Tag Archives: new experience

What Happens When 50+ MiddKids Go on MAlt Trips

This past February break, six groups of Middlebury students escaped the wintry Vermont weather, traveling as many as 3,000 miles to six respective locations around the globe. Middlebury Alternative Break Trips, affectionately referred to as MAlt trips, are service-oriented experiential-learning trips. This year the 50+ MAlt participants traveled to Guatemala, Washington DC, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Miami, and New York City, and addressed issues ranging from permaculture to privilege and poverty in vastly diverse local communities.

“The trip was eye-opening and life-changing […] I intend to try to lead a MAlt trip myself, motivated by how powerful and influential and rewarding this trip has been,” one MAlt Washington DC participant said.

Returning to campus, many students remarked that their MAlt trip has left an enduring mark on them.

Another student who participated in the Building Communities trip in Guatemala, working with Constru Casa and Tecnologia Para Salud (TPS), noted that “[…] it was more than I ever imagined and will have lasting impact on me. It taught me the power of active learning. Moreover, it taught me that it is not enough to be ‘book smart’.”

As students reflected on their rich experiences and personal growth, they also explored the ethics of service and development work. What role does service play in a community? How can we responsibly contribute to a community that is not our own? What is sustainable service and development? How can we unpack our own privilege in relation to certain communities based on identities of race, class, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, and so on? How can we best learn from each other?

Read on: MAlt participants will answer these questions, explain the ins and outs of travel in-country and abroad, talk small group dynamics and new friendships, and tell of the challenges and lasting benefits of volunteerism and service.

Over the course of their trips these Middkids kept quite busy. Elsa Avarado ’18 of MAlt Miami, a group that worked at a schools, wrote in, “Some of the projects that we did for the school included: spreading wood chips all over the playground, re-planting the garden, etc. Our days were very packed.”

Dylan Gilbert and Mariam Khan, both class of 2017, wrote about their trip to Mexico and the opportunity it afforded an unlikely group of students to get to know each other. Dylan Gilbert is an Art History and Russian double major from St. Peters, Missouri and Mariam Khan is a student of Math, Religion, and Education Studies from Waterville, Maine.

They wrote, “MAlt trips really have the ability to bring together a variety of students from across campus that would most likely never intersect otherwise. Our trip was no different. We had an extremely diverse group of 12 students (including us). Every class year was represented. Majors ranged from Physics to Art History to Women and Gender Studies to Math, and even geographically our participants came from all over the United States and even the world. All of our participants were exceptional individuals that each contributed their own unique perspective and experiences to the group dynamic.”

Dylan, Mariam, and other MAlt Mexico participants also reflected upon certain challenges that the group faced, from linguistic capabilities to the politics of international tourism.

“In addition to working with children at the daycare, our group also explored issues of inequality and poverty in San Miguel de Allende, a town known for its expat communities and tourism. Our goal was the offer a caring hand to Casa and a critical eye to privilege as we engaged in our work at the center […] Not everyone on our trip knew Spanish, which was challenging but encouraging since everyone was still able to engage equally […] The town of San Miguel itself has a problematic history with tourism and expats, and through this trip, we were able to observe and analyze the complex nature of the community while still recognizing our own role in the broader narrative of San Miguel. Overall, our experiences in San Miguel de Allende provided able opportunity to physically engage with our work and each other and also to better understand the effects of tourism on the local populations of San Miguel.”

Similar to the reflections of MAlt Mexico participants, a MAlt Puerto Rico participant noted that, “This trip was useful in informing me on culturally-appropriate service abroad.” This learning, however, certainly came with challenges, even if small ones. On the MAlt Miami trip, for instance, showering at night in an outdoor shower and staying in a low-income neighborhood posed an adjustment for some of the participants.

