Alumni Testimonials
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"Joining ASB in my third year was the most rewarding decision I’ve made in university. For one breath-taking month, 11 other extraordinary individuals and I embarked on an unforgettable journey to Nepal. This was the first time I had ever left the continent of North America and I’m glad I conquered my fear with ASB. In the weeks leading up to departure, ASB taught me so many things I would never have learned elsewhere. Most importantly I learned to be a smart, safe traveller, a strong team-member, and to challenge myself in unique ways. I’ve created connections and lifelong friendships within the Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan) community, which would not have been possible without ASB. The guaranteed positivity, laughter, and tears of pure joy are part of what makes ASB one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my life. Thank-you forever ASB!"
Jake Jamieson - Team Nepal 2017
Mohamed Abo Ali - India 2016
"After 7 months of learning about ethical and sustainable volunteering abroad, fundraising, raising awareness and working for a goal. We finally reach Toronto Pearson airport and I meet as team India 2016. I've travelled before but never with a group and never with a cause, I remember thinking to myself while I was looking around at the rest of the team laying on our backpacks on the ground, "what did I get myself into, a month with complete randoms I met at my university in a foreign country". I kept my thoughts to myself, of course.
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Living and working in Marayoor drove me to work my hardest, and push myself to limits that I didn't know I had. The locals there were the hardest working people I've ever met, and I wanted to meet their standards. Families in Marayoor appreciated their land and worked so hard on it and our team was there to help in any way we could (where it was needed). Living there I witnessed a way of life that I fell in love with, all the challenges we were faced with, we turned into opportunities of growth we can learn from, which left us appreciating everything from this trip.
I have nothing but good memories of this trip and this team. A month of hanging out with the locals, working with masons, spending the best afternoons on the roof top with team India 2016, created this memory that I will always try to measure everything I do in life too! I saw a sense of community and happiness that I haven't seen before and in Marayoor, I got to experience it because they shared it with me and the team!"
Nicole Hack - India 2015
"After coming home from travelling with ASB, the first thing I was asked was, “how was your trip?!”. I honestly didn’t know how to explain how I felt. My older sister Arleigh was the one who introduced me to ASB, as she herself is an ASB Alumni (Kenya, 2013). Travelling to India in 2015 with ASB was without a doubt the most valuable personal journey I have ever embarked on. It has taken me almost a whole year to reflect on just how big of an impact it had on me in the way that I see myself, my ability to handle stress in my life, and in the way I understand the world and people around me. The things you learn when travelling in such a way that ASB allows you to do reside with you long after the journey is over.
Though the change I feel in myself may not be visible to everyone else, I feel a new internal confidence that is guiding every decision I have made since I have gotten home. It is here that I see the value in ASB. It is this unique opportunity that I experienced as a young amateur traveller that has set me up for success, not just as a traveller, but also in so many other aspects of my life. So when someone asks me, “how was your trip?!”, quite simply my response is that it was the best decision I have ever made and it was a life-changing experience."
Ray Kao - Uganda 2014
"My journey with ASB was about crossing paths and creating bonds, however fleeting, with people who have left an indelible impression on me.
I look back to my days with ASB with much fondness and gratitude for the reciprocity of considerate colleagues who continuously complimented and compromised, the goodwill of local vendors and random folk who supported our fundraising efforts, and the helping hand and unending hospitality of foreigners who laboured and laughed with us. Rather than finding warmth in familiarity and material possessions, clothed by the security that others had provided, I was able to bask in the radiance of new experiences and simply enjoy the moment. And there were many fun and memorable moments indeed: These are vivid memories that evoke unbridled joy, humility, harmony, and optimism.
ASB offered an opportunity for all of us to belong while we strived for the personal and common goals of happiness and peace. It is in the enlightening process and constructive pursuit of a mutually beneficial, adaptive ideal amongst people of wide-ranging personalities, beliefs, tastes, and talents; that I wholly encourage students to experience ASB!"
