This week, Mizzou celebrates one of the best weeks of the spring semester: spring break. During this week, campus becomes deserted and students spread out all over the country and the world. But 800 lucky students will spread across the nation with a unique purpose: to serve. Sent as members of Mizzou Alternative Breaks (MAB), we are members of a program on track to become the largest of its kind. And while we are away, serving from Wyoming to New York, here's why we do what we do.

1. To experience the culture of a brand new place.
Breakers go all over the country, from Brooklyn to Milwaukee, and even around the world. MAB gives us the opportunity to travel to a new city, or see an old city in a new light.

2. To get firsthand experience dealing with a social justice issue I'm passionate about.
Breakers are paired with issues they are interested in. From adaptive sports, to women's issues, to the arts, there's a trip that serves an issue close to the heart of every Mizzou student.

3. To better understand what it means to “serve, not help".
One of the main pillars of MAB, "serve, not help" reminds members that we are not there to solve the issues of all the people in our city overnight. Instead, our job is to serve our dear neighbors without distinction, to help in anyway possible towards the greater goal.

4. To make 12 new best friends on the 12-hour bus ride.
Nothing brings you closer than spending 12 hours in a car with a bunch of new people. Being a member of an MAB trip allows us to meet people from all corners of campus, all bonded by a common interest in our issue and our desire to serve.

5. To become a better person.
A hefty goal to accomplish in one week, we believe it can be achieved. Through service, we discover how grateful we should be for the good in our lives. We see first-hand how a small kindness can go a long way. We discover the joy in serving others. When we bring these lessons home ad incorporate them into our lives, we can return different, but better, people than we were before.

6. To develop a greater appreciation for the blessings in life.
By serving others, we often discover how difficult the lives of so many others are. We realize just how much we have to be thankful for--this very trip is something we are privileged to go on.

7. To learn how to pack a week's worth of clothes in a backpack
Enough said.

8. To challenge myself.
A week-long trip in service can be difficult. It tests us, forcing us to try new things, to be flexible, to realize our limitations, and to push our own boundaries. But through these trials, we can come out stronger than before.

9. To learn in a setting outside of the classroom.
There is no experience like hands-on experience. Instead of simply learning about social justice issues in our world today, MAB gives us the opportunity to deal with these issues directly and gain a deeper understanding.

10. To have a week-long experience unlike any other.