With spring break a mere 19 days away, students are getting giddy at the prospect of week off from school.
It may seem like it’s too late to make plans so close to spring break, but Students Today Leaders Forever is providing students with such an opportunity.
This campus organization offers a meaningful spring break trip that stops in six exciting cities across the U.S. for only $375. Traveling by bus, groups of 40 college students head to warmer climates — such as Savannah, Georgia, and Nashville, Tennessee — in a tour the country while completing service projects in various communities along the way.
UW senior Nolan Billstrom, who’s been involved with the organization since his freshman year, spoke with me about his dedication to making these trips a possibility for all students.
The organization is fully student-run, and because of that, it’s also full of passionate people who believe in the power of the spring break trips they plan. Each day of the trip consists of a different service project, time for exploring a new city and reflection activities that help bring the group together.
These trips, called Pay it Forward tours, are unlike any other spring break experience — something which Billstrom, who keeps in regular contact with more than eight of the people from his first Pay It Forward tour in 2016, attested to.
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A PIF tour is a genuine experience that allows its participants to discover more about themselves and the communities they visit while establishing meaningful relationships in the process — not to mention the $375 fee covers housing, transportation and two meals a day.
As I sat in the STLF office interviewing Billstrom, it was hard to ignore the passion in the air as other STLF bus leaders filed in, ecstatic to share their own fond memories of PIF tours in the hopes that you as readers would be convinced to join them this spring break too.
Spring break is a time to get away from your day-to-day responsibilities, hopefully leaving you with stories for years to come. STLF’s Pay It Forward tour is a great way to start living outside of your comfort zone, and hopefully answers the call for meaningful spring break plans done on a budget.
If you’re interested in signing up or simply finding out more about STLF as a whole, be sure to visit their Facebook page, or stop in during their office hours held almost daily at the Student Activity Center.
