Social Impact Trips

Spend your spring break engaged in service, learning, and activism, while having fun and building community with peers, through one of AU’s Social Impact Trips. These trips can take you out of your comfort zone, stretch how you understand the world, and be enriching experiences that impact your life and spark lasting relationships. Each trip involves varying types of work, simple living, an open mind to new ideas, and constant teamwork.

Social Impact Trips are designed to allow you to:

• Immerse yourself in a dynamic learning experience.
• Engage in transformative action with experienced community partners.
• Reflect on your social responsibilities as local and global citizens.
• Consider how your profession or career intersects with pressing social issues.
• Live in community with fellow AU students and staff for a week.
• Relate the experience to your local context.

Want to participate in a 2025 Social Impact Trip?

If you are interested in participating in a trip, please submit an application by Friday, October 25. All AU undergraduate students are welcome to apply!

Your application will be reviewed by Wackerlin Center staff, and, if selected, you will be notified of your trip location in November. 

After receiving your trip location, you can decide whether you would like to move forward with registration for the Social Impact Trip. At the time of registration, a $100 participation fee is due, which covers your transportation, lodging, and meals. 

If you have a need that requires help or assistance with completing the application, we encourage you to contact juwest@aurora.edu as soon as possible.

Volunteering with different organizations really helped me see the different challenges people have to go through and overcome throughout their lives. Valeria Rivera ’26