As far as community partners goes, the reviews of the Middkids were extremely positive. Jessica Towers of DC Central Kitchen worked with the Washington DC trip focusing on issues of privilege and poverty. She said, “The Middlebury students that came to work with us were awesome! They were friendly, helpful, and hardworking.” Community partner Cale Johnson of Casa de los Angeles, a non-profit in Mexico that provides a safe haven for single mothers and their children, writes, “We were really pleased and impressed with all of the students in the group. They came willing and enthusiastic to help and as such left a great impact on our organization.”

The students in turn expressed their appreciation for the community partners and organizations with whom they worked. MAlt Miami wrote in, “I would most definitely recommend ICO to other MAlt leaders because they truly made us feel welcome and they were so grateful for our help. Even though we were so grateful to be part of the team!” MAlt Puerto Rico also chimed in, “Working with Plenitud was a very symbiotic relationship.”

Indeed, many trip-goers said they would recommend the organizations they worked with to future MAlt participants. Despite the challenges they encountered, participants found that they made a difference in and learned from the communities they served thanks to moments of reflection, communication, and hard work. In the words of one MAlt Guatemala participant, “Service is possible by team work and willingness to learn.”

So, what do you say? Will you be next? Will a life-changing MAlt trip be part of your 2016 or 2017?

Learn more about Middlebury Alternative Break Trips at go/malt and view photos from this year’s trips on Facebook.

 

~Alison Haas ’16, CE Communications Intern

Student Org Profile: Language in Motion

LiM at MUHS Study Abroad Fair
Language in Motion (LiM) is an educational collaboration that connects Middlebury’s international, study abroad, and upper level language students with local high school and middle school teachers, students, and classrooms. 
“Spending time out of the United States and learning foreign languages have been instrumental in shaping my worldview and my academic path at Middlebury. Participating in the Language in Motion program through the Office of Community Engagement has given me the chance to combine my love for languages and intercultural exchange with my interest in education. LiM facilitates connections between Middlebury College students who have had international experiences, through study abroad, summer programs, gap years, or by virtue of being international students, with secondary school students in Vermont. It gives Middlebury students the chance to make their abroad experiences meaningful in new ways and to reflect on how the insight they have gained through their international experiences can be valuable to the larger Middlebury community. Midd students participating in LiM go through training to plan and give presentations to high school and middle school students in the area on an aspect of their international experience. Topics range from superstitions in Russia to foods of Spain to life in Ethiopia.
In addition to presentations, we just hosted the second annual study abroad fair at Middlebury Union High School to give students access to resources on high school study abroad and gap year opportunities. We are working on exciting new programming for this spring including “language days,” through which we hope to bring high school language classes to Middlebury to experience language tables and the atmosphere of Middlebury language-learning. It has been immensely rewarding for me to get to share my experiences and love for languages with students in the larger Middlebury community through presentations, and to learn more about other cultures in helping other Midd students plan their presentations.”
-Emma McDonald ’16

Will on the Charter House

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I was convinced to start volunteering at the Charter House by a friend who was enrolled in the J-Term internship with the community non-profit. When I showed up for my first shift I awkwardly stumbled around the kitchen trying to be of as much use as possible, but like the first couple days at a new job, I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing or where anything was. I admit that as I was preparing the dinner and setting the table for the night’s dinner I was apprehensive about how the individuals staying at the warming shelter would receive me. I have never been homeless myself and my exposure to homelessness until then didn’t range beyond the few conversations I have had with a few homeless individuals I saw regularly in my hometown.
 
We all sat down for dinner and immediately began chatting about the weather, recent happenings around town and the jeopardy episode that was idling in the background. We were all arranged around the table family-style, which felt very foreign compared to the rushed solo meals in Ross I eat more often than I’d like to admit, or the loud, crowded tables of Atwater. The last time I can remember sitting down for a meal like this was Thanksgiving two years ago when I found myself skirting sensitive political (and personal) topics with my extended family. The dinners I’ve had this past semester at the Charter House have been a great break from the routine-driven life we all lead on campus. They offer a unique opportunity to leave behind all the busywork, nagging reminders, and problems we have at school and focus on spending time with some fantastic individuals who you would otherwise never interact with.
 
