This decision changed the trajectory of her college experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
LSO\u2019s alternative break trip began 15 years ago\u00a0as a way to\u00a0get students interested in volunteering and helping their community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Typically, they travel out of state for a week and work with one or more organizations in the area they stay in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
During this time,\u00a0they get to learn more about the issues that plague different communities and actively work with others to\u00a0assist\u00a0with said issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many students return to the University of Florida St. Petersburg and rise to leadership roles on campus because of their experiences on the trip, said LSO coordinator Kasey\u00a0Szel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far every time we\u2019ve done a trip, a student who has gone on the trip has become a student leader the next year,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was the case for Rodriguez, who told\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest\u00a0that during her first trip there was conflict between students and trip organizers, so she became a mediator between the two sides.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat made me realize that if the students trusted me to hold all that information and to see their voices and advocate for them\u2026I might be good at being a leader,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cThen I became a leader.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rodriguez, now an alum, currently works as LSO\u2019s student program specialist and helps curate the trip for current and future USF students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Environmental science and policy junior Liv Doura\u00a0was\u00a0on a similar\u00a0track.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doura\u00a0was a student the first time she went on the trip in Spring 2025. The experience inspired her to seek out a position with LSO.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really loved the work that they were doing,\u201d she said, \u201cand the whole message of reaching out into other communities and helping where help is needed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doura\u00a0is now the student program leader\u00a0and also\u00a0plays a role in organizing the alternative spring break trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Szel, Rodriguez and Doura have recently begun to expand the trip; a second one is available in the Fall semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This will give students an opportunity to get varied volunteering experience throughout the school year and learn about a wider range of social issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the trip, a lot of students realize things that matter to them, [which] they didn\u2019t know before they felt so passionate about,\u201d Rodriguez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All three interviewees hope to see more involvement from new students in the coming years, as it has a lot of personal benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On top of this, they said, it is a very affordable way for students to spend their spring break.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trip can range in price depending on the itinerary and location, but LSO typically tries to make it free of cost for students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that a lot of students live very far away, and getting home can be a lot of money, and staying can be a lot of money as well,\u201d Doura said. \u201cStudents who just want to do something cheap and fun and impactful for spring break or winter break, I think this is an amazing option for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This spring, it is $50, according to Doura.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is because students will be making the trip to Asheville,\u00a0N.C.\u00a0to work in a local soup kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doura explained that LSO decided to do this type of volunteering because they found that food insecurity was a big social issue\u00a0in North\u00a0Carolina, and they tailor the type of volunteering they do to the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This trip will be particularly impactful, she hopes, because students will be able to directly interact with the people\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0working to help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to actually get to talk to the community members and eat lunch with them and\u00a0do little\u00a0interviews with them,\u201d she told\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cWe\u2019re going to actually be talking with the people that we\u2019re helping and getting involved with that, which I think is so special and important because I feel like that\u2019s really what it\u2019s all about, you know?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is the type of experience that can\u00a0impact\u00a0students beyond the scope of the trip and help them become more aware of issues within their own area and get involved in finding solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe volunteer at different organizations,\u00a0and you see how differently they\u2019re organized and then you start building your opinions and what is more efficient or what\u2019s good and whatnot,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a side that other students have taken where they went on these trips and we had many discussions about how differently these organizations are organized and how that impacts\u2026the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Szel\u00a0echoed this sentiment,\u00a0stating\u00a0that students have learned how to set up clubs at USF because of their experience on the alternative break trips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBulls That Serve<\/a>, that student organization started from students who went on the trip,\u201d\u00a0Szel\u00a0said. \u201cIt started because they went on this trip and they were really inspired to do more service in our community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rodriguez feels that this is one of the many benefits that students can get from attending the trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of those trips that, no matter who you are or what you do, when you go you will for sure get something out of it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be different for everyone, but\u2026the position in which you are put is so vulnerable and out of your comfort zone that you will take something out of it, yes or yes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Written by: Julia Birdsall<\/a> on March 11, 2026.
Last revised by: Julia Ferrara<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Students have volunteered in locations like New Orleans and Savannah, Ga. On every trip they do something different…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-187762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}