Spring break, next week, is the ultimate chance for UK students to rest so they can finish the homestretch of the year strong.

Many take this opportunity to travel. I am sure that people are starting to pack up for Panama City, Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach and other warm southern locales. That’s the kind of place I am heading toward, and I cannot wait.

However, not everyone is leaving for a vacation.

Some students will be taking alternative breaks to do charitable work around the state and the country. I tip my hat to these students who are in some ways giving up their chance to rest or unwind in order to help others.

The UK Alternative Service Breaks program is just one organization helping to facilitate these sorts of trips. They are sending students to work at The David School, which aims to help educate youth and adults in the Appalachian region of Kentucky. Some will be going to Washington, D.C., to help the hungry and homeless through the Youth Service Opportunities Project.

Still others will leave the country to do community work in Ecuador or the Dominican Republic.

Service and religious organizations have set up similar trips. These students and the work they will be doing display UK in one of its best lights. It shows the commitment of our student body not only to our surrounding community, but to the general good in our world.

It makes me proud to be a Wildcat.

Even while many of us head home or to the beach, we can rest assured that there are always those in our community giving back.

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