I am a bit embarrassed to think back on my apprehension the first day I volunteered at the Charter House. The individuals utilizing the warming shelter services are extremely grateful for a warm meal and some new company to talk with. Everyone involved with the coalition has been more than welcoming to me and it has been an unexpected reward to get the chance to make friends with more members in the Middlebury community outside of the college. It’s hard to see how little exposure there is to the community when you’re on campus, but getting out of our world every once and awhile has proved to be more refreshing than I would have ever expected.

-Will Melhado ’15

To learn more about the Charter House go here! 

Mandy on LiM

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Last year, I was studying abroad in Madrid, Spain and I received an email about a new program, Language in Motion, at Middlebury’s Community Engagement office. At that time, I was thinking about how I would readjust to my life at Middlebury, and all of the memories I had made. The email could not have come at a better time, as I started to think about classes and what I wanted to do for the upcoming year. One thing I wanted to do was to make more of an effort to promote travel and studying abroad even more than I had in the past. Community Engagement has allowed me to do just that.

 

Through Language in Motion, I found that I could reflect on my experiences to share and pique other students’ curiosities. One thing I missed was how I spent my mealtimes in Spain. I enjoyed the culture of eating because I felt like I had time to both catch up with my friends and eat. When I was planning what I wanted to present to students, I immediately thought about the culture of mealtimes, and I led a small activity in the school’s kitchen where I tried to recreate the ambience of eating tapas at a bar. It was great being able to talk about food and connecting that to life, values, and cultures because I saw how my connections to food made the students think about their lives.

 

This experience would not have been possible without the Community Engagement office where there are so many different opportunities that anyone can take advantage of. Whether it is sharing experiences like eating, mentoring youth, or applying for a grant to do something you find meaningful (just to name three things you can do), the Community Engagement office can help you find a way to leverage your interests and curiosities to connect with the community. There is more to Middlebury than what happens on the hill, and the Community Engagement office makes it that much easier to discovering ways you can get involved.

 

-Mandy Kwan ’15

To learn more about Language in Motion, click here!

Hannah on MAlt

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     When I first applied for the 2013 MAlt trip to New York City, titled “Examining a Broken Justice System,” I didn’t really know what I was applying for. I thought it would be something different, something far more meaningful than my usual Feb break pastime of sitting on the couch at home (not that that would be hard to beat on the “meaningful” scale). The topic really stuck out to me, too. I’d lived my whole life just miles from the oldest running prison in the state of Massachusetts, yet I would drive past it twice a day without a second thought, my only knowledge of what stood behind the concrete walls and glass-enclosed watch towers stemming from one curious Google Maps exploration.
 
     Turns out, I wasn’t wrong about the trip – our activities and discussions were eye opening, thought provoking, and educational. However, the most long-lasting memories from that week came not from the planned component but rather from the interactions and conversations we had as a group. In all honesty, I cannot imagine any other time when this unlikely group of people would have interacted, especially on campus at Middlebury. We hadn’t before, and we haven’t since, really. It was hard, too – we faced many challenges at times, particularly in regards to group agreement on certain issues. For the most part, however, we also became incredibly close during that week – sharing hours of extremely personal and emotional details through “My Life” stories, laughing until our stomachs hurt (or someone peed…not naming names, though), getting in heated debates, and shoveling snow so that we could actually make it back to school after a surprise blizzard hit. Most things didn’t really go as planned during the week, and in many ways it was a disaster – but on other levels, that brought us even closer together.  While we’re not all suddenly best friends, and most of us don’t interact besides the passing “hey,” that week will always remain an often-unacknowledged but ever-present connection that we both share.
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-Hannah Reeve ’15
 
Learn more about MAlt here!