Arleigh Hack - Kenya 2013
"My experience with Alternative Spring Break Ryerson was unforgettable and inspiring. ASB provided me the opportunity to learn and grow personally through a profound cultural experience that contributed to my life as well as helped out the Dago community. As a beginner traveler, my experience with ASB helped develop my confidence to be independent and deepened my curiosity of the world that continues to drive me to explore new places and challenge my limitations."
Jeff Hau - Kenya 2013
"There isn’t enough space here to tell you how much my trip to Kenya with ASB meant to me, but I will give you a little sample.
I went for early morning runs and was able to witness numerous Kenyan sunrises, I saw lions roaming the safari just a few feet away, I saw my first shooting star, and I had developed a deep connection with community members while I was there. Without joining ASB, I don’t think I would have met a great friend to share my life with and eventually moved into an apartment together, nor would I have understood the fragility of life when I met my best friend who I have shared my laughter and tears with, and I highly doubt that I would be able to carry out an academic research project to help the people of the community who were all so welcoming when we visited.
The trip is what you make of it, ASB has provided me with the tools I need as I embark on a new life-changing journey. I highly recommend you to join ASB and I hope your experiences will be far greater than you have ever imagined."
Hailey Caradonna - Ghana 2012
"Where does one begin. To try and put all that I learned from ASB into written form is tough because there is honestly just too much for me to ever fully be aware of. What myself and several of my team members took away from this journey will and can never be forgotten or unlearned. I think one of the most important things ASB teaches is the power of not knowing in a sense - as much as your leaders and your team can plan, no one knows what is actually going to happen when you land - and to me that is the most amazing thing that I have now learned to love.
Going into such a crazy adventure if you will, the main priority is to have little to no expectations. The journey we went on took us all on different paths and for many of my close friends I made on this trip although together in the experience we all learned new things about ourselves and each other - things we may have no even known ourselves.
Shortly after my ASB trip I embarked on a year long exchange in Singapore. Here I was just back and I was to be leaving for a year any day. It was an adventure - mind you something I would never undo. However, without having gone on ASB I don’t think my experience abroad would have be the same. Shortly I will be entering my final semester of undergrad and I can not imagine where or what I would be doing if I hadn’t taken that plunge - applied to ASB - because if I hadn’t done the things I did I wouldn’t be where I am.
If you’re reading this contemplating applying to ASB or whatever may have brought you here, go out and just do it and do it with no expectations - there is always an upside."
James MacMillan - Ghana 2012
"I was a member of ASB’s team Ghana in 2012 during my last year of study at Ryerson. Our team joined a grassroots non-profit organization which partook in a number of small development projects aimed to benefit members of a local community affected by mental and physical disabilities.
My team and I were aware that our limited time and resources would prevent us from significantly changing the lives of this disadvantaged group; however, we were unaware of how impactful and transformative this experience would be for us. My work with these children was extremely rewarding and humbling, but most of all it was educational. This experience allowed me to put faces and names to political and social issues that I had previously examined from a theoretical, classroom environment.
Following ASB I moved to South Korea where I was employed by a government program which places foreign English Teachers in rural areas of the country, where children have little access to English education. After a year and a half in Korea I have returned to Toronto where I will begin a Masters in Development Studies at York University. The experiences I have had as a member of Alternative Spring Break Ghana are integral to where I find myself now, pursing career goals in the international development field."
Kelly Chessman - Colombia 2011
"Deciding to sign up with Alternative Spring Break was one of the easiest decisions I have made. I knew it was going to be life changing and that is exactly what it was.
I was involved in the 2011 team that went to Colombia and worked on several projects while in country, some being working with the elderly, helping out at a children's group home and rebuilding a library at the same location. Although there were times of confusion and frustration, those ended up being the most significant moments because that is where I felt I learnt the most. I learned that embracing and understanding culture is one of the most important things a person can do in life, that things do not always of as planned but that makes for the best moments, and to always go into situations in life with an open mind and an open heart.
ASB was the stepping stone to me being able to spend the next year teaching, travelling and volunteering abroad in Southeast Asia. For me the decision to sign up to ASB was easy, but it was also one of the best decisions I have ever made, so to any potential members my only advice would be to sign up and get ready for one the best experiences of your life!"