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 provide opportunities to:
- Immerse yourself in a dynamic, experiential learning environment.
- Engage in meaningful service with experienced community partners.
- Reflect on your local and global social responsibilities.
- Explore how your future profession or career intersects with pressing social issues.
- Build relationships while living and learning in community with fellow AU students and staff.
- Connect what you learn during the trip to your own community and everyday life.
- Chicago, IL
- Dowling Park, FL
- Milwaukee, WI
Service projects focus on:
- Cultural empowerment
- Food security
- Housing and job security
- Hurricane relief
- Native American populations
- Senior living
- Youth experiencing homelessness
Want to participate in a 2027 Social Impact Trip?
If you’re interested in participating in a trip, please submit an application by Friday, October 30. All AU 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 participation fee is due, which covers your transportation, lodging, and meals. The participation fee is $125.
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
FAQs
Trips are made possible by the generosity of donors. However, you will be asked to make a minimal deposit to demonstrate your commitment to the trip.
You must submit in writing that you would like to withdraw from the trip by the deadline of Friday, December 18, to be refunded your trip fee. Requests to withdraw will be accepted after the December 18 deadline, but you will forfeit your deposit (unless an emergency arises after the deadline).
There are two types of trip leaders:
- Learning Partners: AU faculty and staff who serve as the primary leaders.
- Trip Guides: Experienced participants who offer leadership support.
For some sites, physical labor is required to serve the community you are visiting, such as planting trees, painting, gardening, and nature cleanup. If your body does not allow you to complete physical labor, please state that in your application or inform your Learning Partner or Trip Guide.
All meals are included. The host site provides some meals, while others will be communally prepared as a group.
If you have food allergies or other dietary restrictions, please let us know ahead of time so we can make every effort to address your needs.
Yes, in two instances. You may receive a refund if you withdraw before Friday, December 18. You may also receive a refund if an emergency requires you to withdraw after December 18.