As snow blanketed the Northeast and cherry blossoms began to emerge in the nation’s capital, Rollins students traded traditional beach vacations for transformative service experiences this Spring Break.
Through the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement (CLCE), participants immersed themselves in diverse communities across America, tackling issues from racial justice in Washington D.C. to indigenous rights in Minneapolis, proving that meaningful change can begin with just one week of service.
“The Immersion program is Rollins’ signature approach to alternative break service learning,” said Sam Justice, Assistant Director at the CLCE who oversees immersions. “Immersions are a high impact practice within higher education and student affairs that allow students to travel and engage in responsible community engagement while thinking critically about global challenges and their solutions.”
To structure these experiences around meaningful action, the CLCE aligns each immersion with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The UN SDGs are a series of 17 sustainable development goals working toward ending global poverty and inequality, protecting the planet, and ensuring healthy and prosperous lives for all.
“Using the UN SDGs as a framework for defining impact work, a group of students will come together with a staff or faculty member and say, you know, I’m really passionate about environmentalism. And then we’ll pair them with other students who think similarly about that, and they’ll put together a trip that focuses on that impact area,” said Justice.
Immersions exemplify Rollins’ commitment to service, preparing students as global citizens by partnering them with nonprofits to address critical social issues ranging from sustainability to racial injustice.
The Immersions
“A Racial Legacy” was set in Washington D.C. and tackled the topics of racial justice and equity. Participants engaged in direct service and education aimed at advancing racial justice, encouraging them to think critically about their own identities while learning about the diverse communities in the D.C. area.
“ABC’s in Action,” stationed in Boston, Mass., focused on youth and educational equity. This program allowed participants to connect with and empower underserved youth while partnering with non-profit organizations and educational institutions to advocate for equal access to education.
“Together We Rise” led students to Minneapolis, Minn. to learn more about Native American heritage. Participants were able to serve while learning about Native American heritage, working to become social justice activists for indigenous rights.
All 3 experiences lasted 7 days and 6 nights, costing students $400 to cover all transportation, housing, and meals.
Justice spoke to how scholarships are available for participants in an effort to make these experiences more accessible. “Rollins doesn’t have necessarily many quote unquote field trip options,” he said. “And this is one of those opportunities that is incredibly accessible to all students.”
Why Immersions?
“I think that it first and foremost gets students out of the Rollins bubble and the central Florida community,” Justice said. “We are an incredibly diverse city, an incredibly diverse community. But there are places where different impact work shows up in different ways.”
The Immersion program aims to select a diverse team of participants, composed of students from CLA, Holt, and Crummer as well as faculty and staff. Immersion facilitator applications go out before participant applications. Participants from all years, majors, and Immersion experience levels are considered.
“The thing with immersions is that they’re intentional about the partnership piece with community partners,” said Justice. “They’re intentional about the education piece and using critical reflection as a means of learning. It’s a means of learning about yourself as well as the community you’re visiting.”
Immersions aim to continue Rollins College’s commitment to service-learning, supporting students to engage in outside communities and come back to Rollins to create change within their local Winter Park community.
“Immersions are about saying let’s prepare and learn about what this means, let’s go do service, and let’s come back and continue to make that change,” said Justice.
For more information about the Immersion program or future application processes, students can contact sjustice@rollins.edu.
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