brown, coordinator of volunteer services.

"I understand how difficult it is to fit volunteering in sometimes," she said. "We have students participate in these trips that are active on campus all year long while on the other hand, we have students who this is the one and only time during that year that they volunteer. Either way, it's an experience to remember." Who decides where to go?

Each trip is born by a student initiating the idea and presenting it to the Volunteer Service Corps. The office of volunteer services evaluates the idea and decides if it wants it to open the trip up to all students on campus. Each service group consists of 10 to 12 university students. The leaders of each service group put together their groups based upon whether or not the group will work well together. The cost ranges anywhere from to , which includes transportation, food and housing. "Generally our trips are low cost because they consist of fulfilling the needs of others -- which costs nothing," Brown said. The Volunteer Service Corps and volunteer service office also subsidize some part of the cost each year for the students, decreasing the cost at times.

While on the trip, the students participate in different activities of volunteering each day. They range from working at the food bank or the furniture bank to landscaping. Some students designed trips where they worked in schools tutoring elementary school children while others have worked with autistic children in a youth home. "Each day is different and we decide ahead of time what we're going to do," said junior Melissa Henderson, the Division Head of service trips.

The students work from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. then return to their hotels. Once they return, they're allowed to go out and explore the city for the rest of the night. "This aspect of the trip allows for students to feel like they're having a spring break as well as helping others," said Henderson, who is the Division Head Service Trips. By allowing students to have the nighttime to go out and have free time, they are both serving a purpose by helping those in the community as well as relaxing as well. "It provides a well rounded trip," said Henderson.

Stephanie Plewes, a senior leader of the New Orleans trip said,"The only problem we have when it comes to recruiting people is that we require commitment for these trips. People don't think that far ahead about what they're doing for spring break. So, it makes it really hard to say that you'll participate in a trip like this when your friends may all go somewhere together instead."

Who's in charge?

The Atlanta trip will be led by junior John Lacy and sophomore Katie Miller this year. As a sophomore, Lacy co-led a trip to Charleston, S.C. Junior Jeri Bryant and senior Cher Jacques will be leading the Tampa trip. Bryant has been involved with both the Atlanta and New Orleans trips in the past. Seniors Stephanie Plewes and senior Carolyn Connor will be leading the New Orleans trip. This is the second year for the university's students in both New Orleans and Atlanta.

The students often pair up with local volunteer organizations while on their service trips. Hands on Atlanta, Hands on Tampa, and Volunteers of America are a couple of examples of organizations that are most often used.

Leading a trip consists of coordinating everything from the miniscule details to where the group will work each day of the trip. "We have to set up hotels, what volunteer activities we want to be involved in, social events, and who we will work with," Plewes said. "I began with SPARK my freshman year and have always been interested in volunteering. I thought that it would be cool to do a bunch of different activities plus it is something that people would be able to truly get something out of," Plewes said.What comes out of it?

One of the main goals for the volunteer service office is that students have the desire to continue to extend their services locally. For example, when students arrived back at the university from their service trip last year and they immediately wanted to continue their work locally in Winston-Salem. "It's a fun and rewarding experience where people get to know one another," Henderson said. Groups may be composed of people that would not necessarily associate themselves with one another on campus, therefore it allows for students to get to know people that they wouldn't otherwise know.

"My favorite memory was during my New Orleans trip when we had to landscape," Henderson said. "Our group was made up of a bunch of girls and we had no idea what we were doing in the beginning, which was funny. But in the end, it all worked out," Henderson said. Brown said"The university offers many international service trips for students. But I think that it's important that we don't forget about our own country and its needs. That's what WAB is trying to accomplish."