Alternative Spring Break Alumni

Two Alternative Spring Break alumni are currently volunteering their second years of service with programs in the United States and abroad. Shannon Audley is teaching with LANCE in Memphis, Tennessee, and Janet Hendrickson is serving with the Capuchin Franciscan Volunteer Corps in Bluefields, Nicaragua.

Other University of Dallas Alternative Spring Break alumni who have contributed a year of service to volunteer programs include

Paul Saleeb, '99:                            Rostro de Cristo 1999-2000
Jason Doroga, '00:                         Rostro de Cristo 2000-2001
Chamila Edussuriya, '00:                Americorps VISTA 2001-2002
Rebecca Stein, '00:                        Helping Hand Medical Mission 2000-2001
Millie Jaeger, '01:                            Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity                                                                   (SOLT) 2001-2002
Rachel Kresyman, '02:                   Mercy Volunteer Corps 2002-2003
                                                       Ramana's Garden 2003-2004
Brianne Stuart, '02                         Ramana's Garden 2003-2004
Katharina McCall, '02:                    Americorps VISTA 2002-2003
Ryan Elizabeth Boykin, '03:            Rostro de Cristo 2003-2004
Brendan Cronin, '03:                      Dominican Volunteers USA 2003-2004

Are you an Alternative Spring Break alum who has spent a year in volunteer service or who has continued making service a part of your life? Do you have past ASB pictures you would like included in the ASB Photo Gallery? We'd love to hear from you! Please email Diane Pohlmeier at dpohlme@udallas.edu and let us know what you're doing now.

ASB alumnus Brendan Cronin writes about his experiences with Dominican Volunteers USA (2003-2004)

Although there are days in which I would rather be in Iraq, this year volunteering for San Juan Diego Middle School in Racine, Wisconsin has done me a lot of good. When I think that I would rather be elsewhere, I realize that my volunteering in this school, which does not have the money to hire staff to do my job, will help the students. The students now know that teachers and others outside of their families care about them, and the attention and education they are getting at SJDMS will help give them a shot at making a good life for themselves, a shot that many do not recieve in the larger public schools.

By the time that graduation came about, I was SICK of making just enough for bills and food, and hated having to collect from roommates and worry about money. Surprisingly, that is one aspect of this volunteer years that has turned out well. The school gives me a small stipend each month, and between Dominican Volunteers USA and the school my room, board and health insurance are taken care of, and I never have to handle reimbursements. That frees me to focus more on helping to better the Boy Scout troop here, and the basketball teams, as well as other aspects of the school day.

My basic needs are taken care of, and my volunteering at SJDMS helps students to recieve the attention they would not in larger schools, and helps them to pursue acceptance into some of the finest high schools in the region.

Brendan Cronin
Constantin class of 2003, ASB participant 2000